(Credit: Hill Bros)
Trucking and logistics service company Hill Brothers Transportation will implement dry and refrigerated trailer monitoring platforms to manage its fleet and improve operations, which will also lead to better fuel efficiency.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based Hill Brothers Transportation (Hill Bros) will use the refrigerated monitoring platform to track the location and temperature of freight. The dry trailer monitoring platform provides data on where a trailer is and if it is loaded, improving operations efficiency, which will help save time and fuel.
The platforms from ORBCOMM will help Hill Bros manage all of its operations in one place, produces reports by asset type and provides updated data when the company needs the information.
Product transportation is a big piece of supply chain sustainability, and the US Department of Energy estimates that idling trailers produce up to 11 million tons of emissions a year, and waste more than 1 billion gallons of fuel at a cost of more than $3 billion. Last year the agency launched a $199 million initiative, which includes freight shipping, to help improve transportation sustainability.
The dry trailer monitoring system features a solar panel with a long-lasting battery and charging capabilities. ORBCOMM says the system can reduce idle assets by as much as 40% in the first month of use.
The refrigerated system has mapping, reports, alerts and exception management with real-time data to help Hill Bros increase the utilization of its refrigerated trailers. The platform keeps track of temperature and sends alerts if there are problems, which will help reduce the spoilage of products, keeps a historical analysis of a trailer and tracks fuel use and maintenance needs.
Cold storage and transportation can be an important piece of fleet and business sustainability practices. Last year PLM Fleet unveiled an electric zero-emissions refrigerated trailer, and Thermo King has a refrigerant that it says can cut emissions of delivery fleets in half.
UPS Healthcare has opened cold chain facilities to improve supply chain efficiencies, as it says it expects cold chain transportation and packaging services to grow by 24% through 2024. Amazon started using its own recyclable cold grocery delivery packaging last year as well.
Hill Bros began installing the systems in February and expects to complete the deployment by July.