In profile: Aaron Thomas, Managing Director and Co-founder, TRAILAR

He joined the global logistics giant DHL in 2001 and held numerous operational management roles in later years.

In 2015, while at DHL, he joined a business transformation academy where he met Denny Hulme, with whom he was later to found a new business venture.

CHANNELING INNOVATION

“We didn’t know each other at the time,” Thomas said, “but part of the programme was to go away for six months and think of an innovation or something that could seriously disrupt the transport industry in the UK, and then come back in six months’ time and present that back to  members of the UK&I DHL Board.”

Thomas and his colleagues went away and discussed ideas. After dismissing some of the more far-fetched flights of fancy, they settled upon the idea of using solar power to reduce a truck’s overall fuel consumption.

“With the rise of solar technology, we wondered if you could put solar on top of a truck, at that point to power a fridge unit.”

The pair contacted a leading solar manufacturer in Silicon Valley which made flexible solar components. Working in conjunction with the solar manufacturer and the trailer manufacturer Don Bur, they managed to create a first-of-its kind prototype solar transport solution. This proved to be the moment of epiphany.

“We realised the theory could work,” Thomas said, “You could put solar on top of a truck, but more importantly you could power ancillary equipment on that vehicle and make a trailer independent of  power from the tractor unit, so it was almost like a mobile power station.” 

THINNER, LIGHTER AND MORE FLEXIBLE

The solar mats used are significantly different from a conventional solar panel. As well as being flexible, super lightweight and a lot thinner, they are also more robust than typical monocrystalline solar panels, which Thomas said would be too high, too heavy and easily breakable. Thomas said that in terms of power efficiency, solar mats are about 17-18% efficient, compared to 17 - 20-% for conventional solar panels, and the cost of them has dramatically reduced over the years. They can be fitted as the spec on a new vehicle and are completely retrofittable too.

“Five years ago,” Thomas said, “we were the first around with this. Fast Forward to 2020 and there are a few competitors out there now, but we are leading the way, not just because we can help operators lower their fuel consumption and emissions, but because of all the data and analytics that go along with our product offering.”

MORE DATA, FEWER EMISSIONS

The fuel savings made on each vehicle that uses the TRAILAR system are calculated using telematics data. A charge control gathers all the power to where it is most needed in the vehicle at any one time, and pings messages back to show how much energy is produced by the solar mats, rather than the vehicle’s alternator.

“When a vehicle’s alternator produces that energy it obviously needs fuel to get that energy,” Thomas said, “and we can do a simple calculation of how much energy our system has generated instead of the alternator and match that to a diesel conversion. So, we can confidently sit down with a customer whether that is a bus company, a waste collection company or a logistics business like DHL, and actually tell them what they have saved in a single month.”

TRAILAR is currently developing a transport metrics dial that will allow a customer to access a dashboard in the very near future. “This will allow the end user to track fuel and CO₂ savings, but also provide operational insights like never before. It will provide operators a comprehensive, data-driven suite of information.”

ALL CLIENTS GREAT AND SMALL

TRAILAR has already secured partnerships with several large-scale logistics operations, including Royal Mail, Mawdsleys and DHL. The company has also been working exclusively with rental company Ryder on the rigid vehicle product, bus company the Go-Ahead Group, as well as further afield with waste collection vehicles in Singapore, and will shortly be working in Germany on a similar project.

Thomas is keen to establish links with local authorities across the UK, whose green agendas would make them a good fit for the TRAILAR system. “Why wouldn’t you want this system on your buses in your city centre” Thomas asks, “if you can save eight CO₂ tonnes a year?”

TRAILAR is also planning to offer a leasing model which Thomas thinks could prove attractive to local authorities, and has already had constructive conversations with the likes of Transport Minister Rachel McLean MP and others in government.

“We will make tracks and we will get there,” he said determinedly.

THE FUTURE IS DATA

Thomas sees the future for TRAILAR being the acquisition and analysis of a comprehensive set of vehicle data. “To us that is the golden nugget really, big data all the time,” he said, “We see many advantages with collecting certain vehicle data, even just the battery data and our ability to offer predictive maintenance, it’s something that others can’t offer.”

Another future opportunity he sees is the development of electric trucks. “There’s no doubt that they will come in time, so we’re already developing the technology and working with companies  around developing the system for electric vehicles to reduce charging times and drive the vehicle further.”

Whatever the next few months and years hold for the logistics industry, the future looks bright for this innovative business.

*www.trailar.co.uk

Published On: 08/10/2020 16:00:00

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