Many refuse trucks now carry several modems, SIMs, and data plans, one for each onboard system. A simple connectivity audit can show which connections need to stay independent and which are just redundant.
By Patrick Hibbs
A refuse truck leaving the yard today carries far more technology than it did a decade ago. Cameras document service and safety events. A tablet guides the driver through the route. Telematics reports location, engine data, and driving behavior. Other systems handle RFID, service verification, scales, or lift monitoring.
Each system usually earns its place. The complication sits underneath them. Because onboard technology is bought at different times from different vendors, each system often arrives with its own modem, SIM, antenna, and monthly cellular plan. Over a few years, one truck can end up with several independent connections to the same networks.
As fleets keep adding connected technology, it is worth asking a basic question: does every device on the truck still need its own cellular connection?
How Connectivity Became Fragmented
Few fleets designed a complicated connectivity architecture on purpose. It grew one project at a time. A camera system arrived with a cellular modem. A driver tablet came later with its own data plan. A telematics unit brought another connection, and a safety or service-verification platform added one more.
Each decision may have made sense on its own, but looking at the truck as a whole can reveal an architecture nobody deliberately chose. What started as a collection vehicle can now resemble a small mobile network, with multiple modems, SIMs, antennas, power connections, subscriptions, and support contacts.
Meanwhile, more fleet functions depend on data moving reliably between the truck and the back office—from route management and service verification to video and maintenance applications.
The Cost Hiding in Monthly Data Plans
One data plan looks small next to the price of a truck. The picture changes when you multiply it across a fleet and over several years, and when you count what a shared connection costs as well as what it replaces.
Consider a hypothetical truck with three cellular subscriptions. Suppose the fleet finds that two of them, at $40 per month each, no longer need to stay independent and can be eliminated by moving those devices onto a shared vehicle gateway:
That $960,000 is gross avoided data-plan expense. The gateway’s own plan, sized for the combined data, plus hardware and installation, comes out of it.
These figures are illustrative, not an industry benchmark. Results depend on carrier contracts, data pooling, video volume, and how many connections can realistically move. A more useful formula for your own fleet.
For a fleet-specific estimate, start with the monthly plans that could actually be eliminated, multiply that savings across the number of vehicles and expected service life, then subtract the cost of the shared connectivity plan, hardware, installation, and support.
In many fleets, the bigger value is not the bill. It is a simpler truck that is easier to support.
Moving Toward a Shared Vehicle Network
The alternative is to treat connectivity as shared vehicle infrastructure rather than something bundled with each application. Instead of every camera, tablet and telematics unit keeping its own path to the cellular network, several devices connect through one vehicle gateway.
An office works the same way. A business does not buy a separate internet line for every laptop, printer, and security camera. It builds one network and lets devices share it. On a truck, the gateway holds the cellular connection, and onboard devices reach it over Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
The objective is not necessarily to replace camera, driver, or telematics applications that already work. The opportunity may simply be to change the connectivity layer underneath them, preserving existing applications while simplifying how they connect.
One caution before planning around it. Many telematics units and camera systems are cellular-only, and some vendors require their own SIM for their cloud service. Confirm that each device supports Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and that its vendor will support it that way.
Reliability, Installation, and Serviceability
Refuse trucks are hard on electronics. Lift arms and compaction cycles create constant vibration, while trucks see heat, cold, dust, and frequent washdowns. Some fleets may have hotspots or standalone cellular modems that were originally added to solve a short-term connectivity need. As those connections begin supporting more important applications, it is worth asking whether the hardware is designed for the vibration, temperature, moisture, and duty cycle of a refuse vehicle.
The physical layout matters, too. Each standalone device needs mounting space, a power connection, cabling, and often its own antenna. These end up in the cab, behind seats or in equipment compartments. Consolidating them cuts cab clutter, cable runs and the number of parts a technician has to trace.
Where the Gateway Goes
Fleets generally choose between two designs, each with trade-offs (see Figure 1). Antenna placement matters most where the signal is weakest: landfills, transfer stations, rural routes, and narrow alleys. Metal bodywork can affect wireless signals, so an exterior antenna may provide a more favorable RF environment than equipment operating inside a cab or enclosed compartment. Actual results depend on antenna design, carrier coverage, installation, and vehicle construction.
Planning for a Single Point of Failure
A shared gateway becomes critical infrastructure. If it fails, several systems lose their connection at once. When evaluating gateways, look at:
• Resiliency options, including the ability to use more than one carrier where appropriate
• Remote visibility into gateway health and connectivity status, so problems can be identified before a driver reports them
• How onboard devices behave offline, such as storing video and data until the connection returns
• Network segmentation, so systems can share hardware without sharing a network
Start with a Connectivity Audit
Before changing anything, count the connections. Pick one representative truck and document every system that communicates off the vehicle. For each one, record:
• What it does and who supports it
• How it connects, and which carrier it uses
• Whether it has its own SIM data plan, and the contract end date
• The monthly cost, and which department pays it
• Where the hardware is mounted, and its power and antenna connections
• Whether it supports Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and whether the vendor will support it that way
Then follow the bill. The department that bought a system is not always the one paying for its data. Connections bundled into a service agreement are easy to miss. With the inventory done, sort each connection by whether it genuinely needs to stay independent (see Keep It Separate, or Share It sidebar).
Pilot Before You Standardize
Test the proposed design on a few trucks that represent real conditions, including routes with weak coverage. Measure:
• Coverage and dropped connections by route
• Video upload success and retrieval time
• Application performance and data use
• Installation time and technician feedback
• Driver feedback
Finally, compare current and proposed designs over three to five years. Include connectivity, hardware, installation, maintenance, and support costs, not hardware price alone. Not every connection should be consolidated. Some safety systems may be certified only with dedicated connectivity, video can create very different bandwidth requirements than basic telematics, and fleets may intentionally maintain carrier diversity for coverage or resilience. Existing contracts can also limit near-term savings. The goal is not one SIM at all costs; it is knowing which connections truly need to remain independent and which are redundant.
Building for the Next Device
Trucks will keep adding technology: another camera, a sensor, a maintenance app, smart-bin data or video analytics. Under a fragmented model, each new system can bring another modem, antenna, SIM, and monthly plan. With a shared network in place, the fleet has another option: connect the next application to infrastructure already on the truck.
That changes the first question in every technology purchase. Instead of assuming the next device needs its own plan, the fleet asks whether it can use the network it already has.
Final Thoughts
Fleet managers already scrutinize fuel, tires, maintenance, and insurance. Connectivity deserves the same attention, and the first step does not require a major project. Pick a truck. Count the modems, antennas and SIMs. Note where each piece of hardware is installed. Match each connection to its monthly bill, then ask why it exists. Some connections will need to stay exactly as they are. Others will not.
The payoff can go beyond the data bill. Treating connectivity as a deliberate part of vehicle design can simplify the truck, reduce reliance on temporary devices, improve antenna placement, make support more consistent, and provide a stronger foundation for what comes next. | WA
Patrick Hibbs is Senior Director of Product Line Management at Airgain, Inc., where he works with commercial and specialty fleets on vehicle connectivity, antenna systems and wireless network design. He can be reached at [email protected]. For more information, visit .