Mack, Volvo launch all

Sister companies Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks, at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition in Austin, Texas, this week introduced new comprehensive fleet management portals for their respective brands.

For operators of mixed fleets, each platform is compatible with Mack and Volvo trucks, so long as those trucks are equipped with Mack and Volvo powertrains.

Volvo Connect provides a digital suite of state-of-the-art services, analytics, and reports that deliver fleets a range of truck data like fuel consumption, idle time, vehicle speed, seat belt information and location information – all in near real-time. It will be included at no charge for two years on all model year 2025 Volvo Trucks with the ability to add years of service. Some customers will receive a six month trial with the ability to extend.

Volvo Trucks North America President Peter Voorhoeve said the platform was developed to address a concern of customers, providing them "a central portal to easily access important information about their truck,” he said.

Patrick Brown, Mack's senior strategy and sustainability manager, said the Mack Connect toolbox was designed to enhance fuel efficiency and safety, maximize uptime and support and optimize fleet performance.Volvo Trucks was first truck OEM to introduce proprietary factory-equipped telematics hardware, followed by the launch of its Remote Diagnostics with remote programming capabilities and Voorhoeve said the debut of Volvo Connect is the next step in the technology's evolution as Voorhoeve noted that today's trucks are "almost like iPhones on wheels. We talk to your truck and your truck talks to us."

Voorhoeve noted Volvo isn't seeking to overtake a telematics market that is currently mostly dominated by a collection of third-party providers, rather the goal is to provide the granular data that is truck-specific that drives uptime and productivity.

Volvo Connect allows fleet managers to access the status of all Volvo trucks in their fleet that have a factory-installed 4G Telematics Gateway. The portal provides the ability to check and monitor that parameters like maximum allowed road speed and idle shutdown are set correctly and optimized for a truck’s specific transport assignment. Volvo Connect provides Remote Diagnostics and Remote Programming visibility, making it easy to identify trucks that have fault events, or need an over-the-air software update. Exportable reports allow fleets to analyze trends to reveal key performance metrics so they can improve the efficiency and compliance of both the trucks and their drivers, Voorhoeve said.

“The Volvo Connect portal provides fleets with a deeper analysis of their truck data and not just a high-level scan,” said Magnus Gustafson, vice president of connected services, Volvo Trucks North America, adding that Volvo will continuously add more features, reports, and truck insights.

Remote Diagnostics allows fleets to monitor select data from each of their trucks, helping to proactively expedite repairs or maintenance when needed. Customers can see fault codes, keep the history of any ASIST cases that have been created through Remote Diagnostics monitoring, and easily view the records from the Volvo Connect portal. Maintenance and repairs can be scheduled via the ASIST service management platform when it is convenient for the driver to maximize uptime, reducing unplanned stops and keeping the trucks on the road as much as possible.

Built-in location services offer access to each vehicle’s current location, as well as historical route data. The map provides detailed information including travel speed, fuel level, truck restrictions, and traffic data for the route ahead, as well as indicating nearby Volvo dealership locations if maintenance or repairs are needed.

Similarly, Patrick Brown, Mack's senior strategy and sustainability manager, said the Mack Connect toolbox was designed to enhance fuel efficiency and safety, maximize uptime and support and optimize fleet performance.

"it will provide to more critical information that most customers aren't used to seeing," he said, "... with one simple log in."

The Mack Connect toolbox includes data about asset location, idle time, traffic information, fuel efficiency, safety performance and vehicle speed. Customers can access the status of their Mack vehicles through a 4G Telematics Gateway, factory-installed at Lehigh Valley Operations, Macungie, Pennsylvania, where all Class 8 Mack vehicles for North America and export are assembled.

Mack has been piloting the platform since June and Brown said feedback to date has been "extremely positive." Mack Connect offers visibility to the Mack GuardDog Connect integrated telematics solution so customers can easily manage fault events should they occur, while also providing visibility to over-the-air updates when available. Reporting and analytics are available so customers may analyze the data to determine whether adjustments need to be made to improve efficiencies.

Mack Connect will also be standard on all model year 2025 Mack-powered trucks for up to two years. Eligible trucks without an active subscription can receive six month trial.

Mack Trucks President Jonathan Randall noted Bulldog dealers have invested more than $1 billion in their facilities over past 10 years and from 2010 to 2022 saw its facility county jump by 110 (to 413), while its number of Master Technicians has more than tripled – up to 1,915 in 2022 from 550 in 2010. That's also led to a boom in Service Bays (from 3,308 to 5,561) and technicians (from 2,533 to 5,844).

"Our success is equal to the success our customers have with their customer," Randall said.