
I’m sitting beside Zoubeida White in Volvo’s Greensboro, N.C.-based Uptime Center when the call comes in from California. A Volvo driver needs a tow to the nearby Tec Equipment dealership.
A few details are taken down and punched into Volvo’s ASIST service management platform and within minutes a pre-approved tow company is dispatched to collect the driver and their truck. Next to us, a call comes in from Kingston, Ont., where a driver’s window refuses to go up. ‘Can you drive the truck? Yes?’ The driver is dispatched to the nearest dealer that can fix the problem.

These are the problem solvers who work at Volvo’s Uptime Center, managing calls from Volvo customers 24/7/365 and this was a rare opportunity to see them in action, taking real calls from actual fleets and drivers.
“They never call when they’re in a really good mood,” points out Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America, when chatting with visiting truck journalists. “We have trained people to make sure they realize you have someone on the phone who’s stressed, not happy with what’s going on, and what they need to do is bring the person to a level where you can start communicating. We train people on that. There’s a bit of an art to the entire thing.”
None of the callers who called during our short time paralleling the call center workers were belligerent. Trucks are mechanical and mechanical things break. That’s understood. They’re just looking for an empathetic ear and a solution to their problem that’ll get them back on the road as quickly as possible – and that’s the role of the Uptime Center.
Connectivity’s role in maximizing uptime
Connectivity is the great enabler for the Uptime Center and its support of Volvo and Mack customers.
Nicole Portello, chief digital officer with Volvo, says the company has now put 532,000 connected trucks on North American roads, and twice that number globally.
“Every day those trucks are pinging us and we are collecting more and more data,” she said.
Initially, the truck maker used that data internally to better understand how its vehicles are being driven and performing in the field. Eventually, it was rolled out to dealers so they could help customers choose a better-optimized spec’ for their application based on the performance of the broader truck population operating in similar conditions.
Now, through its Volvo Connect platform, that data is directly accessible by the fleet managers and owner-operators. This connectivity also allowed Volvo to come to market with new offerings, such as its Blue Service Contract, which bundles together truck payments and preventive maintenance services using artificial intelligence to create customized PM schedules based on the truck’s actual use.

The Volvo Uptime Center
Volvo opened its Uptime Center in 2014, giving customers a single number (800-52-VOLVO) to call for roadside service, repairs, towing, in-house warranty filing, and other needs. Mostly, explained Steven Walker, director of uptime customer support, the idea was to give the driver or fleet manager an advocate to help them manage their problem most efficiently with minimal downtime.
Remote Diagnostics enables the extensively trained call center employees to make a judgment call based on the severity of the fault code and advise the driver on the best course of action. A yellow code means to drive on, deliver the load, and have the problem tended to during the next scheduled stop.
A red code means it requires immediate attention, in which case the Uptime Center will direct the driver to the closest dealership with the necessary parts in stock. If the truck can’t be driven, a pre-screened towing vendor will be dispatched.
Examples of yellow fault codes could be faulty NOx sensors or EGR valves – issues that won’t cause the engine to derate and shut down. Red codes may include a faulty DEF sensor, which will cause an engine derate.
The dealer is also notified via ASIST, so it can have a bay ready and save time on diagnostics. Remote Diagnostics has proven to slash diagnostic times by 70% and repair times by 22%, with 97% accuracy, Volvo claims.
Connectivity also allows fleet managers and drivers to perform an ever-expanding range of software and parameter updates over the air, without visiting the shop or plugging into a computer.
Conal Deedy, director of connected vehicle services, gave a practical example of when this comes in handy. A driver who leaves Dallas with their speed limiter set to 72 mph with a load for Toronto can park before crossing the Ambassador Bridge to Canada and remotely program the speed limiter to comply with Ontario and Quebec’s 105 km/h limit.
“It’s done in under 30 minutes,” he said, noting some customers would previously visit a dealer in Buffalo before and after crossing into Canada to manually adjust their speed settings. That would come at a cost of about US$145 and two half days lost for every trip across the border.
Chayene De Souza, product marketing manager with Volvo, said these remote updates also ensure the truck’s always running the most current software updates. “You’re not going to get the best performance out of a Volvo truck unless you’re keeping that software up to date,” she notes.
A simple software update used to take 2.3 days to install and cost a fleet about US$3,000 in lost revenue; now it can be done remotely in minutes.
Giving this data directly to fleets through Volvo Connect allows them to detect if parameters such as the speed limiter setting have been adjusted without the fleet manager’s knowledge. It’s not uncommon to find they have been, Deedy said.
When piloting the platform, some fleet customers discovered 15-20% of trucks weren’t programmed to the company’s preferred settings. Some fleets are taking advantage of the simplicity of remotely adjusting these parameters to reward—or punish—drivers. One, for instance, will dial back a driver’s speed by 2 mph for three months if they get a speeding ticket. They can do so by making one call and not taking the truck into the shop.
The data also is also being used by safety managers to ensure things like drivers are wearing their seatbelts. Voorhoeve joked one fleet manager said he can now leave his binoculars in the desk drawer rather than trying to catch scofflaw drivers leaving the yard unbuckled. Volvo Connect now tells him exactly who is and isn’t wearing their seatbelt.
Hard braking and fast cornering, excessive idling and speeding are all tracked and available for management to assess and respond to.
Fleets using the platform are turning that knowledge into money. Deedy said one fleet had two similarly spec’d trucks running similar routes; one was getting 6.59 mpg and the other 9.28 mpg. That’s a US$20,380 difference at the end of the year, he noted.

