WHEN THE RAM
PULLED WEIGHT.

Detecting towing from telemetry alone is harder than it sounds. Our first pass watched only the ratio of engine revolutions per mile per hour — when hauling, the transmission holds a lower gear and that ratio climbs. It worked, but it mis-flagged a day in February when somebody simply bumped the steering-wheel gear limiter down a step. High RPM, normal fuel burn, no trailer. So we rewrote it.

Version 2 requires two things to agree before flagging a trip: the engine has to work harder and the truck has to drink more fuel than physics allows for an empty bed. Either signal alone is noisy. Both together are unambiguous.