Pro Tips from Mack: How Mack’s New Over the Air Features Helps Drivers and Fleet Owners Save Time

Earlier this year, Mack introduced Auto-Send and Self-Service Parameter Updates, two new features coming to Mack’s Integrated Uptime service this year. Auto-Send debuted earlier this year, while Self-Service Parameter Updates will be rolled out later.

Auto-Send proactively deploys the best updates for any eligible trucks, allowing them to be installed at the driver’s convenience without significant downtime. Any Mack trucks with Driver-Display Activation—which includes most vehicles built after November 2020—can wirelessly receive software updates through Auto-Send in any location where there’s cell signal.

“In the old model, a driver would literally have to take their truck offline to a dealer, plug it into a laptop, and update it in a wired way. Once you take your truck to a shop, the industry average is two days of downtime,” says Rick Randall, product manager of Remote Programming and Mack Over The Air (OTA). “But with Mack OTA and Auto-Send, we can get that update out to the truck quicker, and they can install it in just a few minutes. The truck alerts the driver when there’s an update ready to be installed, and then it’s up to the driver whenever it’s convenient to do that. Maybe it’s their next driver break. Maybe it’s when they return back to home base. They have the convenience of doing it whenever and wherever they want and it gives them more control over the process.”

Those updates often deliver patches that optimize code and enable the truck to operate smoother and safer on the road.

“What we have found is that if you keep your truck updated, you have fewer roadside breakdowns,” Randall says. “Updated trucks have fewer faults and less unplanned stops, which translates to a safer experience on the road. It’s the best way to get the best value and performance out of your truck, and it’s as easy as an iPhone update.”

Self-Service Parameter Updates is a new enhancement to the Mack Connect portal that gives fleet managers the ability to remotely update parameter settings across one or more trucks. This includes key parameters like maximum speed, idle shutdown, and more. Managers can create and manage custom profiles—preset collections of parameter settings tailored to different applications or routes—and deploy them remotely to ensure fleet-wide consistency and optimal performance.

“Let’s say I’m a fleet owner, and my trucks do two main routes,” Randall says. “One goes way up north into Canada, and one goes way south into Florida. You might want to set your truck up differently for those two routes, so you can save a Canada profile and a Florida profile. Then in one button click, you can send that profile to as many trucks as you want, or you can switch a truck’s settings from Florida to Canada. It saves a ton of time, it keeps fleet owners from having to call into our agents, and it makes everything easier for both owners and drivers.”

Both features will be available to Integrated Uptime subscribers. Randall says the subscription service is an excellent value, not only for its innovative, time-saving features, but also for the human touch they provide.

“We have really advanced telematics and technical solutions—we can update over 100 parameters, way more than our competitors—but we bridge all that with human guidance,” Randall says. “I think that’s why we’re way out in front of our competitors. This stuff can seem scary and threatening, but we always have really fantastic human support than can guide people through updates and help them if they need support.”