Harnessing AI for Predictive Maintenance in Refrigerated Fleets

AI is advancing at a significant fraction of the speed of light (and definitely moving faster than your reefer fleet). The AI systems that are deployable right now can already tell you more about your trucks’ condition than manual logs ever could. Is that risky? Only if you don’t get with the program. Pre-AI approaches to refrigerated fleet maintenance are reactive or mile-based. Both of those miss things, but AI-fueled predictive maintenance can actually catch impending problems before they lead to breakdowns. How to harness AI for maintenance on your refrigerated fleets?

How Can AI Actually Predict Operational Snags?

Predictive maintenance systems can do a lot. They’ll give you sensor data that makes for a complete overview of your fleet’s engine performance, temperature fluctuations and potential leaks, fuel use, battery levels, and more. That’s a spreadsheet you want — but it also gives your drivers immediately actionable alerts. When sensors feed AI systems temperature spike data, open doors never have to spoil your cargo again. AI also picks up on trends that checklists would miss. Remaining useful life models help you find out when a compressor is overworking, when you’re about to face a leak, or that your temperature controls are degrading. No truck in dire need of maintenance has to stay in action in a failure-in-progress situation. When a part hits a critical point, that truck can automatically be scheduled for maintenance at the next available depot. That’s not sci-fi anymore. All of this is deployable right now. Beyond that, AI can also help you with smart route planning and more efficient defrost cycles — another topic for another day, but no less exciting.

OK, But How Do We Get That Set Up?

Cloud-based maintenance AI is a predictive engine. It crunches numbers. It doesn’t sit beside your drivers as they run their routes. You’ll need onboard sensors on your units, your engines, and your chassis, and you need the data those sensors collect to get to a centralized point. Vendors usually bundle that, but all those sensors also need to be properly configured for your predictive maintenance setup to work. That’s a whole operation, especially for aging fleets — but start small, and you’ll get a good idea of what AI systems can do for you. Even if you’re not opting in to a full AI maintenance system just yet, one that collects data and centralizes it automatically already puts you in a great position to stay competitive in the market.

Isn’t Implementing AI-Based Predictive Maintenance Expensive?

You bet. But fleets using it report downtime reductions between 20 and 40 percent, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. Your overall maintenance costs will go down. You’ll (obviously) still need mechanics, but they’ll be able to get to work on fixing budding problems right away, rather than sleuthing around for causes. You can look forward to fewer spoilage incidents and happier clients — and your audits will be a dream come true. Hours? Not anymore. Few other changes you could implement right now say “high ROI” quite as loudly as AI-based predictive maintenance. To be clear, those systems absolutely don’t mean your refrigerated trucks will never break down again (though maybe in the future — watch this space). They do give you what you need to turn unnecessary emergencies into planned pit stops. And that’s powerful.

Cannonball Express Transportation

Cannonball Express Shipping Company has been providing top-of-the-line service at a reasonable rate. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, we provide nationwide refrigerated LTL services, as well as, local delivery services. Contact us today! Nationwide Shipping Company Services:

• • Refrigerated LTL deliveries in the lower 48 states

• • Refrigerated Cross-dock

Local Shipping Company Services:

• • Redelivery Services

• • Truckload & LTL Capabilities

• • PUP

• • Cross dock

• • Transload

• Warehouse and Distribution capabilities from multiple Omaha Locations

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