Ford Pro has increased its number of connected commercial vehicles by 40% in the last two years, and the company announced how it is enhancing its telematics solutions for those vehicles and future equipment during a press conference Tuesday at the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.
“The demand for data in commercial vehicles is rapidly growing,” says Dave Prusinski, chief revenue officer, Ford Pro Integrated Services. “Acknowledging that our fleet customers operate a variety of powertrains, makes and models, we are committed to ensuring our software solutions are compatible across all types. We’re maximizing the value of connectivity across every layer of fleet management to boost uptime.”
Ford's new connected solutions are designed to support fleet management applications and change the way its customers interact with their vehicles. The new solutions coming in 2025 include:
- Top Speed Limiter: This will enable fleet managers to remotely set a maximum speed limit on their fleet vehicles to help avoid speeding violations. The feature will be available in Ford Pro Telematics later this year on model year 2022 and newer F-150 Lightning, and model year 2023 and newer Super Duty trucks. This new feature can help improve driver behavior by controlling speed limit adherence for millions of fleet vehicles on the road.
- Acceleration Limiter: Also coming later this year in Ford Pro Telematics for F-150 Lightning, this new feature gives fleet managers remote management to control how quickly a vehicle accelerates to help reduce wear and tear and maximize vehicle longevity.
- Fleet Start Inhibit: This enables fleet managers to help combat theft and unauthorized vehicle use. It can disable the vehicle by remotely prohibiting attempts to start the vehicle’s engine. This feature will be available later this year in Ford Pro Telematics on 2023 and newer F-Series Super Duty, 2023 E-Transit in Europe, 2024 F-150 gas and hybrid trucks, 2024 Transit and E-Transit vans, 2025 Explorer, 2025 Expedition, and 2025 Mustang Mach-E.
- Remote Lock/Unlock – Available now, fleet managers can remotely lock or unlock any Ford vehicle in their fleet through Ford Pro Telematics, equipping them with virtual command and control of their fleet vehicles.
During its press conference Tuesday, Ford also recognized its 40th consecutive years as the top commercial truck brand for Class 1-7 applications, with now more than 5.2 million connected commercial vehicles in operation.
“The insights provided by our solutions can help improve driving practices and help fleet managers make more proactive decisions, like coaching drivers to idle less in their vehicles or better adhere to speed limits” Prusinski says.
“Fleets today are more intelligent than ever. While customers have been able to receive information from vehicles, with our new capabilities they can also now send commands to their vehicles to improve fleet operations.
He adds, “We’re pushing the envelope of connectivity and building capabilities at the vehicle's code level that seamlessly integrate with our software solutions. Our customers need to understand and control all aspects of their fleet vehicles. These new solutions will help them be ready for anything.”
