What can trailer tracking technology do for my truck rental or leasing company?

Imagine: You’re staring into a truck yard of thousands, similarly-colored trailers, and have one hour to locate 10 specific trailers with no clue where to begin… Sound like a familiar challenge? Without the right tools, having full visibility of your assets can be like finding a needle in a haystack — you may even have more luck finding the needle. Change those odds with trailer tracking technology for truck rental and leasing companies, giving you the ability to locate and manage your assets 24/7.

But the advantages of trailer tracking go well-beyond location detection; they’re actually as vast as the miles traveled by a trailer’s tires.

Trailer tracking technology helps truck rental and leasing companies:

• Bill clients for usage more accurately
• Respond to customers more quickly
• Save time by performing yard checks remotely
• Improve preventative maintenance scheduling
• Reduce asset theft and misuse and recover stolen assets

At SkyBitz, fleet management is our bread and butter — let’s dive into the four key ways trailer tracking can optimize your company’s rental and leasing operations.

1. Improve billing and customer responses

It’s vital that rental and leasing companies know at all times where equipment is going, what client it’s going to, and how long it’s going to be out on lease. Trailer tracking technology can help keep tabs on this information, as well as bill customers more accurately on lease duration and actual engine hours. This type of insight will allow you to take a high-level approach to management, freeing up your time to focus on other tasks, like making data-driven decisions and working more closely with customers.

In addition, if something is wrong with a trailer or a customer needs to turn in equipment, trailer tracking technology provides you with the information needed to respond quickly or make a repair. If the customer forgets where they dropped the trailer, trailer tracking allows users to easily locate the piece of equipment.

2. Better manage rental assets from anywhere

Like the opening scenario depicts, there’s nothing worse than not knowing where an asset is, especially if you’re trying to manage from afar. Trailer tracking technology uses data to give truck rental and leasing companies a better understanding of their equipment, including:

• Where trailers are currently located
• 24/7 surveillance of how trailers are being utilized
• Identification of equipment leased to clients

Rental and leasing companies can in turn upload this same information into a customer’s backend software system for further clarity, allowing them to use this data to make better business decisions on their end, too.

Visibility doesn’t end at location, either — trailer tracking technology gives you a visibility into who is leasing the equipment, how long it’s being rented, and the asset’s type or size.

3. Get visibility into your rental fleet with remote yard checks

All truck rental or leasing companies are bound to have customers who forget where they dropped off equipment or left a trailer in a truck yard. Locating a misplaced trailer is time-consuming, and while a single misplaced trailer isn’t a major loss, 10 misplaced trailers could be awfully costly.

Why spend time searching for your equipment in person when technology can locate it for you? Tracking equipment is an undertaking, and lost equipment means lost rental revenue for your business. With trailer tracking technology, your company gains the ability to perform yard checks remotely for full visibility of your assets.

Trailer tracking technology also reduces asset theft and misuse. You can set up alerts that will enable you to immediately respond to stolen or misplaced trucks or construction equipment.

4. Improve preventative maintenance scheduling

The first step to improving your preventative maintenance scheduling is arming you with the right information. Trailer tracking technology can make this task easier by tracking everything electronically. You will know:

• Mileage
• How much time is remaining on a lease
• What maintenance a piece of equipment required in the past
• How long a client may have had equipment in their possession

This will help you to determine the proper maintenance timing, replacing equipment before it breaks, while also boosting your fleet’s longevity and the overall success of your business.

So what can trailer tracking technology do for your rental and leasing company? A lot more than just keeping tabs on your trailer’s locations! With SkyBitz, you can simplify your preventative maintenance, improve safety, reduce service failures, and advance your operational efficiencies, while also empowering your rental and leasing customers to optimize their own businesses. A true win-win.