Drōv Technologies, a leader in the smart truck and trailer movement, is out to make tank trailers smarter with its AirBoxOne.
The company’s comprehensive new smart tanker solution, which will debut during National Tank Truck Carriers’ Tank Truck Week next week in Dallas, integrates smart components and sensors into the tanker through the AirBoxOne platform. Using wired and wireless technologies, AirBoxOne provides the most robust platform for aggregating smart solutions and sensors around the tanker, today and in the future, the company said.
This way, key operational and safety information flows directly from the vehicle to the fleet and the driver, relaying diagnostics in real time to enhance safety, security, tire life, fuel economy, and operational efficiencies—all while reducing maintenance cost and downtime.
Drōv AirBoxOne can read any sensor on the tanker, change and control tire pressure, enable camera setups on the tanker, and connects to the driver, Drōv said. It provides tire-pressure monitoring and integrates electronically controlled tire management that inflates and deflates based on load. AirBoxOne doesn’t stop there: It connects to exterior and rear-view cameras, ultrasonic backup sensors, and additional sensor integrations to detect everything from wheel-end temperature and load weight to extreme G-forces, and safe loading and unloading.
Fleets can leverage this data to improve preventive maintenance, increase operational efficiencies and asset utilization, decrease maintenance costs, and improve their safety record. Drōv helps fleets more effectively manage rolling assets and gain confidence that they are being operated safely on the road. All of this becomes ever more important with the future expectations of operating fully autonomous trucks, which would in effect remove the driver from the cab, making a full communication link between the trailer and truck essential.
“AirBoxOne features state-of-the-art technology,” Drōv said. “This system captures and sends multipoint operational data to your logistics center. Adding Drōv’s AirBoxOne to your fleet brings a new level of analytics to your operation’s bottom line. The system provides multiple solutions to make trailers smart and can be customized to meet the specific needs of a fleet.”
Cloud communications and power
Fleets can receive real-time health alerts whenever there is a change in conditions as detected by the various sensors configured with AirBoxOne. These alerts, along with real-time information on tanker status, location, etc., are transmitted via secure cloud communications to authorized Drōv web-based mobile or desktop users and provided to fleets via an available software API. The driver will be notified via mobile app when system alerts are triggered for issues with tire pressures, brakes, hubs, door position, and other warnings. Through the rear- and side-view cameras as well as ultrasonic sensors, drivers and autonomous power units now have visibility behind and around the tanker.
AirBoxOne primarily runs on auxiliary power and has a backup battery and solar charging. These three power sources are redundant to make sure the system can always function. Whether due to a worn-out socket, a bad cable or a blown fuse in the tractor, sometimes auxiliary power is either intermittent or not available. The solar power charges the backup battery in absence of auxiliary power and allows for frequent wake-ups of AirBoxOne when the tanker has been sitting on location for longer periods of time.
