What You Need To Know About IoT Trailer Tracking

Supply chain management is a field of diverse challenges. It requires liaising with transport operators, suppliers, clients, and other key personnel, while also ensuring the security and condition of the goods that pass through your storage facilities. It is a demanding, fast-paced, and competitive industry where efficiency and organisation are highly valued.

Supply chain managers are often pressed to make quick decisions, which may have far-reaching impacts on the entire operation. Enabling this requires reliable real-time data on vehicles carrying valuable cargo. To bridge this industry gap, IoT trailer tracking technologies have emerged as a potential long-term solution.

How does IoT enable trailer location tracking and utilisation?

Reliable, accurate, and durable GPS tracking devices are fundamental to IoT-led optimisation of industries. They collect live location data from trailers and provide transparent monitoring of all current deliveries. Location tracking of trailers enables instant identification of which trailers are linked to specific prime moves. These details can be invaluable during operations and streamlines the entire process. This can mean faster delivery times and better management of supply-chain inventory passing through. Location tracking also lets you know if your trailers are currently travelling on the roads or if they are sitting stationary at the shipyard.

The raw data from trailer location is collected and analysed by a centralised system, before being relayed to the end-user in an easy-to-use dashboard interface. The dashboard displays all the relevant information required to make time-critical decisions and allows for more granular control over operations. This system can also be tweaked to provide pre-set alerts and notifications of significant events, which results in management reacting quickly to different scenarios. Over the longer-term, generated reports from data analysis also yield valuable insights which can be used to improve trailer utilisation.

Some of these insights can include identifying the amount of time trailers spent not in use, or underused, to find ways to maximise productivity and efficiency. Once identified, real-time tracking can assist operators to ensure that trailer utilisation is maximised as much as possible during daily shifts.

Learn More: 3 Ways A Heavy Vehicle Fleet Management Solution Benefits Your Construction Business

Why is trailer tracking beneficial?

The first priority for supply chain managers is often protection of their cargo. At the most fundamental level, IoT trailer tracking provides a layer of security by tracking the current location of your trailers in real time. This protects against cases of theft, and provides accountability in cases where items are damaged or lost.

Knowing where all your trailers are at any given time, and having geo-fences which send alerts when cargo travels out of virtual boundaries, gives managers the opportunity to focus on other aspects of their work. This can in turn lead to productivity gains with mundane administrative work being automated away.

Trailer tracking is able to significantly boost operational efficiency. It empowers better decision making, as generated reports highlight areas for improvement. Shoring up such weaknesses results in increased optimisation, reduced overheads, and potential for higher profits.

GPS tracking also means that delivery routes can be pre-calculated and even adjusted for traffic conditions to not only shorten turnaround times, but also send alerts when transports are set to be delayed. This allows management to be more predictive rather than reactive in their response which also benefits customer support capabilities.

Over their lifetimes, trailers typically see a lot of use. Like any other vehicle, breakdowns will happen occasionally and maintenance will need to be scheduled. However any time a trailer breaks down during operation, it directly impacts the profitability of a business.

With IoT devices integrated into trailers, it is possible to identify which trailers will need preventive maintenance. Doing this can prevent breakdowns from happening while trailers are out on the road. Trailers can be scheduled for maintenance after a set number of miles driven, and all of this data can be tracked via the central database. With such technology in place, logistics companies can avoid expensive downtimes and keep things running smoothly.

How do trailer tracking systems ensure durability?

Cross-border tracking systems consist of key GPS components which need to function reliably across a wide range of conditions. They need to resist dust, be tamper-proof, withstand changes in humidity and temperature, and give accurate readings even after minor impacts or heavy vibrations. At Overdrive we understand these concerns and ensuring that our IoT devices are robust and durable is a top priority.

Battery power considerations

Ensuring sufficient power is another important aspect of IoT trailer tracking. GPS devices need the capability to work independently and cannot be expected to rely on external sources of power. Battery life for such devices should last at least a few years such that constant maintenance is not a hassle.

Alerts should also be periodically sent out when any GPS tracking device is low on battery. This ensures continuity of services and systems that depend on real-time IoT trailer tracking.

IoT trailer tracking and other fleet management solutions are a game changer for the logistics industry. When utilised to their full potential, they might have several knock-on benefits in terms of better customer service, lowered insurance rates, and overall more optimal end-to-end management. Where profit margins are thin, IoT technologies give companies a competitive edge over other businesses and are an investment which can potentially pay dividends in the long term.

With our suite of holistic IoT solutions, Overdrive is a regional leader in real-time asset management and monitoring. If you are interested in IoT trailer tracking and its real world applications, you can learn more about it in our published case study. The study involved bluetooth trailer tracking of southeast asia’s leading steel producer, to optimise their business model in rugged environmental conditions. Read the case study here.

If you have any questions or need a quote, do not hesitate to contact us today and reach out to our customer support team.