The dealer as fleet manager
Connectivity also drove the development of Volvo’s Blue Service Contract, not yet available in Canada but I’m promised will be “ASAP,” according to Mike Furst, director of service contracts.
The service contracts are designed to maximize the uptime of Volvo Trucks while also bringing greater predictability to total cost of ownership. Dealers offering the program must appoint a dealer fleet manager who oversees the maintenance plan, communicates with the customer, and ensures the dealer lives up to its commitment.
The PM plans are customized based on the truck’s usage, it’s not a “static, off-the-shelf plan,” said Furst. Customers can pay for the plan as a separate line item upon purchase of the truck, or through a monthly subscription. All Volvo’s connectivity offerings are included with a Blue Service Contract for the length of the contract.
“Common feedback is, we don’t want to take the truck to the dealer because it will sit outside the bay for two days for a standard oil change,” Furst said. “We schedule proactively, knowing what operations need to be performed so we can get that truck in and out. The majority of PMs are done within a day – in and out the same day.”
This may involve performing certain maintenance jobs earlier – or pushing them back – so they can be scheduled alongside jobs like routine oil and filter changes, eliminating an additional visit to the shop.
Sam Ellis, product managerof service contracts, said a truck in Canada that sees greater idle time in the winter months may have its next PM pulled forward, while one running lighter loads over flat terrain may be able to push its service out longer.
The dealer fleet manager schedules PM visits with the customer about three to four weeks in advance. When the truck arrives, the bay is open and ready, and the work order is already filled out with all required tasks. Parts are on the shelf, and the truck is immediately serviced and sent on its way.
“They’re really lightening the task for the customers, so they can focus on moving freight,” said Ellis.
The dealer fleet manager is measured and evaluated against eight standards, including things such as: onboarding and managing the customer; planning service events; proactively monitoring the vehicles; and execution of the PM event.
It’s a three-way partnership between the customer, dealer and Volvo Trucks, Furst said, and each has a role to play in ensuring it runs smoothly.
“We’re going to hold up our end of this,” he said, “and provide the customer with a promise that ensures they get timely, optimized maintenance based on their truck’s specific operations.”
He said the Blue Service Contract customers are also assured of always having the latest software updates installed and parameter settings optimized for their current operations. Open campaigns and recalls are also completed in a timely manner.
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