3 Benefits of Tracking Trailers with Telematics

Your trailers are some of the most important assets in your fleet. You rely on them to transport your products, meet deadlines, and operate efficiently on the road. Plus, with recent legislation such as the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), you need your trailers to comply with regulations and help you provide services that your customers can trust. While many companies invest in telematics devices for their fleet vehicles, fewer understand the benefits of tracking their trailers as well. If you haven’t yet invested in telematics for your trailers, read through the benefits to learn how this simple move can improve your operations.

Tracking

While early telematics options offered little more than GPS location tracking, current devices offer a far greater range of capabilities. By choosing the right telematics option for your trailers, you can gain access to load analysis, theft detection, mileage tracking, and other useful information. Many tracking devices, for example, offer maintenance capabilities. When you can closely monitor your trailers’ conditions and servicing information, you can use preventative maintenance to avoid mechanical failures during use, potentially saving dozens of lives. Your telematics can also serve as additional support to your drivers, catching any issues, changes, and needs that they might miss.

Compliance

In the U.S., there are several rules and regulations that affect shipping and your trailers. The FSMA, for example, ensures refrigerated trailers maintain safe conditions for the food products they transport. When installing trailer telematics, you gain an additional tool to help you meet any relevant regulations. Instant alerts for changes in your trailer’s atmosphere, reliable tracking and recording for trailer data, and accurate hours of service (HoS) tracking for ELD Mandate compliance can keep your company free of fines and in operation.

Operations

Most importantly, using trailer telematics can create significant improvements in your daily operations. Nearly all telematics devices offer routing data, which can help you improve the routes your drivers take and the arrival times of your shipments. Maintaining your schedule is important, so using your telematics to track your trailers and keep customers up-to-date on ETAs and locations is invaluable. Many telematics options can be tailored to meet your fleet’s specific needs, so adding telematics to your trailers can greatly improve your operations, revenue, and customer satisfaction.