GeoLogic Solutions, Owings Mills, Md., announced it would be adding a solar powered option to its TrailerMax asset monitoring system.

TrailerMax Solar will contain all the current functionality of TrailerMax, but will be able to recharge its battery from sunlight as well as from the tractor power.
“The environmental and economical impact of using solar energy to assist with the overall management of the millions of trailers in the U.S. is enormous,” stated Norman Thomas, director of asset management sales for GeoLogic Solutions. “The battery replacement cost-savings offers a significant return on investment, but the real impact comes from giving motor carriers choices for maintaining battery power in order to ensure total system reliability.”
TrailerMax is an event-driven, user-configurable system for trailer, whether hooked to a tractor or not. “An event-driven system means a fleet manager can configure exactly when a notification is sent from the trailer,” explained Thomas. “Instead of randomly ‘pinging’ a trailer to see where it is, TrailerMax can be configured to send a message based on certain parameters, such as if it moves, if the door opens, or if a tractor is connected. This ability to send a message only when necessary not only keeps the amount of information flowing to a minimum, it also decreases overall monthly communications costs.”
Battery life and power on current trailer tracking systems depends primarily on the number of events or “messages” a trailer is transmitting. For example, if a trailer sends one message per day, average battery power on most tracking systems will last between 45 and 60 days before needing recharging.
However, trucking companies are increasingly relying on trailer sensors to provide information on cargo capacity, door open/closed status, and trailer movement. “Additional sensors use battery power,” Thomas noted, “and if a battery loses power before recharging then the trailer loses the ability to communicate, and virtually becomes ‘lost’ to the fleet.”
Furthermore, battery life on most trailer tracking products is two to three years. With the need to coordinate the replacement of batteries on every trailer at a cost of approximately $25 per trailer, the maintenance of most trailer tracking products is not only costly, it’s a daunting task.
“We consider TrailerMax Solar to be a virtually maintenance-free product,” Thomas added. “Sending one message per day, the system can last indefinitely without recharging from the tractor. Realistically we know that level of battery power isn’t necessary since every trailer is eventually connected to a tractor, but with TrailerMax Solar, battery power is one less thing our customers have to worry about.”
For more information go to www.goGeoLogic.com