Getting Started with Trailer Telematics
A trailer is no longer just a box on wheels. Just like throughout the rest of the transportation industry, new technologies have been developed to enable a smooth, safe and cost-effective journey for your fleet. If you want to connect with the future of logistics, here’s how you can get started with trailer telematics.
Trailer telematics – what is it?
Trailer telematics uses technology and software linked via wireless communications to generate data to help fleet managers maximise their trailer ‘ROI’ and uptime and minimise their Total Cost of Trailer Ownership. Trailer telematics data gives operators information so they can make better decisions in managing their fleet. It also provides greater transparency in real time on all aspects of a trailer, from its condition to its journeys to the condition of the cargo it is carrying.
ROI through trailer telematics
Maintenance: A telematics modem and its optional sensors can give the fleet manager vital information about the condition of the trailer, enabling a trailer to receive ‘preventative maintenance’, avoiding costly unexpected roadside breakdown and potential road safety regulation infringement. Such proactive trailer maintenance has positive implications for driver safety too.
You can extend the life of your trailers by monitoring their usage and rebalancing their deployment between those that are being used the most and least. Trailer life longevity is greater when they are used on an equal basis.
Transparency and efficiency: For those trailer fleets participating in the growth of ecommerce, there is demand and pressure from shippers and end-customers for real time transparency on delivery windows. Fleets need to allocate and track their trailers as efficiently as possible. When fleets apply trailer telematics data wisely to offer more precise and accurate delivery information, they improve their reputations and increase business with their customers.
Cargo theft prevention: Trailer telematics provides real time tracking of a trailer’s location. With additional sensors, it can alert users when the trailer doors are opened to help protect cargo. When combined with geo-fencing technology, it can alert when doors are opened in an unexpected location.
Cold chain transport: Telematics enables the fleet manager to remotely monitor temperatures in a reefer trailer and to keep an eye on the condition of its refrigeration unit to ensure the safe and regulation-compliant delivery of food, pharmaceuticals and other temperature sensitive cargo.
Get started
Here's some advice for first-time trailer telematic users to help them get started:-
- Identify your trailer management challenges. The clearer you are about what objectives you want from trailer telematics, the easier and more quickly you will be able to find the right telematics system and to generate a measurable Return on Investment.
- Shop around. When choosing a telematics provider, check that its systems are interoperable with other technologies. Does the telematics system use widely available technology standards? Can the provider share case studies such as from trailer manufacturers who are fitting them as standard?
- Reach ROI ‘nirvana’. Having purchased your trailer telematics solution, the experts recommend that you start off by picking a small number of objectives and deliverables to begin with. This will enable you to build up your trailer telematics expertise gradually and generate a Return on Investment more quickly.
TIP Insight trailer telematics advantage
TIP offers TIP Insight, a range of telematics solutions that improve the safety, efficiency, and connectivity of commercial vehicles. From simple ‘track and trace’, to remote trailer health and diagnostics functionalities and to safety features such as tyre pressure monitoring and cold chain management, TIP Insight provides a comprehensive means of understanding the whereabouts of your trailers, their condition and much, much more.
TIP Insight telematics is available on or for TIP’s fleet of trailers and also for non-TIP owned trailers to enable you to have a single solution for your entire fleet.
