Environmental Sensors

The Motive Environmental Sensors is a smart sensor that helps Fleet Managers and Fleet Admins monitor reefer assets with ease and accuracy. It delivers real-time temperature and humidity monitoring alongside historical reporting and alerting so teams can maintain cold chain integrity and resolve claims efficiently.

Overview 

The Environmental Sensors provides continuous visibility into temperature and humidity inside refrigerated trailers, enabling proactive action and audit-ready documentation. These sensors are compatible with all reefer makes and models—no additional Thermo King or Carrier accessories required. To get real-time visibility, you need a Motive Asset Gateway, a 4020 cable connected to the reefer, and Motive’s Bluetooth-based sensors. Each Asset Gateway supports up to 6 sensors for independent zone-level readings in single- or multi-zone reefers. The Environmental Sensors is monitoring-only and cannot remotely control temperature or humidity.

• Real-time monitoring: Track temperature and humidity continuously through the Fleet View. 
• Historical temperature reports: Access detailed logs to investigate issues and support load claims.  
• Proactive temperature alerts: Get notified when a reefer deviates from the desired range.

Note: Each asset gateway supports up to 6 sensors allowing independent temperature and humidity readings for each zone in a single or multi-zone reefer. Environmental Sensors can only monitor, not remotely control temperature and humidity.

Basics 

As an Environmental Sensor, it keeps Fleet Managers aware of various environmental factors:

• Allows real-time monitoring of the temperature and humidity of fleets.
• Provides access to historical temperature reports to help with any load claims.
• Set up temperature alerts to be notified whenever reefer temperature is out of the set range.

These sensors are compatible with all reefer makes and models, eliminating the need for additional Third-party reefer accessories. However, you need the Motive Asset Gateway, and CABLE-AG-31.2-8WR or CABLE-AG-31.2-3WR  connected to the reefer.

Note: An Asset Gateway or a Vehicle Gateway must have been assigned an Asset to assign a Door and Environmental Sensor, and the Asset Gateway should be cable-powered for ideal performance.

Viewing assets with Environmental Sensors on the Fleet Dashboard

1. Log in to the Fleet Dashboard and click on Fleet View.
2. Click on the Map tab and scroll down to find an asset with an Asset Gateway connected to an Environmental Sensor.
3. Hover over the snowflake icon to get an overview of the Environmental Sensor’s readings.

Note: Look for the assets with a snowflake icon next to them. Set up the Asset type to Reefer for the snowflake icon to appear.

4. Clicking on the asset opens the details to check further insights about the Environmental Sensors under the Carrier section.

Remotely controlling a reefer

1. Log in to the Fleet Dashboard and click Fleet View
2. In Live, select any vehicle with an asset gateway connected to a reefer.

Note: To get a quick view of the reefer temperature, hover over the snowflake icon.

 

3. In the detailed view, click on Configure in the Telematics section.

4. Click Change > Send Command to set your desired commands. 

• Zone: refers to the number of temperature zones in your reefer trailer. Each zone can be individually controlled using the slider.

• Mode:
  • Continuous: The reefer unit will start automatically and run continuously to maintain the set point and provide constant airflow
  • Cycle: The reefer unit will start and stop automatically to maintain the set point, keep the engine warm, and the battery charged. 
  • Sleep: This mode is intended to allow the operator to shut down the unit, but have it monitor the ambient outdoor temps, as well as the battery voltage, and start the reefer engine if either of those parameters falls outside of the preset values.

• Set point
  • A Set point is the desired temperature for your reefer trailer/zone.

• Pre-trip
  • Pre-trip verifies Reefer operation. If a Pre-trip Test is initiated with the engine or electric motor not running, a Full Pre-trip Test will be performed. If a Pre-trip Test is initiated with the engine or electric motor running, a Running Pre-trip Test is performed. Pre-trips cannot be run if the reefer is in sleep mode, or if there are active alarms.

