German transport company Schober Transport GmbH recently took delivery of 21 Mercedes-Benz Actos trucks, each equipped with a service system that communicates vehicle status in real-time, allowing for predictive truck maintenance and analytics.
The system – Mercedes-Benz Uptime – continuously monitors data from each of the vehicles and interprets it within seconds to detect faults, issuing specific recommendations aimed at overcoming the problems.
“The ability to prevent vehicle breakdowns, to ensure absolute punctuality of deliveries and to predictably plan maintenance work is essential for our transport company,” says owner Steffen-Kai Schober. “We are convinced that Uptime will help us to consistently meet these goals – a new and important tool for assuring our future.”
Whenever an Uptime equipped vehicle is on the road, the truck is in constant contact with the transport company’s fleet manager, the Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Centre, and the customer’s preferred Mercedes-Benz service workshop.
In addition, Uptime tracks the maintenance history of all trucks equipped with the system. This records, and therefore lastingly optimises, the success of repairs by means of comparison with other vehicles.
The use of Mercedes-Benz Uptime is based on the company’s recently introduced Truck Data Centre system. A connectivity module receives data from the truck’s sensors and cameras, analysing information for many different applications.
Uptime was unveiled at the IAA International Motor Show for Commercial Vehicles in 2016 after being comprehensively tested over three years in more than 1 400 trucks in 16 fleets and in four countries.
