Current Hours and Idle Hours Overview and FAQ
Tenna tracks Current Hours and Idle Hours for assets with the category types "Equipment" and "Trucks". This data is useful for understanding current status, reporting, and triggering automatic preventative maintenance. Assets with the following trackers will report hours and/or idle hours, provided the tracker is installed, verified and online:
- TennaCANbus
- TennaMINI 2.0 (Current Hours only)
- TennaMINI Plug-In (Current Hours only)
- TennaMINI Plug-In Solar (Current Hours only)
- TennaMINI Solar (Current Hours only)
- TennaFLEET Tracker OBD II
- TennaFLEET Tracker JBUS
- TennaFLEET II (with or without TennaCAM or TennaCAM 2.0)
- TennaIN AEMP
Permission Requirements: Users with the "Hours" permission can view asset hours and idle hours. Users with the "Edit/Update Asset" permission can manually update an asset's hours.
In this article:
Current Hours and Idle Hours in Asset Details
Current Hours and Idle Hours in Asset Details
You can learn the following things from the General Information section of your Asset Details page:
- Current Hours: The total number of hours an engine has run.
NOTE: Current Hours will show the total number of hours from the last completed trip or cycle . If the asset is running (“live”), those hours will not be counted until the trip or cycle is complete.
- ECU Hours Provided: Does the equipment’s ECU provide hours data to the tracker – Yes or No?
- Ignore ECU Hours: Has the user chosen to “Ignore ECU Hours” – Yes or No?
- Total Idle Hours: The total idle time of a machine.
NOTE: An idle event is reported if the asset's engine is ON for a minimum of 3 minutes at less than 3 mph and <1000 RPM.
This does not apply to asset's with a TennaCANbus or TennaFLEET II tracker, which reports idle time from the ECU (if the asset's ECU reports idle data).
- ECU Idle Hours Provided: Does the equipment’s ECU provide idle hours data to the tracker – Yes or No?
- Ignore ECU Idle Hours: Has the user chosen to “Ignore ECU Idle Hours” – Yes or No?
Calculating Current Hours and Total Idle Hours
Tenna trackers capture cycle data that is useful for understanding status, reporting, and triggering automatic preventative maintenance.
Users select their preference for sourcing Hours and Idle Hours data during the Tracker Verification process. Users may also change these settings in Edit Asset at any time. See How to Update Current Hours and Idle Hours (Desktop) for more information.
Current Hours is sourced from an asset in one of two ways:
- ECU Hours Provided: If the vehicle’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) is capable of reporting hours data, that information is passed to Tenna and is used to overwrite the value of Current Hours for the asset.
NOTE: TennaCANbus and TennaFLEET II are the only trackers capable of capturing ECU hours data.
- Baseline + Trip Time: If no hour meter value is provided by the ECU (or Ignore ECU Hours is enabled), Tenna will automatically add the most recent cycle hours to Current Hours.
NOTE: Current Hours will only be tracked and populated if the Hours checkbox is enabled in Edit Asset. Hours tracking is enabled by default when an equipment asset is created.
Total Idle Duration is sourced from an asset in one of two ways:
- ECU Provided Total Idle: If the vehicle’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) is capable of reporting total idle time data, that information is passed to Tenna and is used to overwrite the value of Total Idle Time for the asset.
NOTE: TennaCANbus and TennaFLEET II are the only trackers capable of capturing ECU total idle duration.
- Baseline (0) + Trip Total Idle Time: If no idle duration value is provided by the ECU (or Ignore ECU Provided Idle Time is enabled), Tenna will automatically add the total idle time from each subsequent trip to the baseline (which should be 0).
NOTE: Total Idle Duration will only be tracked and populated if the Hours checkbox is enabled in Edit Asset. Hours tracking is enabled by default when an equipment asset is created.
FAQ
How do I know if my equipment’s ECU is capable of reporting hours and idle duration data?
What do I do if my equipment’s ECU does not report current hours or idle time?
Why do the Current Hours in Tenna differ from my asset’s hour meter reading?
Why would I choose to Ignore ECU Current Hours or ECU Idle Time on my asset?
How do I know if my equipment’s ECU is capable of reporting hours and idle duration data?
Once the tracker is successfully installed, it must go through the Tracker Verification process. If a vehicle’s ECU reports hours or idle time, the field for ECU Provided Hours or ECU Provide Idle Time will show a value for the mileage. If the value reads “N/A”, the ECU for that asset is not capable of providing odometer data.
NOTE: Depending on the Year/Make/Model of your vehicle, an ECU may not be capable of providing odometer data. Typically, this only relates to uncommon makes/models or very old vehicles.
TennaCANbus trackers will show a section of ECU Provided Data Points in Tracker Details after the tracker is installed. All data points that are supported by the asset and tracker are shown in this list.
Once a tracker is successfully installed and completed a cycle, fields for ECU provided data (in Asset Details > General Information) will show whether the vehicle’s ECU provides current hours or idle time.
What do I do if my equipment’s ECU does not report current hours or idle time?
In some cases, based on equipment specifics like age or unique make/model, a tracker may not be able to report ECU hours or idle time data, even though Tenna’s trackers are capable of reporting this information when it’s available.
If your vehicle’s ECU does not provide these values, Tenna allows users (with the correct permissions) to manually update a baseline value for Current Hours or Idle Hours. Tenna will then automatically add the total hours or idle time from subsequent cycles to those baselines.
Why do the Current Hours in Tenna differ from my asset’s hour meter reading?
The mileage reported by the ECU may differ from the value shown on the vehicle’s dashboard due to various factors.
See Hours and Miles Discrepancies Troubleshooting for more information.
What should I do if there is a discrepancy between the ECU hours value in Tenna and the equipment’s hour meter value?
If the difference is small (only a few miles off), it is unlikely to cause any major problems with maintenance schedules, so you can choose to leave it alone.
If a significant difference between ECU and dashboard mileage occurs, users can revert to “Ignore ECU Hours” while the cause of the difference is explored. This will prevent the hour meter data from the ECU from overriding any captured hours at the end of each cycle.
See Hour or Miles Discrepancies Troubleshooting for more information on diagnosing the problem.
For more extreme cases (off by more than 10%), contact us so we can work with you to uncover the underlying cause of the problem.
Why would I choose to Ignore ECU Current Hours or ECU Idle Time on my asset?
Although we recommend using the ECU as the source of truth, you may choose to ignore ECU data for multiple reasons.
This can be done during the Tracker Verification process or later, in the Edit Asset > General Information tab.
See How to Update Current Hours and Idle Hours (Desktop) to learn more about the Ignore ECU Hours and Ignore ECU Idle Hours options and manually updating Current Hours or Idle Hours.
Will the asset report idle hours if PTO is engaged?
No. Idling time duration excludes times when the Power Take Off (PTO) is engaged.
See Power Take Off (PTO) Overview and FAQ for more information.