Phillips Connect moves trailer sensor alerts into the yard

Phillips Connect introduced two new smart trailer products on Sunday at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first product, Insights, analyzes trailer sensor data to detect tire and lighting issues that might go unnoticed during a visual inspection. The second product, TrailerSignal, is a light on the trailer nose that indicates readiness for dispatch with a green light and readiness issues with an amber light.

Both products aim to address defects that can be missed during routine walkarounds and reveal themselves only during roadside inspections. These violations, including tire and lighting issues, contribute to a significant portion of vehicle out-of-service violations according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

Tire violations accounted for 20.9% of all out-of-service violations in the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s 2026 International Roadcheck, while lighting violations made up 11.9%.

Mark Wallin, president and general manager of Phillips Connect, explained that the company’s goal is to help fleets answer simple questions about the functioning of their lights and tires. Federal regulations require that all required lamps be capable of being operated at all times. Fleet operators often rely on a group of people in the yard to detect issues with trailers’ lights.

With the new sensor data provided by Insights, fleets can now identify the specific circuit with the problem, determine the likely cause, and know what a technician should check.

Insights distinguishes between partial faults and full faults, suggests likely causes, and confirms when the fault has been resolved. Some faults may appear and disappear, such as a loose wire or water in a bulb that causes a lamp to malfunction when the trailer is picked up in the morning but operates again as the day heats up. Insights can detect these patterns, alerting technicians to underlying problems even when the light appears to be functioning normally.

Tire Insights focuses on slow leaks, identifying which tire is losing air and at what rate, even when the pressure reading is normal or the trailer is using an automatic tire inflation system. It also flags ATIS malfunctions, pressure imbalance between paired tires, and miles driven on underinflated tires. Wallin noted that around half of the trailers in the market are starting to come with ATIS, and Insight's system can help fleets avoid false confidence in their tire inflation systems.

The Insights data is sent to fleet, safety, and maintenance teams through the Connect1 platform, urgent tire alerts to drivers via Phillips Connect's DriverAssist, and diagnostics to technicians through the TechAssist app. It can also generate service tickets in a fleet's maintenance system. TrailerSignal provides a visual status of the trailer's readiness from 50 feet away, charged by a solar panel and installed in as little as five minutes without any wiring.

The light remains on while the trailer is parked and turns off when the trailer is in motion. Installation can be completed with no wiring required. Fleets can choose which door, tire, light, and liftgate signals to trigger the amber light.