P.S.I.'s EVP, Jonathan Gravell offers insights into our Smart Trailer success.
By Alex Keenan | Fleet Maintenance
"If trailers could talk, wouldn't that make the technician's job a lot easier?
Various systems could just tell you what's wrong and what they need to get right again. Thanks to the advent of sensors and telematics, modern trailers really do talk. Smart components such as tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and transport refrigeration units (TRUs) can now indicate to management and drivers anything from tire pressure to trailer temperature.
This lets fleets prevent losing a load of perishables due to a faulty condenser, or avoid a blowout by taking care of an under-inflated tire.
"We've had certain customers give us feedback of a 70% reduction in roadside calls," said Jonathan Gravell, EVP of Pressure Systems International, which makes TPMS devices and telematics software. "That's huge. It really is a great opportunity to turn your fleet from being reactive to proactive."
If one component can do that, then there's no limit to the benefits a fleet could reap when every system on their trailer has been given a voice to articulate exactly what its current condition is. This enhanced communication, made more possible with telematics on the software side and improved gateways on the hardware end, makes the fleet more informed and more profitable, too.