With TrailerNet, ChassisNet and ContainerNet, Phillips’ Executive Director of Innovation Gerry Mead says PCT has developed a trio of products designed specifically to address problems seen everyday in fleet operations. Mead spent many years in the fleet space before joining Phillips and says each of PCT’s new platforms are tools he knows fleets want and can use.
“When you talk about buying technology [as a fleet], you have to ask, ‘What problem does this solve for me as a fleet?'” says Mead. He mentions issues such as unexpected downtime, CSA violations, logistical inefficiencies, and component failures and says “the PCT product platforms address all those issues.”
In developing TrailerNet, ChassisNet and ContainerNet, Phillips President and COO Rob Phillips says PCT ignored every current trailer system available in the market to create something that’s completely fresh and unique to the industry. He says PCT hasn’t just developed a product, but an entire product category.
“These are truly phenomenal changes that will make a difference” to all customers, he says.
PCT says each of the platform product packages demonstrated Sunday are designed to communicate and integrate into one master channel of information about components, activity and conditions that fleets require to make sound operational and business decisions. Phillips and Mead add PCT also has partnered with 19 industry leaders (a number that is growing, they add) to bring data communication on a wide range of components to the end user.
The company further describes the PCT product portfolio as follows:
- TrailerNet Gateway with wired or wireless communication from trailer components: Available now are the GPS and the Plus package that comes standard with GPS, geofencing, trailer mileage, and 7-way voltage reporting. It has the option to add nine additional compatible sensors, such as door sensors and cargo sensors.
- ChassisNet Gateway with wired or wireless communication from trailer components: The GPS, Plus, and Pro packages are available now. The Plus package offers options to add seven compatible sensors, and the PRO package, eight compatible sensors.
- ContainerNet Gateway with wired or wireless communication from trailer components: The GPS and Plus packages are available now. The Plus package offers options to add four compatible sensors, such as door and cargo sensors.
Mead says each solution has access to the company’s proprietary user interface that provides customized dashboards, maps, maintenance summaries, and detailed reports. The open platform strategy is based on the premise that customers want choices and every company has its own unique needs. As a result, the company says a major advantage PCT has to offer are its proprietary Business Intelligence (BI) tools, a professional service that includes consultations with industry insiders to map out and design detailed analytical reporting based on fleet specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
“Something that had really stuck out to us during the development of our smart assets, was that suppliers are building out these smart components, and then simply dumping all of this data on the fleets to sort through and try to make sense of,” says Mead. “We developed these exclusive BI tools because we didn’t want our smart system and components to be cumbersome, we wanted the fleet to see their actual ROI in a live format.”
Additionally, for carriers not quite ready for the ultimate telematics solution, PCT also introduced at TMC its EZTrac and AssetTrac easy-to-install trailer solutions. Phillips says both products can be installed on a commercial trailer in five minutes or less and feature batteries that will last up to five years, depending on usage.
