Smart Basics
Smart trailers go beyond GPS tracking devices and wireless sensors monitoring cargo and door activity, according to Justin Garver, FleetPulse sales manager at Great Dane, which has been building trailers for more than a century.
The trailers become smart “by providing data and analytics that help fleets improve operational safety and profitability,” Garver told FleetOwner. “Smart trailers are connected with wired networks and equipped to collect data coming off key components on the trailers. A smart trailer provides data that can be used in real-time to predict and prevent critical component failures that can lead to unscheduled and roadside maintenance events and DOT violations.”
The goal is to get as much data from trailers as possible. But data overload can be as challenging as not having enough data, according to Jim Epler, EVP of Phillips Connect. The Phillips Connect1 system offers fleets a glimpse of all their assets on a global or individual scale. “We really focus heavily on the analytics part of all of the data to make sure that these alerts are going to be accurate,” he told FleetOwner.
Tires and air systems
“So, let’s just talk about the trailer’s air system,” Epler said as an example. “We’re monitoring the air from the tractor, we’re monitoring the air to the air tank, and we’re monitoring the air to the regulator from the HS control valve to the air that inflates the tires. Then, we also have individual TPMS sensors on every tire. That’s a lot of sensors. But until you monitor that many sensors, you don’t know what’s really going on.”
Monitoring the trailer’s tire inflation system—whether the trailer is moving or stationary—can help with ROI, Epler said. Phillips’ smart trailer system monitors how much air the inflation system is using. “If it’s not putting out enough, you can easily address it—that’s been really valuable,” he said. “But the other thing that we do is we monitor the tire pressures whether the trailer is moving or sitting.”
Twice a day, the system within a stationary trailer will boot up and record a tire pressure reading, which can alert fleets to air leaks even if the tire inflation system keeps tires inflated.
“Where we’re going with our business is we’re not going to 100% rely on the fleets to know all of this. They’re just too busy,” Epler said. “We have another team that we’re putting together that will do advanced analytics of data so that we are 100% accurate in our diagnosis of what’s going on with the trailer. I think you’re going to need that. I think there’s a lot of people that are going to be in for a rude awakening when they start measuring everything that’s going on on these trailers and make it actionable.”
Brakes and lights
Ross Froat, VP of engineering and government affairs at Peterson Manufacturing, said that current smart trailers can help fleets and drivers combat the potential perils on the road. “Knowing if a light is out or if brakes are out of adjustment or pad wear is low, to how cargo is secured, can help ensure a driver keeps moving safely,” he told FleetOwner. “All these things now have sensors tied to them.”
The trailer wiring harness, like what Peterson offers, has all the technologies tied to it. “If you look at the skeleton of a trailer, the harness is the veins, going throughout the trailer and leading to the beating heart, which is the nose box controller,” Froat explained.
“They control all the sensory objects that are on there. You can tie other systems to it, such as tire inflation sensors, automatic tire inflation systems, weight-in-motion sensors, brake slack adjuster sensors, also pad wear sensors. Everything can be combined in a very good union that can all communicate through the intelligence system on the trailer. And that intelligence system can be communicated through a telematics provider on the trailer as well. So it does take other resources to make it all work together, but as long as you have a good foundation system for it to be tied in, that’s really what it comes down to.”
Cargo
Avoiding trailer and cargo theft can be a simple way to increase a fleet’s ROI with smart trailers, according to Nada Jiddou, EVP of Clarience and general manager of Road Ready. “Sometimes a trailer goes missing; sometimes the cargo on the trailer goes missing,” she said. “In any event, not only are they losing the utilization of that trailer and that asset to generate revenue, but they’re also losing the insurance deductible if they have insurance on the cargo or asset.”
Just having simple location data allows fleets to generate ROI, she said. “Add to that all the other sensor capability and all the other data that you can pull off of that trailer, including how fleets can optimize their maintenance schedule and optimize their driving miles of each trailer,” Jiddou explained. “All of these generate value to that business. The smart fleet managers are capitalizing on that.”
Ready to roll
“One of the pain points for fleets is they’ll dispatch a driver to pick up a trailer without knowing if the trailer is ready,” Phillips’ Epler said. “Does it have a flat tire? Has it got dunnage in the back of it? Does it have a light out?”
The Phillips Smart7 system’s cellular radio is always on. “If you want to precheck, you can just push a button before the driver even picks it up and it checks the whole trailer,” Epler said. “I mean it’ll actually light up all the lights on the trailer without a tractor hooked to it. It’ll check everything on that circuit and everything on our PCP BUS, which is the air system. It’ll tell you if the door is open or closed. We have a cargo camera that will give you a clear snapshot of what’s in the trailer, in addition to a cargo sensor. That will show if it’s empty or where the cargo is.”
Prechecking the trailer before the driver arrives can make for a happy driver, Epler notes. “If you can get that driver a healthy trailer where he can just connect to it and go, that’s huge,” Epler said.
Equipment shortages and uptime
A smart trailer can maximize fleet and trailer uptime, “which is vitally important during these times of equipment shortages and build delays,” Bill Hicks, SAF product manager at SAF-Holland, told FleetOwner. “By monitoring and communicating any operational issue before a trailer goes into service, the fleet manager can address any situation beforehand. This allows for controlling service costs and scheduling as well as replacement part ordering in a timely and cost-effective manner.”
With well-equipped smart trailers, it’s not just about the trailer’s condition before it leaves the yard; it’s knowing the trailer is safe as it rolls down the road, Clarience’s Jiddou said. Smart trailers should be able to warn a driver that a light just went out or a tire could potentially blow before it happens. Pulling over before an event happens can save a fleet, she said. “Roadside assistance is costly, and if you can avoid having to call roadside assistance by going to get a tire inflated or getting a light replaced at your next stop, it reduces downtime and eventually optimizes the driver experience as well.”
Smart trailer technology can also encourage some “self-policing,” Epler said. If the people loading a trailer know it has a cargo camera, “the trailer might be loaded differently,” he explained. “He actually might put the straps in that he didn’t put in before.”
Cargo shifting can lead to damaged freights and insurance claims, along with driver injuries when cargo isn’t properly secured. “We’re uncovering things like that,” Epler said. “Putting a camera in there has revealed a whole of new ROI.”