IC Bus has formed a strategic relationship with Education Logistics (Edulog) to offer the school bus market comprehensive telematics through Navistar’s OnCommand Connection, the companies announced on Monday.

Navistar is the parent company of IC Bus. OnCommand Connection is a remote diagnostics and telematics solution for all makes and models.

“In today’s competitive bus marketplace, telematics solutions like OnCommand Connection can help customers optimize vehicle uptime and driver productivity,” said Terry Kline, Navistar senior vice president and chief information officer. “The deepening of the relationship between IC Bus and Edulog demonstrates our commitment to an open marketplace that gives our customers greater choice in finding the appropriate telematics solutions for their fleets, drivers, and community.”

The IC Bus and Edulog relationship will integrate key software and hardware through OnCommand Connection. According to the companies, this will give school districts visibility into vehicle health and will provide end-to-end information management solutions and services to help keep buses running safely, reliably, and on time.

Edulog President Jason Corbally said that the company’s product line, which includes route management, GPS/AVL, driver time and attendance, student ridership, and school bus-based navigation, will enhance Navistar’s OnCommand Connection (OCC) technology.

“From day one, I have been enthusiastic about OCC’s technology available in other verticals and certainly welcome this upgrade to school buses,” Corbally said.

Trish Reed, IC Bus vice president and general manager, said that with the combination of OnCommand Connection and Edulog tools, “customers can resourcefully manage the health of their vehicles and increase school transportation efficiency and overall rider safety.”

The mix of Edulog and IC Bus technologies includes pre- and post-trip inspection reporting, advanced remote diagnostics, route-based navigation, parent portal and student ridership, driver gamification, and premium fleet manager, which provides real-time knowledge of a fleet’s health. The full suite of tools will be available in the fall through IC Bus dealers, or immediately through the Edulog sales team.

For more information about OnCommand Connection and Edulog, go to www.OnCommandConnection.com and www.edulog.com.