May 27, 2026
Par West’s Hitch Sense
PAR West, a proud member of the Quanta Services family, has developed a field-driven safety innovation designed to protect workers and the public: Hitch Sense.
When a trailer detached from a truck, PAR West leadership put out a company-wide call. Before it was over, one employee raised his hand. He had an idea. The week that followed only made the urgency clearer.
Hitch Sense is built around a custom-fabricated steel bracket, designed by the team and built in their own fab shop. The bracket mounts a proximity sensor directly to the trailer hitch. When the sensor detects that the hitch is in the open position, it signals the cab immediately, activating both a loud audible buzzer and a dashboard warning light. No second-guessing. No extra walk-around. The driver knows before the truck ever moves. The bracket is engineered to adapt across bucket trucks, diggers, pull trailers, and flatbeds, making Hitch Sense scalable across virtually every vehicle type in the fleet and beyond.