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Tought Leader


Te Evolution of School Bus Telematics


WRITTEN BY ROBERT T. PUDLEWSKI T


he constant increase and evolution of school bus telematics has gone hand in hand with advances in chassis and body technology, increasingly challenging service delivery requirements, customer and regulatory environments. Telematics is no longer a nice thing


to have, but a necessity. Telematics can show you where your fleet opera- tion is efficient and where you’re wasting money. It can help you cut fuel costs and increase productivity, and monitor safety improvements. In short, telematics enables you to do more work with the same amount of equipment or the same amount of work with lower costs. More than 15 years ago, the first stage of telematics applications targeted


“low hanging fruit” aimed at improving fleet operations through better asset and resource management: GPS and routing. Te second stage of applica- tions, which began ramping up more than five years ago, included remote vehicle diagnostics and remote driving behavior monitoring. Te first two stages of applications were operations-centric. Now into


the third stage of applications, telematics customers are looking for solu- tions to address more complex areas concerning the human aspects of their operations (students), monitoring of vehicle systems, KPI input, technician process improvements, cost avoidance and school bus driver efficiency, with safety being central to any solution. We are now seeing OEM and third party telematics solutions providing the convergence of reliable wireless communications with location technolo- gy, providing both human, machine and, in-vehicle electronic management monitoring which can be used to integrate the North American school bus into the information age. Te anticipated role of the school bus OEMs will be to focus more on


“connective telemetry,” including more advanced vehicle diagnostics, machine to machine, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication and autonomous systems. An example of this type of system was recently announced in July, Cummins announced that its new truck engine the X15 will come equipped with Connected Diagnostics. Standard on all X15s, it will allow re-calibrations via telemetry and without having to visit a dealer. In prac- tice, a calibration is transmitted to the truck and downloaded onto the engine’s control module; the driver is notified that it’s there, and accepts it by pushing a button, but only after pulling off the road and parking, engineers explained. If the update is not successful, the controls revert to existing programming.


HOW WE ARRIVED AT TODAY’S TELEMATICS IS A RESULT OF FIVE CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES:


• Wireless Telecommunications (3G/4G) • Digital Maps • Global navigation satellite systems • Te Internet • Te Vehicle


26 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2016 Truck and bus makers’


increasing emphasis on vehicle powertrain inte- gration and remote diag- nostics is also supported by recent “connectivity” announcements from various school bus OEMs. Tey will soon have a heavy influ- ence on the telematics industry in the years ahead by complimenting software services already provided by the many third-party tech- nology providers. A clear distinction now exists between the types of ser- vices that will be provided by OEMs versus those provided by telematics firms. Traditional telematics offerings such as those already on the market, including driver performance monitoring and reporting, are already well-established and well-integrated with customers’ back-office systems. OEMs do not need to replicate anything. Today, remote diagnostics technology enables fleets and dealers to streamline repairs, but the next step would be the ability to predict when particular bus and chassis com- ponents will fail and prevent costly problems before they occur. Predictive failure analysis also could lead to more flexible service intervals and strategies for vehicles in the future as well as improved parts and supply management. So how should you proceed with entering or expand-


ing your fleets telematics solution? Make sure the system you choose has an “Open Architecture” that it can integrate with systems already in place in your district operations, stand-alone systems are left-alone systems. Make sure the supplier provides training and system software upgrades. Talk to suppliers (visit with them at dealer state or national trade shows). Talk with industry peers, get their impressions and lessons learned. Look closely at the benefits of bus manufacturer “Affil-


iated Systems” and the capability of the BUS to connect with your district operations’ software, services that do not integrate well with existing processes are unlikely to be adopted. What we can expect to see from the telematics indus-


try as a whole is OEM connected vehicle information, cheaper hardware, cheaper wireless charges (now approx- imately $20 a month per bus), vehicle manufacturers partnering with telematics software vendors (affiliated systems) and more “Back Office” tools to improve stu- dent safety and allow more efficient operations. ●


Pudlewski is STN’s technical editor and a 40-plus year veteran of the school bus industry. He is the retired vice president of fleet operations, procurement and maintenance for Laidlaw and is a member of the National School Transportation Association Hall of Fame.


CELEBRATING25YEARS


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