CV Focus episode 17 - Alan Hunt

Intelligence is the difference… 

From the outside a trailer looks like a box on wheels; but now technology will tell you everything about it from where it’s going, where it is in real-time, what the temperature is (if it’s refrigerated) and so much more – even when the door was last opened.

Alan Hunt, MD at Schmitz Cargobull UK and Ireland explains why the intelligent trailer – such as reporting the brake pad and tyre pressures – is so important, by benefitting operators with reduced downtown and improved productivity.

Chatting with Matt Eisenegger, he talks about why – curiously - Schmitz Cargobull wants to see fewer trailers on the road, and how intelligence from local markets is incorporated into its trailer designs.

Its technology ranges from fuel efficiency, to telemetry and the running gear. Alan talks about why an integrated trailer makes more sense as it brings everything together in one portal to increase operating efficiency.

The system can also recognise ‘smart pallets’ as they are loaded and unloaded from a trailer, removing the burden of keeping track of your loads.

Alan also explains how its trailers’ telematics work with the tractor unit – and how it is integrated with all major manufacturers – so that operators can decide what reporting they want, to get the best utilisation from their trailers.

Looking to the future, they chat about removing diesel-powered generators for refrigerated trailers with Schmitz Cargobull’s new move to electric-only refrigeration, and how the changes to the market are influencing trailer design.