NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cummins announced longer drain intervals, over-the-air programming and a new Connected Advisor service at the spring meeting of the Technology & Maintenance Council.

Connected Advisor provides fleets with advice concerning engine and aftertreatment-related fault codes. Fleet managers receive daily reports on the health of their vehicles and advice on when to have fault codes addressed. Urgent alerts are sent immediately.

“A differentiating feature of our Connected Advisor product is the estimated time-to-failure provided for each issue identified,” said Lori Cobb, vice-president, connected solutions at Cummins. “With a time frame in mind, customers can proactively manage the issue before it becomes a failure or causes an interruption in the vehicle’s operations.”

Cummins also announced it will now be providing engine software updates remotely through over-the-air programming. The service uses telematics to update engines through the Cummins Connected Solutions portal.

“Connected Software Updates allows our customers more control over the performance and management of their fleets, saving thousands of dollars,” said Cobb. “In eliminating the need to schedule shop visits for calibrations, they not only avoid technician labor costs, but they no longer need to spend days out of commission waiting to upgrade their vehicles. In as little as five minutes of downtime, the software update is installed, and the vehicle can get back on the road.”

Cummins also announced it is providing its OilGuard oil analysis program at no charge for owners of the new X15 engine. The program allows fleets to extend oil drain intervals to 80,000 miles or 128,000 kms. Fleets taking advantage of the extended drain intervals will need to submit oil samples every 10,000 miles.

“With oil changes routinely costing $350 or more for the oil, oil filter, labor and disposal costs – and a typical over-the-road trucker performing two to three oil changes per year – we see the potential to significantly reduce costs and downtime, with some customers needing an oil change only once a year,” said Mark Ulrich, director of customer support. “Most importantly, you get an optimized oil change interval while preserving your warranty coverage, and at no risk to engine component durability or resale value.”

Cummins also announced it is extending drain intervals for customers using Valvoline Premium Blue oil to 60,000 miles, an increase of 10,000 miles.

The company also introduced its new Guidanz mobile app, which can read Cummins fault codes and other key information generated by the engine. It allows fleets to avoid visits to the shop to analyze fault codes. The free app will be available for download in April and will work on iOS or Android devices.