Vehicle Software Updates Done in Minutes Thanks to Mack Over The Air

Thu March 08, 2018
Truck and Trailer Guide

Mack Trucks continues to expand its extensive suite of uptime services with the rollout of Mack Over The Air. Mack Over The Air enables remote software updates for powertrain components and vehicle parameters for Mack trucks equipped with Mack 2017 or newer engines.

“Mack Over The Air enables customers to ensure their trucks are operating at an optimal level without disrupting their schedules in today's hypercompetitive just-in-time economy,” said David Pardue, vice president of connected vehicles and uptime services for Mack Trucks. “This is just the latest step in our journey to provide industry-leading uptime for our customers.”

Mack Over the Air is the newest offering in Mack Connect, an uptime and productivity solution that turns data from trucks, drivers and the service process into insights to help customers run their businesses more effectively.  Mack Connect combines technology like Mack GuardDog Connect integrated telematics and the Mack ASIST service management system with the human expertise of Mack OneCall uptime agents in Mack's 24/7 Uptime Center to keep customer trucks where they should be — on the job generating revenue.

Mack Over The Air is powered by GuardDog Connect, which also provides proactive monitoring and repair planning for 65,000 in-service Mack trucks. Mack Over The Air uses GuardDog Connect, standard on all Mack models with Mack engines, to deliver software and parameter updates directly to customers' trucks. Mack OneCall uptime agents in Mack's 24/7 Uptime Center work with customers to schedule the updates based on when it works best for their operations.

Since going live in October 2017, 20 customers and about 3,500 vehicles have benefited from Mack Over The Air. Mack has performed more than 380 updates, saving customers more than 500 days of downtime and decreasing the time needed to do a software update from days to minutes, according to the manufacturer.

Mack customer Brooklyn Ready Mix in Brooklyn, N.Y., updated engine and aftertreatment software on all 10 of the company's concrete mixers during a single day. Updates were completed as the trucks were in between jobs or at the depot being refilled, allowing the concrete supplier to continue regular operations while optimizing the performance of its trucks.

“The Mack Over The Air program is fantastic because it greatly reduced the time we typically spend on software updates,” said Manny Paradiso, plant supervisor of Brooklyn Ready Mix. “Sometimes it would take us up to four days. These updates allowed us to complete them in about a half-hour's time. That's a huge difference and enables us to better keep our trucks onsite, doing what they need to do to get the job done.”

Mack Over The Air is provided at no charge during the initial two-year base engine warranty, with customers having the option to extend the service after two years. Mack Over The Air is also included with Mack's extended engine coverage plans. New uptime contract subscriptions include Over The Air features, including two customer-initiated parameter updates per vehicle per year.

Mack Over The Air is just one of several recent investments Mack has made in technology, resources and services to improve uptime for customers. Those investments also include a more than 50 percent increase in Mack OneCall staffing in Mack's Uptime Center in Greensboro, N.C.; more than $2.5 million invested in technology for improved vehicle data and analytics; monitoring triple the number of codes on trucks; and introducing mobile communication capabilities for uptime services via the app for Mack ASIST, Mack's web-based service management system.

Another valuable part of Mack's uptime offerings are 117 Mack Certified Uptime Centers — dealer shops that have met stringent requirements to better improve service and help keep customers' trucks up and running. By routing vehicles needing shorter repairs to reserved “uptime bays,” Certified Uptime Centers have been able to streamline their processes, resulting in a 24 percent improvement in shop efficiency and a 21 percent reduction in repair times.

For more information, visit www.macktrucks.com.