BELLEVUE, Wash. – PacLease announced today that it is making on-board vehicle diagnostics available on all new Paccar MX-13 engine-equipped Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks.

Trucks with the on-board vehicle diagnostics, Kenworth TruckTech+ and Peterbilt SmartLINQ, will alert customers and local PacLease franchises on the proper next steps to take in case the truck needs to be serviced while on the road.

“We’re very excited about being able to offer the value of the remote diagnostics from Kenworth and Peterbilt to our customers through our lease and rental programs,” Michelle Harry, PacLease’s director of marketing said. “This is really game-changing – allowing us to make better and quicker decisions on road maintenance and repairs for our customers. It’s another level of service which will further separate us from our competition.

“Utilizing this new technology allows us to communicate in real time with our customer in order to direct their truck to the closest PacLease location, or have the problem checked at the next scheduled maintenance interval. The goal is to prevent breakdowns on the road. Personnel at the PacLease location responsible for providing service on the trucks can remotely see when a truck is low on DEF, for example. They can then direct the driver to an authorized service location if the service issue requires immediate attention. Or, if a fault code indicates a problem that can wait for action, TruckTech+ or SmartLINQ can identify the issue and the PacLease service location will have it remedied the next time the vehicle is back at the facility.”

Because the hardware will now be installed at the truck factory, customers who wish to upgrade the subscription, can do so without paying for hardware installation costs, she added.

“The value of TruckTech+ is really a breakthrough in vehicle management,” added Sue Heise lease and rental administrator for Premier PacLease, which has 15 PacLease locations in four states. “It’s a great addition to work in concert with PacTrac – which we’ve been using in our rental fleet and with many of our lease customers. PacTrac has given us immediate information on the condition of our lease and rental vehicles and has allowed us to make real-time decisions with our customers to ensure uptime. What’s more, we run weekly and monthly vehicle reports to keep customers informed on idling percentages, plus mileage and mpg numbers. And, a secure web portal has allowed our customers to see exactly what’s happening with their trucks. This amount of communication has saved us from breakdowns and has kept our customers up and running.”