HERNDON, Va. — The challenge many carrier operators face of having to manually track their dropped trailers at consignee locations may soon be a thing of the past.

Created by SkyBitz, a Virginia-based, remote asset tracking and information management company, the newly developed trailer detention management solution automatically monitors trailers stopped at customer locations and sends notifications based on established detention guidelines, which in turn is expected to improve detention awareness, customer relations and speed up trailer turn times.

“Since we first started implementing SkyBitz solutions across our fleet less than a year ago, we’ve been able to increase our trailer turns by over 60%,” said Interstate Distributor CEO and President Marc Rogers. “We’re now able to approach our customers with detailed information regarding our trailers at their locations and foster a more beneficial relationship on both sides.”

In addition to ridding the need for carrier operators to rely on consignees for updates on their dropped trailers, as well as avoiding any misuse of the equipment, the trailer detention management tool provides reduced driver idle time, frustration and fuel costs, configurable automatic detention alert notifications when free time is set to expire, recording of detention details for billing purposes, the ability to associate multiple contract profiles to a landmark location and can be integrated into transportation management systems (TMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) for detention billing.

“Many factors cause a trailer to be detained by a carrier’s customer,” said Henry Popplewell, president of SkyBitz. “It is very challenging for dispatchers and planners to monitor the process in a timely manner and be aware of trailer detention without tools. “We’re excited to enable our customers to stay better informed about the status of their trailers, while at the same time improving their customers’ satisfaction. The objective of accurate detention management is to build a better customer relationship to free up trailers quicker, not to collect more penalties.”

SkyBitz launched the detention management solution Nov. 4, and the product is currently available to all SkyBitz customers through its asset management web application.