Phillips Industries and Spartan join forces under new company named Phillips Innovations to remove blind spots along trailers

Orange County, CA (Feb. 27, 2023) – Sensor technology leader, Spartan, and transportation industry giant, Phillips Industries, under its new business unit, Phillips Innovations, are announcing a joint development project to drastically improve situational awareness for trailers to reduce accidents.

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This partnership combines the power of Phillips’ connected trailer, safety lights, and vision technologies with Spartan’s advancements in radar to bridge the gap between tractor and trailer safety solutions.

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Tractor safety systems have grown leaps and bounds in the past decade; however, trailers have been left behind. Smart trailers are the key to unlocking the true potential of driver assistance systems and autonomous trucks of the future.

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70-percent of all goods in this country are moved on a truck, and on average, there are three trailers for every truck on the road today. Trailers substantially increase driver blind spot zones and contribute to accidents which are driving up insurance costs on fleets already strained by inflation and rising fuel costs. Removing blind zones along the trailer increases safety and reduces accidents, making our supply chain safer and more resilient.

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Dan Forthoffer, Director of R&D at Phillips, said, “It’s exciting to bring the advanced technology that Spartan has into the commercial vehicle segment to offer truck drivers safety systems similar to what we’ve come to take for granted on our personal vehicles and more. It’s our expectation that these new technologies will make trucks easier to drive and provide a significant reduction in accidents and fatalities to make the roads a safer place for all of us. This technology can also be used to provide additional data to autonomous trucks in the future to further enhance their understanding of the environment around them.”

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Teresa Prisbrey, GM of Spartan’s Commercial Vehicle Division, said, “We are excited to partner with Phillips, a market leader for almost 100 years and whose innovations are found in the most safety conscious fleets in America. Tractor-trailer combinations travel over 175 billion miles and are involved in 130,000 accidents and 4,000 fatalities annually. By utilizing this partnership’s technology designed for the autonomous vehicles of the future, we can help save lives today.”

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About Phillips

Based in Santa Fe Springs, CA, USA, Phillips Industries is a leading manufacturer of advanced electrical and air brake system components for the commercial truck and trailer industry. For 95 years, Phillips Industries has been the benchmark for quality and innovation. Phillips products come standard or are spec’d on nearly 100 percent of Class 8 trucks and more than 80 percent of trailers manufactured in North America. The evolving needs of commercial vehicle operators continue to drive product development to address the changing dynamics of the industry.  Supporting this shifting technology landscape, Phillips Innovations, its newest strategic business unit and separate company within Phillips Family Holdings, acts as an accelerator for bringing market-leading sustainable technology and trailer vision products into the Phillips platform, collaborating with some of the most advanced technology trailblazers to develop original and inventive solutions for the transportation industry. Phillips has manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Its manufacturing facilities have earned top-quality accreditations, including ISO/IATF 16949 and ISO 14001, and have received multiple prestigious customer awards. Phillips maintains active memberships and leadership positions in key industry associations, including ATA,TMC, SAE, MEMA, NTDA, HDMA, and various state trucking associations. For more information, please visit www.phillipsind.com. Follow and subscribe to Phillips Industries on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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Amber White, VP of Marketing

Phillips Connect

(562) 447-0290

awhite@phillips-connect.com

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