Five Questions to Ask When Choosing a Trailer Tracking Solution

By Mike Soricelli, Segment Development Manager, EROAD

Trailers far outnumber trucks in most commercial fleets, making it difficult to keep tabs on the location, health and readiness of those assets. Lack of trailer visibility can result in:

• Loss of potential revenue due to underutilization.

• Driver frustration because of trailer location and maintenance problems.

• Safety and compliance issues ranging in severity.

Trailer tracking is the solution, but not all trailer telematics devices are equal. Here are five questions to ask when weighing your options to ensure you maximize the powerful benefits trailer tracking has to offer.

1. Does it report consistently?

If you’re not consistently gathering data, your trailer tracking return on investment (ROI) goes out the window. Still, many suppliers have products where as much as 15% of trailer telematics data isn’t reporting. That’s a giant data gap that makes it hard to get the most out of a trailer tracking solution. Ensure your asset trackers have a high-capacity battery that provides consistent, reliable reporting so you always know the locations of your trailers.

2. How difficult is the install?

One of the biggest ROIs of trailer tracking is increased uptime. Products that require laborintensive, time-consuming and expensive installs start eating into that ROI before you’ve even had a chance to realize it. Depending on the tracker and variables specific to your fleet, seek a device that can be installed in roughly 20 minutes or less, so you can get your assets back on the road.

3. Is it expandable?

The core function of a trailer tracker is to tell you where your assets are at any given moment. However, a smart trailer solution that incorporates a variety of sensors can do so much more to improve fleet safety, efficiency and compliance, maximizing the ROI of the trailer tracker. For instance, Bluetoothconnected sensors can provide crucial information about brakes, tires, cargo, reefer temperatures and more.

4. Is it built to last?

Commercial motor vehicles operate in harsh conditions. A tracker attached to a trailer must be able to endure those same conditions. Having to pull a trailer off the road to service a damaged telematics device – even just one

time – can cost you far more than the device did in the first place. Your tracker should be made of durable materials with specialized internal components to withstand extreme temperatures and other conditions in order to continue reporting flawlessly.

5. Is it part of an integrated solution?

Some suppliers focus only on trailer tracking. Others have solutions for a wider range of motor carriers’ needs. A trailer tracking solution that is seamlessly integrated with your overall fleet management system can help increase operational efficiency across your organization. Trackers that integrate with different telematics solutions, like electronic logging devices, dashcams and driver workflow, will provide greater overall value in the short and long term.

As you add more vehicles and asset types to your fleet, it immediately presents serious complexity to tracking, maintaining assets and assigning loads – but it doesn’t have to. You should be able to manage your entire fleet on one platform that helps simplify compliance and improves safety and efficiency. With these five questions in mind, you’ll be one step closer to finding the tracker(s) best suited for the needs of your fleet.