Nussbaum Transportation said seven years of using Phillips Connect’s Smart Trailer technology platform has fundamentally changed how the carrier manages its fleet.

The carrier reported that Phillips Connect has helped it extend trailer life by 50% while improving compliance and operational efficiency.

The Hudson, Illinois-based truckload carrier operates roughly 600 tractors and 1,700 trailers across 48 states.

According to Phillips Connect, Nussbaum now relies on continuous trailer health data instead of fixed replacement cycles to determine when equipment should be traded out.

That shift allowed the fleet to extend trailer useful life from 10 years to 15 years.

“Prior to Phillips Connect, we wouldn’t have as much trust in the equipment because we didn’t have eyes on them,” said James Grier, director of fleet service at Nussbaum Transportation. “With Phillips Connect, we can have more trust knowing that we can reliably push the life of these trailers out to 15 years.”

The carrier also reported lower roadside maintenance costs and improved CSA performance as maintenance teams identify problems before drivers hook to trailers.

Trailer Visibility Expands Beyond Maintenance

What began as a maintenance tool evolved into an operational platform used across multiple departments, according to the companies.

Nussbaum’s operations team now uses the platform to track all 1,700 trailers in real time, including whether trailers are loaded or empty, where they are located, and how much cargo space remains available.

The company said the added visibility reduced phone calls and manual check-ins that traditionally slow dispatch operations.

Nussbaum also extended access to customers through its sales organization, using the platform to provide customers with visibility into trailer pools and equipment status.

“It all boils down to efficiency,” said Doug Bradle, chief operating officer at Nussbaum Transportation. “How efficient are we being with utilizing that asset, whether it’s operations, whether it’s maintenance, and then when it comes to the customer, how can we put it in front of them. All of those things play into how we want to really utilize trailer intelligence.”

Phillips Connect Highlights Long-Term Adoption

Phillips Connect recently released a customer success story detailing Nussbaum’s seven-year deployment and the operational changes that followed.

Rob Phillips, founder and CEO of Phillips Connect, said the fleet’s willingness to operationalize trailer intelligence across departments reflects the broader potential of connected trailer technology.

“Nussbaum is the kind of fleet our platform was built for,” Phillips said. “When a customer trusts the data enough to extend their trailer life, support their compliance programs, and put that intelligence in front of every team in the organization, the outcomes speak for themselves.”