Smart trailer solutions provide motor carriers with actionable insights about trailer health and more.
There are millions of trailers registered to fleets across the United States. For many motor carriers, keeping tabs on the location, health and readiness of their share of those trailers is challenging.
Smart trailer solutions aim to eliminate that challenge, giving carriers the ability to pinpoint trailer location and remotely check on trailer health, cargo status and more. Those insights allow them to better utilize their trailer fleet, avoid safety issues and increase driver satisfaction.
Travis Coffman, EROAD’s Vice President of Sales in North America, recently joined Rob Phillips, CEO and founder of Phillips Connect, an innovator in the trailer telematics space, and Phillips Connect EVP Jim Epler for a webinar about how smart trailer can improve fleet management and operations.
A recording of the webinar is available. In the meantime, here are two of the key benefits of smart trailer solutions that were discussed during the session.
Monitor Trailer Health with Smart Trailer
Running a safe fleet and maintaining regulatory compliance are crucial to success and longevity in the trucking industry. Smart trailer solutions support fleet safety and compliance goals by providing near real-time insights into trailer health via a variety of sensors that report on critical systems like:
- Brake condition
- Lights
- Tire pressure and temperature
- Automatic inflation systems
- Temperature of refrigerated trailers
This powerful data can help carriers identify potential problems before a safety-critical event occurs on the road – or before a trailer ever leaves the yard – protecting their drivers, the public and CSA scores.
“Our focus has been beyond just basic tracking and on how we use diagnostics: How do we pull the right amount of data, get it to the tractor as quickly as we can and prevent safety incidents from happening in the first place,” Phillips says.
Smart Trailer Solutions Increase Driver Satisfaction
Motor carriers cite the driver shortage and the ability to retain the drivers they do have as two of the top issues facing the trucking industry. Anything that carriers can do to make drivers’ lives easier gives them an edge for attracting and retaining the people they need to keep their businesses rolling and generating revenue.
By providing accurate trailer location and information on trailer health and readiness, smart trailer solutions can go a long way in eliminating many of the day-to-day headaches that ding driver satisfaction.
“Trying to keep drivers happy is one of the most important thing fleets can do,” Epler says. “If you’re not turning, you’re not earning. So, all this time spent either trying to find a trailer, or find a healthy trailer, is a problem for drivers.”
EROAD Asset Tracker Powered by Phillips Connect
EROAD has partnered with industry leader Phillips Connect to offer a full range of smart trailer solutions and asset trackers that provide motor carriers with powerful insights into the location and health of their trailers and other assets.
Our featured StealthNet product provides:
- Install time of less than 10 minutes
- Real-time trailer visibility and simple geofencing
- A user interface with automated alerts
- Ability to easily connect new sensors via Bluetooth
- Five-minute reporting when in motion
- Two daily reports when parked
- Reliable operation in the harshest conditions
“Phillips Connect, like EROAD, has a strong focus on ease of use, uptime and accuracy, which supports our mission to enable safer and more productive roads,” Casey Ellis, President of EROAD North America. “Our combined solutions deliver high-quality data that fleets can trust.”
EROAD offers a full line of asset trackers to meet your specific needs and help keep you continually connected to your assets. Learn more about EROAD Asset Tracker Powered by Phillips Connect.
