Phillips Launches Telematics Hub With Trailer Health Monitoring

Phillips Connect Technologies’ new Connect Smart7 integrated telematics hub is now available for fleets across North America to install on new build trailers or retrofitted on existing units. The Smart7 tracks and manages all trailer health sensors using one device and one platform, the company said in a statement.

According to Phillips, the Smart7 delivers a real-time comprehensive view of the status of a trailer using one integrated telematics hub, with all of the data available on a consolidated web or mobile device user interface.

Phillips described the Connect Smart7 as an integrated seven-way nose box with a cellular gateway, GPS tracker, and sensor hub all-in-one that maintains continuous 4G-LTE communication from the trailer. The company said it is as easy to install as Phillips' standard nose boxes and requires no additional harnessing or electrical connections. Accessing the capabilities of the Smart7 with communication from Phillips Connect sensors or sensors from leading manufacturers will give fleets total awareness of their trailers, increasing revenue, improving driver uptime, and reducing CSA violations, according to the company.

Depending on the needs of the fleet, Phillips said the Smart7 allows users to choose to monitor the status of a wide range of trailer operations. Light Out, ABS Fault and Remote Pre checks come standard in the Smart7. Fleets can also monitor trailer doors, tire pressure, cargo status, air tank pressure, the automatic tire inflation systems' regulator pressure, wheel end temperatures and vibrations, trailer tails, weight, ABS lamps and ATIS lamps. The Smart7 can also remotely control the Phillips Connect SmartLock theft-deterring gladhand and SmartLock door locks. Additionally, SmartPair can be included to provide tractor-trailer pairing and eliminate the chance of a driver moving the wrong trailer by mistake, Phillips officials said. Some sensor options will require the IntelliSense harness.

The Smart7 Remote Pre check features delivers a full scan of trailer status and health, even when tractor power is not available. The feature communicates to a fleet if a trailer is road-ready and free of problems before a driver is deployed to pull it.

“The introduction of the Smart7 is the end-result of Phillips Connect’s more than five-year product development work to simplify and standardize trailer telematics," said Rob Phillips, founder and chief executive officer. "Our goal from the beginning was to create a single platform that could work with all suppliers’ sensors using one data plan, and to give our fleet customers a simple way to avoid downtime surprises and to get the most from their assets."