Survey data shows that very few trucking carriers fully leverage smart trailer data. Many fleets have no trailers with GPS-based monitoring systems. Those that do still have a mix of connected and unconnected trailers. Even fleets operating with 100% smart trailers do not take advantage of everything telematics devices offer.
The opportunity is vast, but trucking carriers face many challenges when it comes to using the technology to make data-driven decisions. Financial and human resources and organizational culture for trucking carriers can be barriers to operationalizing telematics data.
For those who do not have the internal resources and expertise to turn this data into actionable insights, what is the best way to leverage the data streams from smart trailers? Perhaps by collaborating with a solutions partner who can interpret this data and use it to help inform business decisions, saving companies time and money in the process.
Why Are Carriers Missing Out on Smart Trailer Data?
In a recent survey conducted by FreightWaves and Spireon, just 26% of carriers said they took advantage of everything that their GPS-enabled smart trailers had to offer. Another 34% said they took advantage of about a quarter of what the smart trailer had to offer.
What’s the reason for the underutilization of this data? The fact that most trucking carriers do not have the software licenses or data professionals to ingest, analyze and act upon the tsunami of smart trailer data washing over their operations centers. As a result, more trailers are purchased, more trailers are lost, and more trailers are operating in sub-optimal conditions than are necessary. All of this of course drags down trucking carriers’ return on invested capital.
The bottom line is that trucking carriers need more than trailer data feeds. They need to be able to digest the data that is provided and use that data to drive business decisions in order for the technology to truly pay off. For those that do not have the skills and resources internally, this may require analytics and business intelligence partners who can transform data into actionable insights and provide prescriptive recommendations for how to use them.
Find out more about how carriers are using smart trailer data, challenges in operationalizing telematics data, and more in a new report from FreightWaves sponsored by FleetLocate by Spireon.
