The move is part of an agreement announced at Transport Logistic 2023 between Bridgestone and Rio, a digital service provider, part of Traton SE and sister to the commercial vehicle brands MAN, Scania and Volkswagen Truck Bus.
Adding the truck brand to the Webfleet OEM.connect programme allows fleet owners to access Webfleet's fleet management services and interface, helping them improve productivity, compliance and safety with no additional hardware or installation.
In addition, trucks and light commercial vehicles from MAN with no pre-installed OEM hardware as well as other truck brands that want to use the Rio portal, can be equipped with Webfleet hardware.
Taco van der Leij, vice president at Webfleet Europe at Bridgestone Mobility Solutions, said: “The decoupling of telematics hardware and service portal is another step towards making telematics solutions even more flexible and accessible for fleet owners and drivers, helping to shape a more safe, sustainable and efficient mobility future.”
Jan Kaumanns, CEO of Rio added: "The two-way connection of each other's telematics hardware and software allows customers to use their preferred telematics solutions despite mixed fleets or pre-installed hardware. These open approaches are the future of fleet management."
The implementation of this new partnership is expected to commence in Europe in the second half of this year.