A new solution designed to enable on-route compliance, reduce downtime, and lower third-party operational costs is now available to fleets. The Zonar Emissions Check aims to simplify fleet operations and eliminates the need for dispatch to reroute drivers to testing facilities or require maintenance teams to run additional tests. 

In July, Zonar received certification from California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Clean Truck Check (CTC) program as a provider of continuously connected remote on-board diagnostic (CC-ROBD) testing devices. This certification allows Zonar to utilize its V4 TCU to conduct emissions scans on vehicles that meet CARB’s CTC requirements.

Emissions Check can save fleets significant time and money, while streamlining the process by only sharing Emissions Check data directly with CARB, when required. For existing customers with the Zonar V4 telematics control unit (TCU) already installed, the compliance process is ready to be activated with integrated Emissions Check services. 

Supporting Fleets in Meeting Regulatory Compliance, Emissions and Sustainability Goals

When Emissions Check is paired with diagnostic and predictive fault code reporting with Zonar FaultIQ, customers can also receive notifications of emission faults to fix before potential testing failures for a full end-to-end fleet health and safety solution. FaultIQ maximizes vehicle uptime by continuously monitoring fleet health, helping assets run better for longer.

The first testing window is open, and enforcement will begin on January 1, 2025. 

Q&A with Greg Colvin, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering at Zonar

GF: How can fleets in the public sector use Emissions Check?

GC: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) implementation of the Heavy-Duty vehicle inspection/maintenance program–Clean Truck Check program–is designed to monitor proper onboard emissions systems performance for heavy duty non-gasoline vehicles. 

Two types of inspection systems are approved for this testing including laptop-style in-shop maintenance software and others like the continuously connected telemetry systems we’ve developed at Zonar. 

Continuously connected telemetry systems have been in use for many years already, performing multiple tasks for fleet asset operations to help deliver on vehicle and driver safety, maintenance, and utilization goals. Public and private fleets can leverage onboard telematics systems if they have added support for CARB’s Clean Truck Check remote diagnostic data monitoring to their existing fleet management suite of products.

Zonar's Emissions Check service streamlines compliance for public sector fleets by leveraging existing hardware used for GPS tracking, inspections, and fleet health diagnostics. 

This innovative solution provides a single pane of glass experience for maintaining and tracking CTC compliance remotely while vehicles are in operation. Zonar’s Emissions Check service is the addon feature to help avoid these issues by automating compliance scans remotely while vehicles continue normal operations. Users simply login to the web-based online portal to view the current schedule and status for each registered vehicle.

GF: How can Emissions Check help public sector fleets meet these regulations?

GC: Public sector fleets, such as those operated by government agencies, municipalities, and public transportation systems, will face logistical challenges meeting CARB Clean Truck Check requirements due to varying compliance windows for each vehicle throughout the year. 

Third-party services or in-shop equipment purchases can be expensive and require advanced planning to maintain compliance. Taking vehicles out of service for Clean Truck Check scans twice per year and starting in 2027 it will be 4 times per year, which can be disruptive to operations and add complexity for vehicle availability tracking.

Zonar is proud to be the first company to receive CARB certification for continuously connected devices, recognizing the value it brings to our customers. Annual recertification is required to maintain compliance status of each approved vendor’s system along with the possibility to remotely update these systems to add any future adjustments to program requirements.

Enforcement of this program begins January 1st, 2025 where each vehicle registered with CARB’s Clean Truck Check system will need some method to continuously maintain compliance by maintaining proper vehicle health and avoid potential penalties associated with noncompliance.

Customers benefit from this with the installation of the CARB-certified Zonar V4 telematics box that collects the required OBD data, transmits it to the cloud-based service where it is shared with CARB’s CTC-Vis computerized testing systems. 

Results are generated in a matter of minutes and posted to Zonar’s web-based reporting system where tracking of all registered fleet vehicles are visible along with each vehicles compliance deadline schedule and testing status. 

The ability to add and remove vehicles from this service by simply logging in to the system and managing which vehicles require compliance testing simplifies the tasks to maintain compliance and reduce the burden on the fleet operators needing to meet these regulations. The overall goal of cleaner air is easily achievable by using these advanced remote monitoring systems.