Mack offers info to the max

Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks has introduced InfoMax Wireless — a new information management and utilization system designed to help fleets cut operating costs and, with the latest in Wi-Fi short-range wireless technology, extract key performance information from their trucks without physically connecting to the actual vehicles. InfoMax is available on Mack Vision, Granite and CH models.

A SRW Module (patent pending) mounted out-of-sight under the dash automatically transmits information from DataMax, Mack’s onboard data logger, to a Network Access Point, or NAP, located within the terminal building (typically installed in a ceiling or other concealed location). The NAP receives the information from the truck and forwards it to the customer’s computer network. InfoMax software then sorts, analyzes, plots or reports this information in whatever form the customer requires.

A single NAP can handle as many as 127 trucks, eliminating the task of connecting a PC unit to each vehicle to access DataMax information. The data transfer requires no communication fees or licensing agreements, and all transmissions are completely secure, the company says. The customer specifies what DataMax information is uploaded, how often this is done, and how and to whom the information is reported.

Typical uses for the data include equipment utilization reports, automated maintenance scheduling, direct input to MPG incentive programs, driver performance monitoring, electronic fault reporting and unauthorized reprogramming tamper detection. And information can flow the other way as well — customers can reprogram their entire fleet’s operational systems simultaneously with a single keystroke.

The range of the InfoMax Wireless system is at least 1,000 feet (direct line-of-sight). Uploading frequency is completely programmable — once a day, every two days, once a week — whatever the customer requires. If a truck leaves the wireless range before an upload is complete, the system simply catches it next time around. If a truck enters the range when information is not scheduled to be uploaded, the system simply ignores it.

InfoMax Wireless can also streamline the processing and filing of fuel taxes. With the optional SRW Module GPS package, InfoMax Wireless can automatically tabulate mileage and location coordinates, dramatically reducing IFTA filing costs. This same GPS plug-in also makes it possible to map driver location history.