With BrakePlus, fleet teams can have their trailers’ braking systems automatically monitored. The system captures braking performance information from a trailer’s electronic braking system and presents it to fleet teams in the form of a ‘braking performance value’, which translates as a simple ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.
Being able to produce a ‘braking performance report’ periodically as part of a trailer’s service inspection record can serve as evidence of the braking performance of the trailer and help ensure fleet operators stay legally-compliant. In addition, the system provides email alerts when a braking system for a trailer begins to under-perform so that regular monitoring of the system by a user is not actually required.
Mike Furnival, TIP Trailer Services managing director UK & Ireland, said: “For a while now, the DVSA has considered EBPMS to be a valid means of assessing trailer braking performance, the output from which can be used as compliance evidence that forms part of an operator’s maintenance records.”
Development of the system is said to have taken nearly two years, including a year-long trial with several fleet operator customers and nearly one hundred UK based trailers.
BrakePlus forms part of TIP Insight, TIP’s range of telematics-based digital and connected services, and joins TyrePlus, TIP’s Tyre Pressure Monitoring System and DoorPlus (door monitoring system) as ‘add-on’ services to the core ‘track and trace’ functionality.
Furnival concluded: “Since its launch in the summer, over 3,000 trailers are now connected with TIP Insight and its modular approach enables a solution to be tailored to the needs of our customers’ fleet operation.”