In our country, there’s no shortage of news stories about accidents involving poorly maintained trucks and ill-equipped drivers—something that is constantly weighing on the minds of business owners, who rely on these vehicles and people to transport goods and equipment. But what if we tell you there’s a special kind of technology that Hino has created to make our roads safer and logistics more efficient by monitoring truck and driver in real time?
We were invited by Hino Motors Philippines to Japan for the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show and a tour of its headquarters in Hino-shi, Tokyo. Here, we learned that all its domestic vehicles are equipped with an Information and Communications Technology device or ICT.
This device monitors a truck’s operation and puts out data to further optimize vehicle performance. The data from Hino Connect then visualizes the necessary maintenance needed on the unit as well as its timing based on mileage and interval. This way, the vehicle can get the servicing it needs at the most optimized time.
Hino Connect also reports when the vehicle it is monitoring fails on the road, and a mobile workshop can easily get to the stalled truck thanks to GPS from the same device. The vehicle’s diagnostic trouble codes or DTC is also immediately reported by the Hino Connect to the mobile workshop.
This technology even monitors driver behavior behind the wheel, too. Using cameras, Hino Connect is able to detect if the driver is distracted or if his eyes are closed. An alarm will be triggered to get the driver’s attention, and an alert will also be sent to the fleet manager.
Using Hino Connect’s fuel-consumption and driver-behavior data, fleet managers and owners will be able to evaluate the performance of their vehicles and drivers. They can use this to address concerns as regards the roadworthiness of their units and the fitness and skills of their drivers, ensuring that both are performing at optimum level.
Currently, this technology is available in Japan, but according to Hino Motors Philippines, they are at the prototyping stage of Hino Connect for the Philippines. The company will soon make this feature available to its customers, possibly on a subscription basis.
With the number of road accidents involving trucks, we honestly can’t wait to see how data will help with keeping our roads safer in the near future.
