FTL Cascadia: Detroit Connect Available on Cummins Engines
Starting early in 2014, Detroit Connect will be available as a factory-installed option on all Freightliner Cascadia models with Cummins engines, whether powered by diesel fuel or natural gas. This is great news for your fleet’s operational efficiency and your wallet, too.
Detroit Connect is a collection of telematics applications that use advanced technology to link vehicles, drivers and fleet managers. It’s a two-part system that combines Detroit Connect’s Visibility fleet management software with an On-Board Tablet.
The Visibility App is Aptly Named.
It’s designed to help you monitor your fleet continuously, whether it’s working or at rest. You can track the status of each asset separately, and plot the whereabouts of your entire fleet, too. You always know where vehicles are and what they’re doing.
You can create reports showing all manner of pertinent, detailed data – location, speed, mileage, routes traveled, idle times, stop times, etc. That allows you to monitor driver behaviors that affect vehicle performance and could pose safety risks. Thoughtless actions such as PTO, over-idling, harsh braking, off-route excursions or unauthorized after-hours movement increase wear and tear as well as fuel consumption. They can violate compliance regulations, and they can cause accidents.
Armed with detailed information you can see right away and analyze over time, you can modify routing and scheduling and redesign driver training to increase awareness of poor or unsafe behaviors.
The On-Board Tablet keeps drivers in the Know. The folks at HQ, too.
Introduced just this past September, the mobile tablet uses wireless communication and GPS technology to link you with the Visibility system. Mounted in the cab, it puts data right at each driver’s fingertips.
Managers and drivers can track information needed to comply with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Hours of Service requirements, receiving alerts if drivers are at risk of exceeding hours behind the wheel or other regulations. Drivers and dispatchers can communicate in real time, thanks to two-way messaging that allows text to voice. The latest navigation technology also enables you to create asset-specific routing and streamline pre- and post-trip inspections.
Buy the tablet and you automatically get the Visibility software to accompany it.
Equipped with the Visibility fleet management system and the On-Board Tablet, your new Freightliner Cascadia can make your entire operation smarter.
Detroit Connect continuously gathers and transmits data, storing the information in a central database where anyone who needs it can access it at any time. Drivers and dispatchers are more efficient, because GPS generates maps and turn-by-turn directions. No more wrestling with maps, getting lost, stopping to get help, driving back and forth or inadvertently taking the long way around, all of which waste time and throw off carefully-planned schedules.
More intel in real time enables more effective on-the-fly decision making for daily operations. You have greater flexibility to redirect as needed and see potential problems so you can fix them sooner with less down time and expense. You can:
- Plot performance trends over time.
- More accurately track costs to save money and make better purchasing decisions.
- Extend capital outlay intervals, thanks to longer-lasting vehicles.
- Keep trucks and your entire business moving forward smoothly, on the road to better profits.
- Increase customer satisfaction.
- Maybe even reduce your fleet size or take on more work, thanks to greater per-vehicle productivity.
Capturing more data also helps you produce more intelligent forecasting, budgeting and long-term planning. With Detroit Connect, your new Freightliner Cascadia is no longer simply a tool to haul product. It can help you streamline daily operations, get more done and save money. That means you make more money. What a great way to start the new year.