Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339485
54 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2014 TECHNOLOGY: TRAILER TRACKING a broad range of minute-by-minute data and reports once every hour when under power. Through an integration with McLeod Software's LoadMas- ter TMS, CarrierWeb sends any truck and trailer data it has captured during a 60-second timeframe. LoadMaster match- es the GPS records of trucks and trailers within 9 meters to determine which tractors are hitched to which trailers, says Norman Thomas, vice president of commercial operations for CarrierWeb. Isotrak, based in the United Kingdom, began to focus heavily in North America in 2013. About 95 percent of all U.K. groceries are transported on Isotrak-equipped vehicles by some of the largest global retailers. The company's ATMSi cloud-based platform manages telematics data from both the tractor and trailer. Informa- tion such as trailer temperature or reefer fuel level can be displayed on a dashboard alongside other critical areas such as hours-of-service compliance, says Cliff Koutsky, vice pres- ident of business development. BlueTree Systems offers a standard interface for both its onboard computing and trailer monitoring systems that provides fleet managers with real-time status and alerts con- cerning temperatures and reefer operation. Orbcomm has its own network of satellites, builds its own hardware to track any type of asset and creates its own cloud-based portals. The company acquired two of the larg- est providers of cold-chain trailer tracking systems, StarTrak and Par Logistics. One reason for these acquisitions and others was that Orbcomm saw an advantage to connecting fleets to all of their assets in diversified lines of business – flatbed, reefer, intermodal, dry van, etc. – through one portal. MULTIMODE COMMUNICATIONS From the beginning, trailer tracking systems have used cellular or satellite modems. Fleets used to have to decide between broader but more expensive satellite coverage and more economical cellular options. Today, the cost of satellite communication has dropped to about a 20 percent premium of cellular. Orbcomm launched its next-generation OG2 satellite network designed to deliver about 30 times the bandwidth at a lower cost than its OG1 network. The company has designed its tracking de- vices to use both cellular and satellite modems compatible with the Inmarsat network, much like the roaming agreements for terrestrial networks. In 2013, telematics research and consulting firm Clem Driscoll and Associates found that one-third of carriers without a trailer tracking system were interested in having the technology to know the status and location of their assets. Given recent advancements and lower upfront costs, their waiting periods soon may come to an end. WHEN SECURITY COMES FIRST Trailer tracking systems fill a variety of needs: equipment and cargo security, asset utilization, operational efficiency, chain of custody and temperature monitoring, to name a few. For fleets with security at the top of the list, knowing a trailer's location may not be enough. TrakLok International's cargo security platform uses a high-tech integrated device installed on the vertical bars of trailer and container doors. The platform originally was designed to secure radiological shipments but has evolved into a next-generation platform now used by motor carriers to protect high-value shipments. The platform pairs GPS tracking and a padlock with a built-in keypad. Using a Web portal, fleets can enter a destination address and time of day, and create a new password for each delivery. To open the lock, the password, time and trailer location all have to match. TrakLok's built-in alarm system is triggered by tampering with the padlock. The base system uses rechargeable batteries and comes with cellular communications, while a higher-end model includes satellite. "It is very sophisticated but so simple for an operator," says Tom Mann, president of TrakLok. "We are competing against a padlock and a bolt seal, so it had to be really simple to use." BlueTree Systems' standard interface for its trailer monitoring system provides fleet managers with real-time status and alerts concerning temperatures and reefer operation.