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hat was thought to be the start of a trend toward standardizing factory installations of tablets on school buses may instead re-
main an aftermarket option. That’s because some technology providers are concerned that such a move could challenge their efforts to maintain their individual identities while trying to take some weight off the shoulders of their school district and contractor bus company clients. Tablets or mobile data terminals, technology
that is traditionally supplied to OEMs by third- party technology companies, which march to the innovative beat of their own drums as they hone a competitive edge over the field, can perform several functions depending upon their programming. The tablets can be used by drivers to clock in and out, perform pre- and post-trip inspections, receive turn-by-turn route navigation, confirm and track student riders, perform GPS functions, coordinate telematics information, and allow parents to track the school bus through a special app. MDTs also include Android phones and laptops that can be mounted or hand-held. IC Bus, a division of Navistar, is thought to be the frontrunner in exploring the viability of installing its own tablets at the factory. While the company has announced little information officially, it hinted in recent years that this would be a possibility as the OEM attempts to bring more integrated safety and efficiency tools to bus driv- ers, namely displaying routing and turn-by-turn directions, student tracking/RFID, communica- tions, even video DVR. IC Bus launched its tablet-based OnCom- mand Connection Electronic Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (eDVIR) in 2018. The eD- VIR, which promises more efficiency than paper-based and digital vehicle inspection solu- tions, enables school bus operators to digitally capture and share pre- and post-trip and child check inspections, speeding up the inspection process which enables faster repairs. The motivation for OEMs installing tablets at the factory is customer driven. “We work with top bus solution providers to install customer-specific tablets,” said Sean Slyman, director of connected services for Navistar. “For example, Zonar systems
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