BUSINESSES THAT RELY on the use of commercial vehicles have turned to the company known today as Navistar, manufacturer of International Trucks, for more than 100 years. With a history that stretches back to the invention of a mechanical reaper in 1831, the company has received acclaim for its commercial vehicles since the introduction of its first truck in 1909. Since then, the Illinois-based company has never ceased in its efforts to introduce increasingly advanced vehicles. Named International Harvester in 1902, the company has focused on trucks, buses, and engines since rebranding itself as Navistar in 1986. Navistar is now widely known as the company behind International-branded trucks.

Confidence Through Technology
Navistar’s drive to be the best is marked by a persistent eagerness to invent and leverage new technologies that make its vehicles better. To do that, says David Gerrard, senior vice president, Navistar Distribution, the company always listens to the customer. “We understand that the commercial market is all about uptime,” Gerrard says, “and we are organized to support that premise. Navistar provides the largest distribution channel for Heavy-Duty Class 8 product in the U.S. and Canada with nearly 700 locations and eight Parts Distribution Centers that support fast turn-around on parts.”

Unparalleled Uptime

In addition to the speed of service afforded by hundreds of locations and multiple parts centers, Navistar recently introduced its Diamond Renewed program, which is designed to improve the uptime and performance of its International used trucks. The program, says Navistar, "puts International used trucks through the industry's most comprehensive inspection and mechanical reconditioning process." Every vehicle exiting the program comes with Navistar's OnCommand Connection remote diagnostics system and a 1-year, 100,000-mile engine warranty. The warranty, which covers 100% of parts (excludes normal wear items) and labor and comes with no deductible, is a key differentiation within the industry.

"The Diamond Renewed program is the result of a collaborative effort between our Used Truck Dealer Advisory Board and Navistar’s Used Truck Organization," says Mike McMahon, vice president, Navistar Used Trucks Operations. "The goal was to create the 'best used truck value in the industry,' and our approach to used trucks can truly be an industry game-changer."

Qualifying trucks "undergo a comprehensive 180+ point inspection and are thoroughly reconditioned inside and out," says McMahon. "Importantly, the process is targeted toward mechanical reliability as the reconditioning process ensures the unit has the latest EGR valves and coolers and cleans or replaces the entire after-treatment system." And, he adds, "to ensure customers get the uptime they need, OnCommand Connection comes standard." To qualify for the program, McMahon says, the truck must be "any International TranStar, ProStar, or LoneStar powered by a MaxxForce 11- or 13-liter engine, with fewer than 400,000 miles and within four years of current production."

Unprecedented Vehicle Insight

Navistar's OnCommand Connection remote diagnostics solution illustrates the company's determination to stay ahead of the technological curve and embrace the potential power behind telematics and vehicle sensors. Telematics combines GPS, telecommunications, and vehicle performance data to track vehicle systems, location, and more. A component of the Diamond Renewed program, OnCommand Connection offers an "open architecture" system and is also available for virtually any class 6-8 trucks (not just International trucks) with telematics hardware installed. Industry, connected vehicles are now about a $10.5 billion industry, and we think by 2017 it will be roughly $25 billion. So again," Cerilli says, "we see significant growth in all things connected."

In terms of its vehicles, Navistar thinks about it this way: "If something has a sensor or an actuator," says Cerilli, "it's generating data that can be used to help improve the performance or reliability of a vehicle. The number of sensors on our trucks has grown from about seven to more than 23 different sensors in just the last couple of years. These provide information about everything from overall vehicle health and performance metrics like miles per gallon to the type of weather the vehicle is operating in to brake system performance." For now, the focus of OnCommand Connection is squarely on delivering as much vehicle information as possible to everyone who can benefit from it, including fleet managers, drivers, dealers, maintenance and repairs, increasing the vehicle life cycle and decreasing total cost of ownership.

Eliminate Surprises
In the trucking industry, uptime is crucial to the timely transport and delivery of goods. Anything that interferes with uptime—unplanned failures, unplanned downtime— costs money. OnCommand Connection helps customers anticipate and plan for maintenance.

In addition to providing comprehensive vehicle health reports, OnCommand Connection also identifies potential problems. How it works to do this is "really simple," says Cerilli. "You may have a 'check engine' light that comes on in your car and an associated fault code. We have similar electronic architecture in our trucks. When fault codes occur, we rank them in order of severity, from 'stop the vehicle now' through to 'keep operating the vehicle, repair it at the next maintenance interval.'"

All of the data OnCommand Connection provides is "at the fingertips of customers either via a Web or mobile portal," says Cerilli. The system works on multiple Web and mobile platforms and, says Cerilli, "is truly the first open architecture system in the remote diagnostics space. Our customers have their own business operating systems, fleet management systems, and telematics partners, so we created an open architecture that integrates with those."

Everybody on Board
Taking into account all cost-of-ownership factors, Gerrard says the Diamond Renewed program “leads the industry in the value it provides in the used truck marketplace and raises the bar by providing our used truck customers with a new truck experience. The key benefit is a dependable, Diamond Renewed truck they can use in a commercial application and count on.” OnCommand Connection, he adds, builds on that. "The bottom line," Gerrard says, "is that our Diamond Renewed customers get an outstanding used truck with a comprehensive warranty and telematics in a 'ready to go' package at a great price." Contact Navistar today to find out how its products and services can benefit your organization.

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