The economy remains a top concern for the trucking industry, ranking as the number one issue in the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual report for the second year in a row. 

For fleets, cutting costs and improving efficiency is more critical than ever. As a core part of operations, trailers offer significant opportunities to reduce expenses, boost efficiency, and enhance safety and compliance.

AT ATA’s TMC Annual Meeting in Nashville, on March 9, Samsara announced a new range of innovative Smart Trailer features. 

The new features are designed to give critical insights into trailer data to improve the efficiency, compliance, and safety of trailer operations. They include enhanced tire and power monitoring, as well as tractor-trailer mismatch alerts added to the company’s existing trailer offerings.

A Comprehensive Trailer Telematics Solution

The result, according to David Gal, vice president, products and engineering, Samsara, has created a comprehensive solution that allows organizations to improve trailer utilization and dispatch, driver productivity, revenue management, and more.

At the heart of the Smart Trailer solution is the Samsara Asset Gateway, Gal said.

This is a compact device that installs in under five minutes for rapid, scalable deployment. Its discreet design allows it to be mounted on trailer undercarriages, minimizing the risk of tampering or theft.

Gal said Samsara’s Smart Trailer solution gives drivers and the back office real-time visibility into tire and power status in the Samsara dashboard. This enables fleets to proactively maintain their trailers, stay in compliance, and make their trailer operations safer overall.

Smart Trailers can help fleets get ahead of tire leaks, blown anti-lock braking system (ABS) fuses, and other issues with a range of advanced trailer health features. These include:

• Automatic Tire Inflation System (ATIS) Monitoring: Samsara ATIS monitoring delivers real-time alerts on tire pressure issues to both drivers and the back office, giving fleets the proactive edge they need to catch leaks that may be hidden by automatic inflation. By identifying potential problems early, fleets can dramatically reduce the risk of costly tire blowouts and minimize trailer downtime. In addition, ATIS Monitoring promotes healthier tires overall, aiding in compliance efforts and helping fleet operations run more safely and efficiently.

• Power Monitoring: In addition to tire issues, anonymized Samsara customer data shows that 15% of trailers in North America experience power loss while driving, which can cause problems with real-time location tracking and increase safety risks on the road. We now offer comprehensive Power Monitoring, which provides trailer visibility—even when 7-way power isn’t operational—and helps fleet operators diagnose and resolve power issues on trucks. Power Monitoring includes:

• Trailer Visibility Even Without Power: Until now, when a truck failed to deliver power to a trailer, the trailer’s gateway also lost power, leaving operators in the dark about trailer location. Samsara’s Smart Trailer solution is able to detect power loss and provide continuous, real-time visibility even when trailer power is compromised.

• Moving Without Power Alert: In addition to loss of trailer visibility, 7-way power loss can compromise the efficacy of a trailer’s ABS system. This can lead to power loss for other electrical peripherals on a trailer, including TPMS systems, ATIS lamps, and liftgates. ABS systems are a critical part of operating a trailer safely, but without power to the trailer, ABS systems can be compromised, increasing trailer stopping distance and creating safety risks. Samsara’s Moving Without Power Alert notifies fleets in real time when a trailer loses power, allowing fleets to quickly diagnose the root cause of power loss, resolve it faster, and reduce trailer and tractor downtime.

• Trailer Health Inspector: Fleets can monitor power connections to identify and resolve issues more effectively. Customers can investigate when and where power loss occurred, how long power was out, who was driving, and which truck was pulling the trailer. 

• Trailer Power Loss Root Cause Analysis: What caused a power loss? Was it a blown fuse on the truck? A trailer wiring problem? Managing this at scale across thousands of trailers is challenging. Samsara’s Smart Trailer solution automatically detects power issues in the field and predicts where the issue is, streamlining maintenance operations. One customer was able to root cause and fix more than 300 blown truck ABS fuses using this tool.

A Broad View of Trailer Health

These features—along with existing Smart Trailer ABS Monitoring capabilities—provide a broad view of trailer health to keep drivers and communities safe while improving compliance and reducing costs.

Samsara believes in creating a flexible, open platform with an ecosystem of integrations, Gal said, and trailer solutions are no exception.

To that end, he said Samsara partners with leading industry vendors and OEMs to provide customers with best-in-class visibility into their trailers. 

At TMC, Gal officially announced Samsara’s two new partners: Hendrickson for ATIS monitoring and Continental and PressurePRO for TPMS monitoring. 

With these integrations, Gal said customers now get visibility into best-in-class ATIS, TPMS, and wheel-end monitoring systems directly in the Samsara dashboard so they can spot problems early and can help prevent unplanned maintenance, trailer downtime, and compliance issues. 

Moreover, he added, fleets can set up alerts to flag issues in real time and have notifications sent to the Samsara Dashboard or Samara Driver App, so drivers and fleet managers can quickly address urgent issues. 

Making Drivers and Fleets More Efficient 

Organizations can lose hundreds of hours of driver and administrative time each year due to operational challenges, including yard hunts and mispulls.

To help drivers make the most of their time, Samsara is introducing Asset Search—a new feature that enables them to locate trailers in real time, wherever they may be. 

Using the Samsara Driver App, drivers can see their assigned trailer, get directions to it, and get on the road faster avoiding lengthy yard hunts and ultimately improving overall productivity.

With Samsara’s Tractor-Trailer Mismatch Alert, fleets can halt costly mispulls in minutes by receiving real-time notifications whenever the wrong trailer is pulled. 

Gal said this feature also helps identify and correct errors in dispatch systems, preventing chain-reaction delays and potential load damage. By maintaining accurate trailer information, fleets can ensure on-time deliveries and keep customers satisfied.

Significant Savings for Fleets

Customers are already realizing a range of benefits using Samsara’s Smart Trailer solution, Gal reported.

DHL, one of the largest logistics companies worldwide, is using Smart Trailers to improve tracking. 

"Samsara’s trailer mismatch alerts help ensure the right driver is using the right equipment,” said Jennifer Miller, vice president, integrated supply chain, DHL. “By integrating Samsara with Ortec, we can automatically verify tractor and trailer assignments. Ortec assigns the correct tractor and trailer, then pings Samsara every five minutes to confirm location and compliance. If a mismatch occurs, it alerts us immediately, helping to prevent errors and improve tracking."

Another example Gal cited is Daylight Transport, one of the nation’s leading expedited LTL carriers. 

This fleet uses Samsara Smart Trailers to improve trailer utilization by 48% and save $250,000 annually, Gal said. 

"With Smart Trailers, we ensure all of our trailers are regularly used, improving efficiency by 48%,” said Hayley Jarvis, director of linehaul and maintenance, Daylight Transport. “We can also easily identify what trailers we should phase out and what our new purchase needs are. With Samsara, we save an average of $250,000 a year by reallocating underutilized trailers." 

BCP Transportation, a full-service trucking company based in Wisconsin, is also using Smart Trailer features to save time and proactively address trailer issues. 

"Smart Trailer ATIS and ABS features allow our technicians to proactively manage alerts and plan equipment maintenance far more effectively,” said Tim Lewer, facility & systems manager, BCP Transportation. “We've been able to pinpoint issues and codes much faster without additional software, helping us to reduce diagnostic time by at least one hour per incident. The trailer Mismatch feature helps our dispatchers ensure the accuracy of trailer assignments. Dispatchers can alert drivers as mismatch issues pop up throughout the day, helping to keep our operations running smoothly."