Insights for the Road Ahead
It is undeniable that the future of trailer technology is one defined by data and compelled by connectivity. Telematics—the tech by which we turn an inert, lifeless trailer into one that communicates with drivers, fleet managers, and service centers—will not only become so ubiquitous within the transportation industry so as to become wholly unremarkable after a short while, but it will also be one of the tools by which the trail to autonomous trucking is blazed.
Though in retrospect, the shift from where we reside currently to where we’ll be when driverless trucks are delivering cargo to autonomous warehouses will likely be one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it leaps in capability, a great deal has to happen along the way.
For their part, Great Dane’s telematics platform, FleetPulse, is helping to lead the charge, collecting vital data from the road and delivering that information to fleets at the touch of a button. But what to do with that data? What good is an aggregation of hundreds of specific data points if one doesn’t know how to apply that intelligence to the haul? This near Morrissette-ian dilemma is actually easier to solve than managers might think—one just has to know how to decipher the data.
FleetPulse, and telematics more broadly, is intended to help you optimize your fleet. In an industry where time quite literally means money, the fleet that streamlines is the fleet that outshines. As FleetPulse Sales Manager and telematics tutor, Justin Garver, explains, the data delivered by FleetPulse may seem complicated, but in actuality it can help you come to some bigger picture determinations. “You’d be surprised, but something as simple as mileage is a metric that has eluded fleet owners for years.”
“By recording weekly, monthly, etc. mileage records, fleets can better assess which trailers are doing what percentage of the driving and at what frequency.”
—Justin Garver, FleetPulse Sales Manager
But utilization metrics don’t end there and neither do the ways one can adjust the profile of a given fleet. “Another easy means of figuring out which piece of equipment is right for you and whether or not you’re properly utilizing your current fleet is by weight.”
“Overloaded trailers—that is to say, trailers that consistently reach or slightly exceed how much weight with which a logistics manager would or reasonably should burden a trailer—are an indication that you might want to upgrade to a fleet comprised of larger trailers. Underloaded trailers, signify the opposite and maybe a pup versus a 53-footer is right for you.”
All this is, of course, not to mention the myriad safety issues FleetPulse addresses, as well as its role in escorting fleets away from the nightmare of reactive repairs and into the dream that is predictive maintenance.
Deciphering the data doesn’t require a degree in systems engineering, nor are the stats themselves so impenetrable that the only way an analyst looking to get the most out of their fleet need acquire a chisel and some sort of digital hammer. If your questions are sharp, so too will be answers telematic data provides. Ah, finally—a knife among spoons.
Want more? Listen to our Telematics Webinar Series – Deciphering the Data: Insights for the Road Ahead.
