Daimler Truck achieves one million connected trucks and buses milestone

Daimler Truck has reached an important milestone with more than a million connected trucks and buses on a global digital platform. Achieving this milestone reflects the company’s commitment to vehicle connectivity as a foundation for digital products that improve its customer’s fleet uptime, safety, productivity and enable the transformation to sustainable transportation.

“Connectivity solutions are the cornerstone for innovation and differentiation in the competition to win over customers. With more than 1 million connected vehicles, we have a comprehensive basis for further developing and scaling services and solutions that increase customer value and brand loyalty while also improving our own value chain,” said Marcus Claesson, CIO (Chief Information Officer) of Daimler Truck, on reaching this milestone.

Daimler Truck has been able to achieve this result by rolling out embedded telematics hardware and a global digital platform across all vehicle brands over the last few years. The company has integrated its powerful connectivity platform across all major vehicle models and segments while adding digital products that are deployed on this platform around the world.

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These digital products and their applications are offered via Mercedes-Benz Trucks Uptime, Fleetboard or OmniPlus in Europe, Truckconnect in Asia and Detroit Connect branded solutions in North America.

Daimler Truck’s remote update products reduce the need for workshop visits by diagnosing and updating vehicles while they are in the field and when it suits our customers. This demonstrably reduces the need for unplanned visits to the workshop, saving customers time, money and keeping their vehicles on the road. Two examples: Unplanned workshop visits have been reduced by more than half thanks to early fault detection for Mercedes-Benz Trucks Uptime customers in Europe. And in the United States, Daimler Truck North America performed more than 500,000 remote updates last year alone, therefore reducing the need for customers to visit workshops.

Daimler Truck digital connectivity

Daimler Truck’s integrated connectivity platform allows for customers to connect with their logistics ecosystem by easily accessing data and insights directly from their vehicles in real-time, without the need to add additional hardware. Moreover, Daimler Truck also partners with third parties via the global connectivity platform to enable a wide range of logistic solutions for our customers.

Daimler Truck’s digital products also play a significant role in the transition to zero-emission vehicles. Today, Daimler Truck offers eServices for battery-powered trucks such as range prediction, battery status monitoring, pre-conditioning and efficient charging management. In the future, connectivity will also play a key role in autonomous driving, with solutions for remote support and systematic monitoring of autonomous trucks on the road.

In all applications, the focus is always on providing customer benefit. At the same time, digital solutions are also a key lever to continuously increase Daimler Truck's service revenue. Daimler Truck has the clear ambition of achieving an adjusted return on sales of more than 12% in the industrial business by 2030 in a favourable market environment.

“We are very proud of this milestone, which is the result of a great team effort. We will continue to invest in our connectivity platform and our digital solutions that make our trucks and buses safer, smarter, and more efficient, ultimately improving our customer’s business,” said Sanjiv Khurana, Head of the Connectivity Services Group at Daimler Truck.

Behind Daimler Truck’s connectivity platform and portfolio of digital products is a highly motivated team across regional development centres that works with an agile mindset to deliver products and support customers around the world. With this combination of a scalable connectivity platform, compelling digital product portfolio and dedicated global and regional teams, Daimler Truck is well positioned to bring more innovation to its customers while firmly targeting the next million connected vehicles.

Evolution of connected technology in the trucking industry

The trucking industry has undergone a remarkable transformation with the evolution of connected technology. From the early days of basic GPS tracking to the sophisticated systems in use today, the integration of technology has revolutionized the way trucks operate and communicate on the road.

Connected technology has enabled trucks to become smarter, safer, and more efficient than ever before. Telematics systems allow for real-time monitoring of vehicle performance, driver behavior, and cargo conditions, providing valuable data that can be analyzed to optimize operations and improve overall fleet management.

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With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced communication networks, trucks are now able to communicate with each other, with fleet managers, and with other vehicles on the road in ways that were once unimaginable. This interconnected ecosystem has paved the way for innovations such as predictive maintenance, route optimization, and autonomous driving capabilities.

As the trucking industry continues to embrace connected technology, the possibilities for improving efficiency, safety, and sustainability are endless. Daimler Truck's milestone of reaching one million connected vehicles is a testament to the power of innovation and the potential for driving success in the industry through technology.