PACCAR will put a factory-installed touchscreen and fleet app platform called PACCAR Connect in Kenworth and Peterbilt Class 8 trucks beginning in early 2027. The company announced the system Monday at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina.
PACCAR said the system, which is covered under factory warranty, can eliminate the need for multiple aftermarket devices in the cab. It also connects Kenworth and Peterbilt customers to the Virtual Vehicle app marketplace from Platform Science. PACCAR made a minority equity investment in the connected-truck company in March 2023.
Connected services are already on PACCAR’s spending list. Chief Financial Officer Brice Poplawski named them among the company’s investment areas in July, alongside new powertrains and manufacturing expansion.
“PACCAR Connect advances our connected vehicle strategy,” John Rich, PACCAR’s chief technology officer, said in the release.
PACCAR is not the first truckmaker on Platform Science’s system. Virtual Vehicle was developed with Daimler Truck North America, Navistar, PACCAR and other manufacturers. Daimler became the first to integrate factory-installed telematics onto it in May 2020.
What changes for fleets and drivers
Kenworth and Peterbilt have sold remote diagnostics as separate subscriptions. As of 2022, fleets managed Kenworth’s TruckTech+ and Peterbilt’s SmartLINQ through the PACCAR Solutions portal, Truck Parts & Service noted. The new PACCAR Connect Portal puts vehicle health, remote diagnostics, mileage, location, warranty status and idle time in one back-office tool. PACCAR did not say whether it replaces TruckTech+ or SmartLINQ.
Fleets activate third-party apps through the portal, which PACCAR said lets them bring their own workflows and technology directly into the truck.
Drivers get a high-definition touchscreen. Peterbilt’s is a 13-inch portrait screen, standard on Models 579, 589 and 567 with Class 8 interiors starting in the first quarter of 2027, Truck News reported. Kenworth uses a 15-inch center display. The voice assistant responds to more than 250 commands in English, Spanish and French, according to Transport Topics.
The display accepts up to eight camera inputs and can switch views automatically when the truck reverses or a turn signal comes on. It pairs two phones over Bluetooth at once and supports Apple CarPlay. Preloaded PACCAR apps for a digital operator’s manual, driver tutorials, vehicle health information and a dealer locator carry no extra subscription charge, Truck News reported.
A plan dating to 2023
When PACCAR and Platform Science announced their collaboration in January 2023, they said PACCAR would deploy Virtual Vehicle in Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks beginning in 2024. The new release does not say how much of that deployment reached trucks before this launch.
PACCAR’s European brand, DAF, began supplying PACCAR Connect as standard on every new XB, XD, XF, XG and XG+ in April 2024, with 10 years of service included, according to DAF. The European version pairs an online fleet portal with an optional detachable tablet.
The North American release does not include pricing for the display, the portal or third-party marketplace apps, or list which aftermarket devices fleets could pull out of the cab. It also does not name Platform Science, though Transport Topics reported that the trucks’ app store links to Platform Science’s marketplace. According to Truck News, the display is not available as a retrofit for trucks already in service.
Rich said the platform would let PACCAR “continuously expand capabilities, integrate new technologies and enhance the driver experience.”
Why it matters: PACCAR Connect brings a factory-warranted cab display and Platform Science’s app marketplace to Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks in early 2027. Fleets still lack pricing and a list of the aftermarket devices it would replace.
The post PACCAR builds a fleet app platform into Kenworth, Peterbilt appeared first on FreightWaves.