Rob Phillips’ family company keeps innovating to ensure a safer and more efficient life for the all-important trucking industry.
For example, in May, Phillips Industries announced the launch of the REAR-VU Backup Camera.
Using the camera means that “any driver can connect with any trailer equipped with the device.”
“This universal compatibility is complemented by a robust and stable proprietary Wi-Fi connection that extends over 70 feet, ensuring reliable and continuous service,” the company said.
Phillips, the company’s CEO, was one of the five local innovators honored by the Business Journal during the ninth annual Innovator of the Year Awards almost a year ago.
He was then moving the 96-year-old family business headquarters from Santa Fe Springs to UCI Research Park in Irvine.
“The move to UCI Research Park has been fantastic! We’re at the center of incredible innovation and next-level thinking, and our state-of-the-art office, with creative collaborative spaces, is inspiring employees to come in more and more. The area is very safe with convenient freeway access, and being close to John Wayne Airport is both great and accessible for team members and customers,” Phillips told the Business Journal on Aug. 13.
Solar Panels
In another innovation introduced just three months ago, Phillips launched solar panel technology for commercial trucks and trailers.
Phillips now offers durable, monocrystalline silicon solar panels that it says are 80% lighter than traditional glass systems, producing 20% more energy with a 50% higher power density.
Tractor and trailer solar systems offer commercial vehicle operators numerous advantages, including fuel savings, reduced CO2 emissions, elimination of jump starts, extended battery life, increased reliability, liftgate support and additional power.
The durable, patented grid design withstands extreme vibrations, winds up to 155 miles per hour and impacts from road debris, rocks and tree branches.
In March, the company announced a product called T/T Pair that acts as a “smart seven-way socket” providing tractor and trailer pairing, designed to replace the existing Phillips QCS2 Socket. In one minute, truckers can swap the seven-way socket for a patented T/T Pair socket and avoid any additional wiring or installation, the company said.
“The system provides instant tracking and verification of tractor-trailer pairing and prevents unnecessary trailer pulls that consume driver hours, fuel and mileage. T/T Pair also alerts unauthorized trailer use to increase security,” Commercial Carrier Journal reported at the time.
$500M Annual Revenue
Rob Phillips told the Business Journal last year that the company’s focus is on GPS, plus components such as brake sensors, tire sensors, light sensors, temperature, cameras on the inside of trailers and on the outsides of trailers.
He is the great-grandson of H.W. Phillips, who patented, manufactured and distributed the first reflective turn signal for trucks in California, starting his business in 1928.
Phillips succeeded his father, Bob Phillips, at the head of the 96-year-old company.
Phillips Industries and its two additional business units have about $500 million in annual global revenue.
The company has 1,850 employees, with 140 in the Irvine headquarters area.
Phillips makes about 4,000 products, such as electrical connections, lights, wiring cable and air connectors for tractor-trailers.
The company’s products are installed on all trucks made in the U.S. and 84% of the trailers, according to Rob Phillips.
“That’s really our foundational business that we have,” he said.
He is also CEO and Co-Founder of Phillips Connect.
