Truckload carrier Hirschbach will add Phillips Connect and ConMet smart trailer technologies to 1,200 new refrigerator trailers they will purchase in 2021, the companies report.
The sensor technologies chosen by Hirschbach are designed to provide increased visibility to the health of their refrigerated trailers resulting in a significant increase to uptime and driver satisfaction to support their strong customer service initiatives. Included on the new trailers will be the Phillips Connect Smart7 integrated telematics hub with ABS Fault√, Light Out√, Remote Pre√, ATIS Monitoring√, and Door√.
For the Hirschbach trailers, ConMet will be the connected wheel end of choice with their PreSet Plus SmartHub, an integrated health monitoring system that will generate actionable data on hubs, tires and brakes through the Phillips Connect gateway, according to the news release.
Hirschbach currently operates 1,800 class 8 trucks and 3,400 trailers and expects to purchase 500 power units in 2021 in addition to the 1200 trailers.
“Hirschbach is committed to increasing uptime for the benefit of both our customers and our drivers,” commented Nick Forte, vice president of maintenance. “Having visibility to the health of our trailer assets while in service and even before they are dispatched is extremely important. It’s a waste of valuable driver time to dispatch them to get a trailer with a problem, not to mention the negative effect it can have on shipping commitments.”
The Phillips Connect Smart7 is an integrated 7-way nose box with cellular gateway, GPS tracker, and sensor hub all-in-one that maintains continuous 4G-LTE connection to the trailer. It is built to be as easy to install as Phillips standard nose boxes and requires no additional harnessing or electrical connections.
“This is a big win for us at Phillips Connect because we know Hirschbach is a leader in adopting new technologies that improve fleet operations,” Rob Phillips, president and CEO, said. “The fact that they chose our product, along with ConMet, for their latest upgrade confirms our product development strategy is on the right path.”
ConMet’s PreSet Plus SmartHub is billed as the first connected health monitoring system integrated into a hub assembly. SmartHub sensors tap into hub, tire, and brake performance data, alerting fleets of any performance anomalies. The data is also analyzed and compared to ConMet’s test engineering expertise in order to create insightful information that allows fleet managers to make more informed wheel end maintenance decisions.
“ConMet is excited to partner with Phillips Connect to bring SmartHub technology to forward-thinking fleets like Hirschbach,” ConMet President John Waters said. “It’s this type of collaboration that realizes the greater vision of bringing connectivity and intelligence to the heavy-duty industry.”