New Smart-Trailer Kits Can Retrofit Telematics

Phillips Connect has assembled four kits, which it calls Internet of Trailers kits, that allow fleets to convert to smart trailers. Smart-trailer technology uses telematics to enable real-time diagnostics, fault detection, and trend reporting.

Jim Epler, executive vice president at Phillips Connect, has been studying some of the largest fleets in North America to learn how to “future-proof” fleet operations. These new smart-trailer kits are designed to increase fleet efficiency, uptime, and safety, and provide a return on investment even for smaller fleets that have limited resources to add telematics solutions.

Each kit has an average payback of 12 months and an average return on investment of 500% after 10 years, according to Phillips Connect.

The kits now available are:

• Smart Kit — Gateway: EZ Zip TPMS
• Smarter Kit — Gateway: StealthNet
• Smartest Kit — Gateway: StealthNet
• Brilliant Kit — Gateway: Smart7

Smart Kit

The Phillips Connect Smart upgrade kit includes TPMS Check, a tire pressure monitoring system, and installs in just 30 minutes. The company said this can save costs and allow fleets to monitor their tire health, preventing early replacement and downtime.

Smarter Kit

The Phillips Connect Smarter Kit features the hidden/under-trailer installed StealthNet gateway to avoid theft. In addition to TPMS Check, this kit adds ABS Fault Code Check, which advises what the ABS fault is for; Door Check, which monitors door events outside of authorized geofences and can prove to customers doors weren't opened en route; and CargoVision, which monitors the interior of trailers using camera technology. It can be installed in under one hour.

Smartest Kit

The Phillips Connect Smartest Kit with StealthNet gateway provides everything the Smarter Kit does, plus CAN communications and ATIS Lamp Check, which monitors automatic tire inflation systems remotely. It can also be installed in just one hour.

Brilliant Kit

The Phillips Connect Brilliant Kit fieatures an array of sensors and data, providing a complete picture of a trailer’s health. The Phillips Connect Smart7 gateway provides CAN communication, TPMS Check, ABS Fault Code Check, Door Check, CargoVision, ATIS Lamp Check, AirTank Check, ATIS Regulator Check, and Light Out Check. This kid requires OEM installation.

Benefits of Smart Trailer Kits

According to Phillips Connect, these are some benefits of using smart-trailer technology:

• Adding the ability to remotely monitor tire pressures gives customers the ability to stay on top of tire health before costs add up from downtime, roadside service, and early replacement.
• Monitoring brake faults lets fleets avoid dispatching drivers to trailers that need maintenance before they can go back into service.
• Remote ATIS monitoring ensures that fleet maintenance managers can proactively dispatch technicians to trailers that need tire service, while continuing to monitor the other trailers in their fleet that need attention.
• Phillips Connect’s Remote Pre Check feature provides customers with on demand trailer health and cargo updates. Fleets can see which trailers are healthy versus unhealthy and at the same time which trailers are loaded or empty.  This combined view of trailer health and trailer utilization lets customers maximize driver productivity by avoiding the hours lost driving to trailers that are not ready to move.

Like all Phillips Connect products, the IoT kits communicate to its Connect1 platform, which provides complete fleet analytics in real-time with easy reporting, on-demand notifications, historical trends to assist with maintenance schedules and predictive analysis, geo-fencing, and customization for each fleet’s needs.

For more information online, visit Explore IoT Kits - Phillips Connect.