Great Dane has spun out its FleetPulse trailer telematics platform, which will operate as an independent company having secured US$11 million in seed funding.

It has named Carl-Christoph “CCR” Reckers as its CEO.

FleetPulse is an OEM-agnostic telematics platform that offers visibility into trailer and cargo safety and security. It was developed beginning in 2017 by Great Dane to meet its own needs to improve trailer data insights.

Many fleet customers run a mixed fleet of trailers, so it was recognized the platform would be more successful as a standalone entity.

“I’m excited to join FleetPulse at this inflection point as we scale to serve more fleet customers,” Reckers said. “We have a huge opportunity ahead of us to transform the trailer from a black box to a smart and strategic asset. Building on our incredibly deep roots in the trucking industry and strong tech talent, we are uniquely positioned to create visibility into this underserved area of the supply chain and help our customer unlock the safety and efficiency improvements needed to accelerate their business.”

Reckers was previously vice-president of operations at Uber Freight.

“As the first OEM to develop a smart trailer solution, Great Dane is proud of the growth achieved by FleetPulse and excited that these offerings can now be made available as part of an independent company to push the broader industry forward,” said Rick Mullininx, president and COO of Great Dane.