FleetPulse spun off from Great Dane, raises $11M for trailer telematics

Note: The story has been updated to clarify fundraising details.

Trailer telematics provider FleetPulse announced Wednesday it is spinning off as its own company after being incubated under trailer manufacturer Great Dane since 2017.

“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,” Rick Mullininx, president and COO of Great Dane, said in the release.

The telematics provider is launching independently with $11 million raised including a $6 million seed round led by Four More Capital.

“We have been proud investors in companies like Platform Science, and we’ve been thinking about where we can continue to light up different aspects of the trucking ecosystem. … When the opportunity came to invest in technology aimed at enhancing the very component protecting consumers’ valuable products, the trailer, we were excited to contribute,” Andrew Crown, co-founder and partner at Four More Capital, told FreightWaves.

FleetPulse is also enlisting the help of industry experts on its executive team and advising team as it takes its first independent steps.

Former Uber Freight executive Carl-Christoph “CCR” Reckers will lead as chief executive officer, having previously served as vice president of operations at Uber Freight, where he oversaw a multitude of project including its Powerloop offering.

Former Convoy co-founder and CEO Dan Lewis, who now is a technical adviser under its acquirer, Flexport, will also advise FleetPulse as it works on growing its telematics offerings.

“FleetPulse is solving a problem that costs trailer operators millions of dollars a year and is delivering real improvements in trailer safety, security and efficiency — which are only becoming more important as we see a renewed industry focus on the trailer as a strategic asset. We’re thrilled to welcome CCR to drive progress forward,” Lewis said of the company’s new leadership and trajectory.

The future of the trailer

The FleetPulse offering was originally a research and development project under Great Dane to digitize the trailer.

“From day one of the project, the team was working with trailer customers, understanding their needs and feeding that into the product development process. I think that is a differentiator to other telematics solutions in the market,” Reckers told FreightWaves.

Reckers explained that now the company is looking to become independent to service the needs of all fleets by becoming OEM-agnostic.

“We have just started working with other OEMs, but we are also looking to begin growing our partnerships with software and data companies in a much more agile manner. Being on our own, we can move faster towards those opportunities,” he explained.

He also believes the industry is just seeing the very beginning of where trailer offerings can go.

“A trailer has been a black box. Even in a decade where telematics is becoming standard, the trailer hasn’t really been touched. That also means fleet managers are just buying a trailer and then it becomes a steel asset. With telematics, that journey changes because you can add capabilities to the trailer even later in the life cycle,” Reckers said.

The FleetPulse team plans to leverage modern technology to enhance cargo safety, securement, trailer utilization and performance now that it has the independence to align itself with the market and attack its go-to-market strategy more aggressively.

Reckers emphasized that, fueled by its capital infusion, the company is poised to advance its technology road map swiftly. Moreover, it will bolster both its commercial and support infrastructure to provide enhanced assistance to fleets utilizing FleetPulse, elevating service standards.