SPECIAL REPORT
Diagnosing Engine, Vehicle Faults Before Reaching Emergency Status
Written by Taylor Ekbatani |
taylor@stnonline.com
A staff member reviews vehicle telematics. On the left screen is an overview of active vehicles being monitored by FleetSoft and to the right is a chart view of vehicles sorted by various criteria like fuel type and year.
W
hen 911 is called and a patient is trans- ported via an ambulance, hospital staff already know all the pertinent informa- tion, such as vital signs, background on
the incident that took place, and other relevant data, all sent directly to the emergency room. They don’t start from scratch when the patient arrives. For a more mundane example, what about when Amazon suggests it’s time to order another bag of coffee beans, just as your current one is getting low? The same concept can be applied to the transferring
of school bus health information and telematics to fleet directors.
“The purpose of telematics is to really be preventive,”
Antonio Civitella, the president and CEO of Transfind- er, explained. He added that school bus mechanics or drivers are now alerted to issues before they see a check engine light or low tire pressure warning. “We want to make sure we prevent the big things from
happening,” he continued, adding that Transfinder’s Ser- vicefinder can be programed to notify mechanics of any service-required issue, such as when the tire pressure starts dropping below a certain percentage. He said the data can be transmitted via cellular net- work or Wi-Fi, though he cautions student transporters
16 School Transportation News • MAY 2023
on the use of Wi-Fi, as the vehicle would have to be within certain hotspot zones. However, he noted that, regardless of the communication method, the main point is that the vehicle is communicating a code that is actionable to keep the vehicle on the road and out of the maintenance facility. “Once upon a time, bus components were all mechan-
ical and you had a bunch of mechanics and they wrote hand notes and they fixed things when they broke, but so many things are moving from mechanical to digital,” said Zach Moren, the sales engineer at Transfinder. “Bus- es are full of sensors now, and as we move into a [digital world], you’re going to have so many more computers running the bus and making it operational.” Is there something plugged into the school bus on-
board diagnostics port, he asked. Are maintenance staff getting the readings they need? And even more so, is technology like fleet maintenance software, keeping track of the history? “What’s the degradation level of a battery? Maybe there’s a bus that could run a two-hour route last year that now- adays the battery’s not going to run because it’s breaking down,” Moren continued. “Well, if you’re just handwriting notes, and they’re being filed away in a cabinet, there’s no way you’re going to be able to stay on top of those digital components with the way the vehicles are changing now.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF FLEETSOFT.
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