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Use of container tracking devices on a per-trip basis surges

THE use of container tracking and monitoring devices to provide data on the condition of the cargo is expected to increase in the container shipping industry, first among the reefer sector and then among dry cargo shippers.

This trend is being driven by falling asset costs and a range of external factors such as increased transshipment, and issues with terrorism and migrant flows.

Maersk's installation of its remote container management system and devices on its entire fleet of 270,000 reefer containers demonstrates how one shipping line responded to technological advances in global system for mobile communication (GSM), satellite tracking and the Internet of Things, reported London's Loadstar.

Speaking on the sidelines of the TOC Container Supply Chain conference in Hamburg, Orbcomm vice president Mike Dempsey, said there was now rising interest from other types of shippers who could lease tracking units fixed to dry containers on a per-trip basis, with a current cost of US$40 per trip.

"What we see now is increasing interest in temporary tracking of containers and, at the same time, giving them security as well as monitoring of things like light and humidity," said Mr Dempsey, whose New Jersey company provides mobile asset tracking technology.

"There is a nexus of a whole bunch of forces coming together and increasing demand for low-cost, per-trip-basis coverage; rather than having to permanently fix an RCM unit on each container," he said.

Mr Dempsey described one project Orbcomm is working on in Mexico, on behalf of a "traditional low-margin freight forwarder" involved in the movement of auto parts from the maquiladora plants in Mexico to the US on behalf of vehicle manufacturers such as GM, VW and Caterpillar.

"It has now almost changed its entire business model from being a freight forwarder to being a tracking expert for these clients and giving them green lane access at the border, because they are paying for this technology and it is making more money on a per trip basis out of this than from traditional freight forwarding charges."

At the US-Mexico border, US authorities award those shipments green lane status because the technology is C-TPAT [Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism]-certified.

"The market is going to go two ways - I think the reefer market will be completely covered with these devices because the ROI is so compelling it's almost a no-brainer.

"The question is how are we going to get from 300,000 to 1.5 million reefer boxes, and from 30,000 TEU dry containers to 17 million TEU? A $50 device on a $2,000 container is still pretty expensive when you look at the overall cost - the numbers don't work for blanket fitting out of the container fleet, but they do work on a per-trip basis and temporary tracking."