“FleetPulse is laying the foundation for technologies beyond telematics,” says Mike Molitor, Great Dane director of business development. “The transformational shifts that will occur in our industry, such as autonomy, electrification and smart distribution centers, will require the trailer to be designed and wired differently than it is today. And we’ve built FleetPulse with these technological advances in mind.”
When Great Dane set out to build FleetPulse three years ago, the company considered what information a fleet starting from scratch would need and what would be the best possible way to give them that information. To answer these questions, Great Dane says it worked with customers as well as component suppliers to design a system that would provide detailed data.
“FleetPulse provides a high-resolution view into the conditions of the trailer’s components and pairs that information with other proprietary information on the asset, including specs, aftermarket parts numbers and tools from all of the component suppliers that help drive maintenance costs down,” Molitor says. “Each trailer on the road is unique in how it was built, and that information is critical when it comes to maintaining trailers — and it’s information that only the OEM has.”
Beyond simply a GPS system, FleetPulse has been designed from end-to-end to meet the standards of even the most sophisticated fleets, the company says. The system’s built-in sensors collect precise measurements directly from the trailer’s components, keeping watch over key indicators like tire inflation systems, open doors, cargo weight, burned-out lights, ABS fault codes and actual mileage.
The data is collected and reported via a 4G platform so fleets are alerted to potential issues and receive reports on what maintenance needs to occur and when. This totally integrated telematics system helps fleets to solve problems faster and increase uptime by leveraging each trailer’s usage and health data with access to Great Dane’s parts list, the company says.
“The platform and sensors are hardwired, reliable and accurate from day one,” Molitor says. “And the architecture, both on the physical trailer as well as the architecture of the data protocols flowing throughout the trailer and up to both the cloud and truck, are the reasons that an integrated solution like FleetPulse, built at the OEM level, is the only way to provide fleets with the clarity and insights needed to support and grow their operations into the future.”
New partnership to support FleetPulse
Great Dane also announced a new partnership with Coretex this week in conjunction with the FleetPulse introduction. Great Dane says the partnership will enable both companies to bring customers a comprehensive data integration solution for refrigerated trailers.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with a leader like Coretex and establish a foundation upon which reefer fleets have a complete solution for their trailer and refrigeration unit,” says Molitor. “FleetPulse continues to grow beyond just GPS to help meet the needs of today’s most advanced fleets.”
Molitor adds one of the core principles behind FleetPulse is to have rigorous discipline around validating each connected component. He says the Coretex technology is a proven and tested platform and is trusted by some of the most sophisticated reefer fleets that use both Carrier and Thermo King assets.
“Together, we provide refrigerated fleets a seamless, single source of data from the combined trailer and reefer unit and eliminate the annoyance of multiple subscriptions,” Molitor says.
“Our alliance with Great Dane will provide refrigerated fleets with unprecedented peace of mind by receiving critical performance data about the trailer, the reefer unit and the cargo load itself – all within a single platform,” adds William Payne, CEO, Coretex. “By jointly focusing on providing compliance and performance assurance of both asset and load for the end customer, the FleetPulse/Coretex platform demonstrates the true value of a technology enabled fleet.”
