Safety is Predictable - Learn why at NPTC Safety

You might be asking yourself, why would a company known for providing predictive maintenance solutions be at an event focused on safety? The reason is, Uptake helps fleets optimize maintenance and repair strategies but imagine if your fleet could predict safety as well. By getting advanced lead time of potential equipment and component failures, you can help eliminate some of the most common safety issues facing the industry, not created by an accident:

• Unplanned roadside breakdowns
• Engine derates
• Stranded drivers
• Tow trucks on the side of the road

Bottomline, anytime a truck is stopped on the side of the road it is dangerous for both the driver and other vehicles on the road. Let’s dive deeper into how a comprehensive predictive maintenance program can make your fleet a highway hero.

As long as we have vehicles on the road, we will have accidents. Speed, weather, fatigue, distracted driving and road conditions, all contribute to the inevitable. While the over the road and heavy duty transportation industry has some of the best drivers on the planet, accidents are an unfortunate hazard of the job. In 2021, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported large trucks were involved in 167,684 crashes, resulting in 5,197 fatalities.

Knowing this, it is the responsibility of all carriers to do what they can to prevent avoidable scenarios, such as the following list, in which additional roadside safety risks are likely to occur.

Unplanned Roadside Breakdowns

Within most North American carriers, a maintenance strategy exists. Some continue to operate under a “run it ‘till it breaks” mentatility, while others have incorporated a preventive maintenance program. Regardless if you have adopted a preventive maintenance or reactive approach, unforeseen, future critical failures are missed. Using a calendar, mileage or gut instinct doesn’t allow your technicians to see what can’t be seen. At no fault of their own, a hose that isn’t leaking today doesn’t mean it won’t be leaking two days after a complete preventive maintenance inspection. No matter how detailed you make your PM checklist, most of the required items are based on visual inspection. Your technicians, in conjunction with trained AI models, will see what the truck can’t after instituting a predictive maintenance solution. Advanced lead time as to when a truck or component is likely to fail, arms your team with the actionable data needed to avoid an unplanned breakdown.

Aftertreatment Engine Derates

Oil filled? ✅
Tire pressure good? ✅
Wipers replaced? ✅

And down the road the truck heads until the dreaded 3712 fault code strikes again, DPF warning indicator lighting up the cab. The driver crosses her fingers, hoping to complete a rolling regen but no such luck. The truck, now unable to exceed 5 MPH, crawls to the shoulder unable to proceed driving. To prevent this all too often mechanical failure from happening, look no further than the aftertreatment system. Whether it is the DEF Fluid quality or a faulty NOx sensor, it will take a predictive maintenance system to provide advance warning your truck is about to enter limp mode. Uptake monitors your truck 24/7, detects anomalies in performance and lets your team know when a derate is about to happen.

Stranded Drivers

If you operate a fleet, you most certainly have been hit with one of the biggest challenges facing the industry: driver shortage. The last thing you want is to have your valued employee stranded on the side of the road, hood up, lost in desperation. The risk and liability of having your driver outside of your truck, waiting for help, potentially a moving target for every passing vehicle, is never a risk worth taking. Make your driver wait too long, and he may take matters into his own hands, putting himself in harm's way. It is reported one of the top 10 reasons drivers are injured on the job is climbing onto the top of the truck for maintenance reasons. Ensure your driver remains in the cab, wheels turning by knowing in advance when the truck is likely to fail.

Tow Trucks

We have all been guilty of craning our necks at the site of a fender bender on our way to the grocery store. The safety ramifications of this multiply drastically when the accident is on the highway, traveling at 70 MPH, “needing” to know why that massive semi-truck is stuck on the side of the road. To magnify the severity of the situation, oftentimes a heavy duty tow truck is on scene, looking like an ominous monster from a sci-fi movie. Preventing the need to have one of your trucks towed should be at the top of the “how can I be a safer fleet” checklist for a fleet owner. Tow trucks often have to maneuver in awkward ways to get in proper position to hook a truck. With every maneuver, there is tremendous risk for every passing vehicle to become distracted and collide with the sidelined vehicles. Once hooked, the tow truck has to navigate back into traffic, hauling a huge, broken down piece of metal. Most fleets discuss the cost of a tow but the safety implications of towing a truck can be far more costly.

The Uptake team will be in Booth 11 at The NPTC National Safety Conference, September 7-9, in Championsgate, FL. We are so excited to discuss how a partnership with Uptake can make the safety of your fleet as predictable as a faulty battery!

Ready to put your truck data to work to make your fleet a safe fleet?