Software upgrades for trucks “over-the-air”

The new digital service MAN Now, the first service to offer over-the-air features, has gone live in the EU, Norway, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Similar to a smartphone, which sees the user install the apps that they currently require, customers on the MAN Now platform receive upgrades that enable them to adapt the functionality of their trucks to their respective needs. These upgrades, such as MAN OnlineTraffic, can now be run en route and at any time via mobile Internet, without the need for cables or a visit to the workshop.

Just like a smartphone. o With the MAN Now function, it’s a case of clicking and setting off: Customers can obtain new software for their vehicles without visiting the workshop o The first feature to be made available is MAN OnlineTraffic, which provides live traffic information specifically for trucks and is available throughout Europe MAN Now, one of the pivotal MAN DigitalServices on the RIO platform, allows customers to upgrade their software in a straightforward and convenient manner.

MAN OnlineTraffic, the first feature on MAN Now to be made available “over-the-air”, enables truck drivers to plan the best possible route by feeding route-specific, real-time data on the current traffic conditions into the vehicle navigation system. In this way, customers benefit from up-to-date information about traffic jams or traffic disruption and can optimise their route. The navigation system works out alternative routes on the basis of this data.

Thanks to MAN OnlineTraffic, restrictions that are relevant to truck drivers in particular, such as clearance heights or permissible gross weights on bridges, are taken into account when the system works out the optimum route. MAN OnlineTraffic can be activated in MAN Now. After logging onto the online platform, fleet managers are able to equip each vehicle with the latest features on an ongoing and needs-oriented basis – at the touch of a button via the Internet, without visiting the workshop.

An over-the-air system for the new MAN Truck Generation, available everywhere at any time. Trucks from earlier model series can also benefit from MAN DigitalServices. In such cases, the customer is referred to their workshop of choice so that the retrofitting work can be carried out.

MAN Now makes use of the automatic installation compatibility function to find out which features are currently available for each truck in the fleet and if they can be retrofitted. With the MAN media system Navigation Advanced on board, customers have access to MAN OnlineTraffic free of charge for one year. That access is extended to two years if they have the MAN media system Navigation Professional on board.

But MAN OnlineTraffic is just the beginning. MAN MapUpdate, with its up-to-date maps and geographically regional packages, will soon be available to customers on MAN Now. MAN Now will be expanded to include other over-the-air features in the course of 2021.

In future, MAN Now will afford fleet managers the option of adapting the software configuration of their vehicles to suit the prevailing commercial requirements, such as software to reduce fuel consumption, gearbox driving programmes or additional language packs.