Connectivity
Connectivity will be the key
Digital connectivity and data sharing are key enablers of sustainable transport. By allowing the coordination and control of entire systems, connected and autonomous vehicles can enhance efficiency and safety, as well as significantly reducing CO2 emissions.
Transport is one of the industries where developments in connectivity are moving quickest. The advantages of the technology are obvious, given that the sector’s profitability relies on efficient flows.
Scania’s investment in connectivity and data sharing give us valuable insights into our customers’ needs and how they use our products and services, and make trucking more efficient. Connectivity via telematics devices, vehicle sensors, mobile devices and more provides fleets with a wealth of information about how the truck is behaving and can show them when the truck is operating outside of normal parameters.
Using real-time data from more than 430,000 connected vehicles, Scania has developed services that lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and maximise vehicle uptime, with contracts that have been customised for each truck, based on real-time user data. The result is fewer and shorter stops, less waste from unnecessary oil changes and up to two days’ less standstill time per vehicle a year.
In the not-too-distant future, we are likely to see autonomous trucks that operate themselves, and vehicles that communicate directly with each other while in service. In this way, a vehicle can warn a vehicle behind it of a road obstacle or a heavy storm.
Driver services
Scania has provided driver training and coaching services to its markets worldwide for many years. Meanwhile, the number of connected vehicles, which use on-board computers to wirelessly send information to fleet management systems, is also steadily growing. Today, Scania is combining the tools available in connected vehicles with the company’s Driver Training and Driver Coaching services. The result is Scania Driver Services.
The new tools available in connected vehicles make it possible to collect data on an individual driver’s everyday driving techniques. A coach then analyses the data with the driver over the phone, identifying areas for improvement, such as braking points and coasting. The driver’s data is also benchmarked anonymously against other drivers to provide an idea of the improvements that can be made.
Smarter mining
Scania is carrying out a pilot project in which the entire transport flow of a mining operation is measured on the basis of selected key performance indicators. Data is sent wirelessly every second from the trucks in the production flow to Scania’s field workshop. The workshop is responsible for meeting contractual targets relating to the quantity of material transported and the amount of vehicle uptime. In this way, key decisions which affect the operation of the mine can be taken in real-time. This is a first step towards assessing transport services in terms of their efficiency and the production volumes they produce in a logistics flow, rather than in terms of the investment cost.
