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VTNA Pushes Ahead With Wireless Tractor-Trailer Connector
Truck Maker Partners With Tectran Manufacturing
Key Takeaways:
- Volvo Trucks North America and Tectran Manufacturing advanced development of a 17-pin connector enabling high-speed wireless data transfer between tractors and trailers.
- The system matters because it supports real-time trailer telematics and safety data while remaining compatible with the long-standing J560 connector, a need fleet customers expressed.
- The companies aim to establish the connector as a new North American standard as development continues with technology based on Volvo’s patented wireless communication system.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Volvo Trucks North America is pushing forward with a wireless tractor-trailer connection the Volvo Group division hopes will become the industry standard in the U.S. and Canada.
The truck maker is teaming up with Tectran Manufacturing and Analog Devices to accelerate development of a connector that supports wireless data transfer between tractors and trailers, it revealed at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s 2026 Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition.
Cheektowaga, N.Y.-based Tectran manufactures air, hydraulic and electrical components.
At a March 15 briefing, Tectran Chairman Bruce McKie described how such 17-pin connectors would enable easier assimilation of trailer telematics, cameras and safety systems for fleets.
“A modern truck is a highly sophisticated, connected machine. The trailer has to evolve at the same pace,” said Magnus Gustafson, VTNA vice president of connected services, in a March 16 statement. “This collaboration allows us to rethink how tractors and trailers communicate and hopefully establish a new connector standard for North America.”
The connector builds on technology developed by Volvo engineers in Sweden. It adds to the standard J560 trailer connector to create secure, short-range, high-speed wireless data connectivity while retaining all the traditional functions of the connector.
The J560 7-pin connector is the North American industry standard for electrical connections between heavy-duty tractors and trailers. It was created in 1951 by the Society of Automotive Engineers. It is a 12-volt round-pin system designed to transmit critical signals for lighting, antilock braking systems and auxiliary power.
The Volvo Group development is supported by U.S. patents issued in 2024. U.S. Patent 20220006516 A1 — Connector Assembly for High-Speed Wireless Communication Between Vehicles — describes a system that enables a truck and trailer to exchange high-speed data wirelessly through the tractor-trailer connection point.
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The system enables real-time data exchanges between the truck and the trailer, a growing area in truck development, especially ahead of the wider commercialization of autonomous trucks.
VTNA said the connector will also enable future powertrain optimization as a result of coming braking and propulsion enhancements for trailers, and the trailer data also will offer warnings to drivers and fleet managers on trailer functionality.
“Our customers have been clear about what they want next: higher data capability without abandoning existing infrastructure,” Gustafson said. “Our solution offers exactly that, providing a reliable short-range wireless data interface between the truck and the trailer.”
VTNA first displayed the concept at TMC 2023 and is currently working on a demonstrator, Volvo Group Electrical Architecture & Systems Engineering Manager Anders Gustavsson told Transport Topics on the sidelines of TMC 2026.
The demonstrator could be displayed publicly for the first time as early as the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo 2026 in Las Vegas at the start of May, Gustavsson added.
Part of the preparations also saw VTNA partner with semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices.
Looking forward, Gustavsson said VTNA can see itself making the patent available to third parties under a licensing program should the development become the industry standard.
“We didn’t invest a large number of research hours for just one customer,” he added.
