AUSTIN — Mack Trucks has launched Mack Connect, a fleet management portal enabling customers to digitally access information about the Mack-powered trucks in their fleet.
Mack made the announcement during the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference & Exhibition (MC&E), Oct. 14 to 17, at the Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas.
“Mack Connect improves customer visibility into the health and performance of their vehicles and simplifies the process to access the data,” said Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America. “We listened to our customers and developed this portal to help fleets improve their operational efficiencies and profitability, while also allowing them the visibility to ensure their trucks are operating at peak performance.”
Mack Connect gathers critical aspects about a customer’s trucks, services and their specific application, translating this into improved fuel efficiency, safety and productivity, according to a news release.
The Mack Connect toolbox includes data about asset location, idle time, traffic information, fuel efficiency, safety performance and vehicle speed. Customers can access the status of their Mack vehicles through a 4G Telematics Gateway, factory-installed at Lehigh Valley Operations, Macungie, Pennsylvania, where all Class 8 Mack vehicles for North America and export are assembled.
“Mack Connect is a portal that offers customers access to critical data that goes beyond what they are used to seeing,” said Patrick Brown, Mack Trucks senior strategy and sustainability manager. “Mack remains committed to simplifying data so customers can easily use it to make decisions to increase their ROI and better manage their fleet.”
Mack Connect offers visibility to the Mack GuardDog Connect integrated telematics solution so customers can easily manage fault events should they occur, while also providing visibility to over-the-air updates when available. Reporting and analytics are available so customers may analyze the data to determine whether adjustments need to be made to improve efficiencies.
Mack piloted Mack Connect with several customers before the launch. Hilco Transport, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, was one of the customers that participated. About 50 percent of the 500-vehicle Hilco fleet are Mack trucks. Currently, more than 200 of Hilco’s Mack vehicles are using Mack Connect.
“I’m a data-driven kind of person, so I like to be able to pull up the data that Mack Connect provides in real-time and present it when we have our executive meetings,” said Mike Laughead, director of maintenance for Hilco. “We are impressed with the system, and it helps managers keep tabs on operations.”
Laughead said aside from the reporting of data, he’s most impressed by the map feature, which allows users to locate and click on a vehicle and access all the data associated with that truck.
“It’s very user friendly and easy to navigate,” Laughead added.
Mack Connect with integrated uptime is standard on all new Mack-powered Model Year 2025 vehicles for two years.
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