Unpairing and repairing Environmental Sensors

An Asset Gateway is crucial to get the most out of your Environmental Sensor. In the cases where you need to replace your current Asset Gateway, the Environmental Sensor will need to be unpaired to the current Asset Gateway and then re-paired to a new Asset Gateway in order for the sensors to function properly

Note: The Environmental Sensor cannot be paired or unpaired through the Fleet App.

1. Sign in to the Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin button.

2. Go to  Organization> Assets and on the desired asset, go to three dots > Edit Asset. 

   

3. Scroll down to Sensors and click Replace next to Asset Gateway.

4. Click Save.

   

5. Alternatively, add an Asset Gateway to the Fleet Dashboard if you have a new one. 

   

   

Repairing the Environmental Sensors

1.  Press and hold the reset button of the Environmental Sensor for 4 seconds, and then release. The LED will blink red once. This indicates the sensor being unbound from the previous Asset Gateway, and ready to be re-paired

Note: Any data not uploaded to the Asset Gateway and transferred over to the Motive Fleet Dashboard will NOT be erased and will be saved on the Environmental Sensor’s memory. When a new Asset Gateway has been assigned and connected to the Environmental Sensor, all data will be transmitted to the Asset Gateway.

2. Press and release the same reset button, and the LED will start blinking blue for 20 seconds. This indicates that the Environmental Sensor is in the process of connecting to the newly assigned Asset Gateway. 
3. Once the Asset Gateway and sensor have paired, the telematics data starts showing up on the dashboard. 
4. Confirm the connection by logging in to the Fleet Dashboard and viewing if the Environmental Sensor data is available. Alternatively, check the LED after 10 minutes of the pairing process. If the LED is a solid blue, the connection is successful. If it shows blinking blue still, then the device is still in the process of pairing. 

Viewing real-time environmental monitoring 

To see all the temperature-related information of the reefer's: 

1. Log in to the Motive Dashboard and go to Fleet View > Filter > Assets.
2. Look for Assets with a snowflake symbol next to them and hover over the snowflake icon to get an overview of the Environmental Sensor’s readings. 

3. Click on the asset and scroll down to the actual device information, including the Status, VIN, Make/Model, Type, and last update time, appears.

Asset Level Temperature Telematics

To see real-time insight into the asset's temperature and humidity: 

1. Log in to the Motive Dashboard and go to Fleet View > Vehicle > Live > Sensor Data. 

Reefer Temperature Alerts

Reefer Temperature Alerts allow you to get real-time email alerts or notifications whenever your reefer’s temperature is outside your desired range.

Creating Alerts for Environmental Sensors

Fleet Admin can create alerts to stay updated when the temperature of a reefer trailer exceeds the desired temperature. To set up an alert: 

1. Log in to the Motive Dashboard and go to Admin > Alerts > Create Alerts. 

2. Enter a name for the alert, select Reefer Temperature under Type. 

3. Click Select for the asset you want to create an alert for and mark the checkboxes in the desired Groups or Assets. Alternatively, mark the checkbox for All Entities to make the alert applicable for all assets. 

4. Click on the dropdown of Trigger alert when and choose the desired option. 
5. Enter the Minimum and Maximum temperature range to trigger alert, time to trigger alert and select the trigger range. 

6. Click Select to choose recipients, add External Recipients if needed and click Save. 

Viewing Environmental Sensors reports 

Motive Fleet Dashboard is designed to give Fleet Managers and Admins a better idea about their fleet’s performance. The Refeer Activity and Door Sensor Events Report can be viewed to help with audits and understand historical temperature, humidity, and door status (open and closed) data.

Reefer Activity Reports

Reefer Activity Reports give you an unlimited  

To view  historical temperature & humidity data for a specific reefer

1. Log in to the Motive Dashboard and go to Reports > Browse > Assets > Reefer Activity.

2. Apply filters like asset, dates, data, and frequency (15min, 30min, 1hr) to have a better access to the required report.
3. Download the filtered report by clicking the three dots button and selecting Export as PDF or CSV based on your preference.

FAQs

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