Note
This feature is currently in early access. If you are interested in using this feature, please contact your Samsara representative.
If your fleet includes material spreaders used on snowplows, street sweepers, or similar vehicles, you can integrate this equipment with Samsara. Supported spreaders use a range of sensor inputs and controls to deliver measured amounts of materials such as liquid or granular salt.
By connecting your spreaders to Samsara, you can achieve the following outcomes:
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Reduce material usage: Minimize the amount of material required while maintaining complete road coverage.
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Lower ownership costs: Improve maintenance response to decrease the total cost of ownership (TCO).
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Forecast more accurately: Size your fleet with better insight into weather, speed, vehicle upkeep, and other factors.
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Improve service delivery: Provide more efficient and timely coverage of city streets.
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Support better decision-making: Base operational choices on real-time traffic, weather, and road conditions.
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Enhance safety: Ensure spreaders are functioning correctly and operated safely.
For more information about integrating and managing material spreaders, you can review the following topics to complete setup and access data:
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Confirm spreader controller compatibility: Identify which spreader controllers work with Samsara.
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Integrate a spreader controller: Connect the controller to a Vehicle Gateway and begin transmitting data.
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View spreader data: Monitor diagnostics, activity, and usage reports to inform operations.
Samsara supports integration with the following spreader controllers:
|
Vendor |
Setup Details |
|---|---|
|
RexRoth spreader controllers |
Samsara supports integration with RexRoth models 450 and 550, which have the capability of sending data to Samsara. Older models do not have the capability to send data. For setup instructions see, Set up a Rexroth Controller. |
|
FORCE America spreader controllers |
Samsara supports integration with FORCE America models 5100, 5100ex, and 6100, which have the capability of sending data to Samsara. Older models do not have the capability to send data. For setup instructions, see the installation guide for your model in Set up a FORCE America Controller |
|
Certified Power spreader controllers |
Samsara supports integration with Certified Power model SpreadSmart RX, which has the capability of sending data to Samsara. Older models do not have the capability to send data. |
|
Dickie John spreader controllers |
Samsara supports integration with Dickie John model Control Point. |
Samsara receives diagnostic information through a Samsara-provided RS232 serial cable that connects the spreader controller to the Vehicle Gateway. To integrate a spreader controller, use the following workflow:
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Ensure a Samsara Vehicle Gateway is connected to the vehicle.
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Locate the serial port on the material spreader controller.
Typically, the serial port is on the back side of the spreader controller unit located inside the cab of the vehicle. For some spreader controls, the serial port is a cable previously attached to the control unit, rather than an open port.
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Connect the serial-end of the RS232 cable to the material spreader controller.
The hardware on the RS232 cable are changeable between screws and standoffs. Use the provided null modem adapter, as needed.
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Connect the USB-end of the RS232 cable to the USB port on the Vehicle Gateway, and the serial end to the material spreader controller.
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Depending on how your spreader control was configured, you may need to enable Event Logging and/or automatic vehicle location (AVL) data transfer on the unit to enable Samsara to receive data. Please contact your Samsara implementation partner for assistance if you need assistance with this step.
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In the Samsara dashboard, navigate to Settings (
) > Devices > Configuration > Material Spreader.
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Select the spreader controller type for your organization (for example, Rexroth or Force America), to properly interpret data from your equipment. To specify the manufacturer at the vehicle level, select Edit Individual Vehicles.
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Turn on the spreader for at least 30 seconds to generate data, and confirm that Samsara is receiving spreader data.
After you select the spreader controller type and the spreader has run long enough to generate data, Samsara begins receiving information from the equipment. The following options are available to view and analyze spreader data in the Samsara dashboard:
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Diagnostics: To view diagnostics for your materials spreaders, view the diagnostics section for the vehicle on which the equipment is connected.
When relevant data is available from the spreader unit, the following spreader diagnostics are available in the Spreader section of the vehicle page sidebar:
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Spreader Mode (On / Off / Blast)
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Spread Rate (lbs/mi)
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Material Type (liquid/granular/prewet)
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Air Temperature (in Fahrenheit)
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Road Temperature (in Fahrenheit)
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Activity: You can view materials spreader activity and spread rate charts for the associated vehicle. View historical materials usage data on the vehicle page in the material spreader graph. You can display this graph by clicking the Graph Data drop-down at the top right corner of the vehicle page and selecting Material Spreaders.
Available graphs include:
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Spreader on/off/blast
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Granular spread rate
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Liquid spread rate
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Material usage: A Material Usage Report available from Reports > Assets.
The report includes any of the following relevant data from your materials spreaders:
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Summarized Data:
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Granular Total
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Liquid Total
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Pre-wet Total
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Total Lane Miles Covered
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Time Utilized
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Time Driven Vehicle-level Data:
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Vehicle Name
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Granular Spread Rate
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Granular Total
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Liquid Spread Rate
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Liquid Total
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Prewet Spread Rate
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Prewet Total
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Lane Miles
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Time Utilized
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