What Are Your Trailers Worth To Your Business?

When it comes to protecting and monitoring your HGV fleet, we often find that the focus rests on the tractor units themselves. It makes a lot of sense. Your overall fleet performance depends on maintaining peak efficiency. Keeping an eye on fuel usage and driver performance alongside devising optimised transport routes will all have an impact on your bottom line. However, good security is also vitally important. We’re sure that you already protect your tractor units against theft, but losing a trailer could have an even greater impact. What are your trailers worth to your business and what are you doing to protect them?

Trailer value

Historically, we’ve treated a tractor unit and trailer as a single vehicle. However, whilst improvements in tracking technology are acting as a deterrent against vehicle theft, trailer and cargo thefts are on the increase.

Simply put, the value of the cargo you carry often vastly outweighs the cost of your vehicle. We know that an average haulage firm will typically have 2.5 times as many trailers as they do tractor units. That makes the risk of trailer loss much greater, particularly if you’re using trailers to store your customers’ goods prior to delivery.

Potential impacts of trailer loss

Losing a trailer has a clear financial impact, both to you and your customers. However, the costs can go beyond those associated with replacing stock or one of your assets. Any type of theft will inevitably end up in an insurance claim. Where a customer’s goods are involved that could mean a lengthy argument with your own customer via your insurance companies. Even the simplest claim can be a headache.

If your customer is saying that you didn’t take proper care of their delivery the effects could go beyond the initial financial impact. Your reputation could also be affected and those kinds of costs are much harder to calculate.

The challenge

One of the most significant challenges in combatting trailer theft has been developing the right technology. When new clients come to us it’s usually because they’re looking for a fully integrated system. Their existing fleet software often has several different components that aren’t working together smoothly or achieving the results they’re looking for. The last thing they need is another separate system to add into the mix.

The challenge for us was to develop technology that helped to combat trailer theft that would also work seamlessly with our existing systems. We wanted to make sure that we offered our clients full control whilst still saving them time.

Our solution

We’re delighted to be able to offer Link 340, a unique solution that tracks trailer assets and can also be customised to suit our customers’ needs. The system is digitally coupled with the truck and has its own 4G modem. It is shown on our WEBFLEET system so it can all be monitored via the same interface.

The Link 340 can also send you instant alerts based on your own monitoring options. For example, it can tell you if the trailer or asset leaves a defined area or if it’s been disconnected from the tractor unit*. If the trailer is taken and the battery disconnected you’ll still be able to get a daily location report for a period of 3 months. That will not only help you and the police recover your property, it’ll impress your insurers as well.

To find out more about how the Link 340 could work for your fleet, get in touch.

*Feature available from Q4 2019