There’s no question that telematics has become an increasingly vital part of the trucking industry. Telematics technologies have provided both drivers and logistics professionals with more and more ways to reduce downtime, increase efficiency and improve performance on the road. All of this equals the potential for greater revenue and better brand management.
If you’ve found that you aren’t reaping the full benefits of trailer telematics, it could be that you just need a little bit of direction on how to get the most from this evolving technology. Thankfully, this isn’t hard to do with just a few changes to your workflow.
Below are some ways to maximize the value of trailer telematics technology:
Pay Attention to Your Data
All of the data in the world isn’t going to do you any good if you aren’t analyzing it. If you haven’t already, take a look at your telematics data insights. This information can help motor carriers make critical decisions and shape policies that save money and deliver better performance.
For example, data insights from your trailer telematics platform can alert your maintenance team of mechanical problems as soon as they are discovered. This can then give you the chance to route the affected driver to get the issue corrected before it leads to extended downtime.
Through data insights, you can also see when and how vehicle functions take place. This can alert you to potential security risks like a trailer door being opened in an unsecured area.
Get Your Data to the Right People
Many motor carriers employ a large and diverse workforce. This workforce can include a number of departments, and each one needs access to specific data. Generating comprehensive reports is fine, but when one department has to spend time sifting through pages and pages of data to find pertinent information, the process puts a drag on productivity.
This is why you should consider routing data through your trailer telematics platform to the right department instead of sending everyone comprehensive data that includes information for all departments. Most modern platforms offer ways to split different data sets to be sent to different destinations, so utilize these functions for greater efficiency.
Merge Technologies
Motor carriers can also increase productivity by merging things like smart sensor technologies with a trailer telematics platform. You may already employ trailer product cameras to check load capacity, but have you considered using volumetric cargo sensors?
These types of sensors can interface with your trailer telematics platform and automatically report data to alert motor carriers of available capacity as a driver makes deliveries. This can help your logistics team with routing, it can maximize planning and workload anticipation and it can get goods where they need to be faster with less waste of resources and cargo space.
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