Continental will be presenting a broad portfolio of products, technologies and digital solutions relating to sustainability, connected commercial vehicles, data-based services as well as safe and fair transport.
Continental Offers A Wide Range of Technologies at IAA
Under the motto “Mastering Challenges. Seizing Opportunities. Together.”, visitors to the Continental booth can expect to see numerous innovations, including intelligent driver assistance systems and autonomous driving functions, all-round connected components, services for greater compliance, high-performance computing, and sustainable tyres for the commercial vehicle sector. The most important leading trade fair for logistics, commercial vehicles, buses and the transport sector will take place in Hanover, Germany, from September 20 to 25.
The VDO Link concept closes the gap between digital tachographs and online platforms for fleet management. The plug-and-play solution is the first of its kind, allowing tachograph data such as driving times and rest periods to be retrieved and processed in real-time from a distance without the need for permanently installed telematics modules in the vehicle. In particular, smaller fleets haven’t been able to make the most of their tachograph data because their vehicles often didn’t have the necessary telematics infrastructure. VDO Link is an easy-to-use solution that closes this gap.
With the open interface concept, more usage scenarios and services based on tachograph data can and will be developed in the future. VDO Link is yet another contribution by Continental to the digitalisation of haulages and supply chains. The technological advancement of the tachograph that will reach a new level by mid-2023 with the release of the second version, means not only new tasks for companies in road transportation. After plug-and-play installation and successful registration on the VDO Fleet Website, VDO Link sends the collected vehicle and driver data in real time to Continental’s Secure Cloud Backend using a secure mobile connection.
The advantage for fleets are, the installation will be carried out without the need for a workshop visit. Plug-and-play will be a good solution if a new service available is needed as quickly as possible to many customers with different vehicle generations. Fleet managers will be able to take full advantage of Continental’s compliance services with this real-time connection to the cloud, which gives them an up-to-date overview of the fleet’s status and the current locations of individual vehicles. In addition, the mandatory download of the tachograph’s mass memory every ninety days will also work remotely via VDO Link in the future. One example for the added value coming from the combination of a plug-and-play telematics unit, a cloud backend and a digital service is the talking tachograph.
Continental brought Augsburg-based start-up, ZeKju, on board as a partner in the development of this service. ZeKju had developed a platform to help drivers comply with their legal obligations, supported by real-time tachograph data, available in the cloud via VDO Link. When a driver has registered with the tachograph using his driver card, he can use his smartphone to register for the talking tachograph via a QR code. The driver will then receive a message on his preferred smartphone messenger when a situation arises where compliance is essential. For example, after crossing a border, a message can remind him to change the country code in the tachograph. Even the playback of short training videos is possible. This is a considerable advantage for fleets with many international drivers because the talking tachograph can send messages in nineteen languages.
The collaboration with ZeKju is just one example of how Continental intends to continue expanding its portfolio of solutions for compliance in the transportation industry. By providing real-time data from the digital tachograph, VDO Link will offer many more possibilities to facilitate and optimise everyday fleet operations. For example, fleet managers could use the data on a vehicle’s current location, cargo space and weight to accept additional freight orders, increasing the fleet’s capacity utilisation. The integration of toll services will also be possible in the future. Therefore, Continental has deliberately opened up its technology and cloud infrastructure for more partnerships.
