Tracking & GPS Update
Do you know where your trucks are?
JOHN BENDEL
TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
Since Sept. 11, 2001, everyone wants to know where their trucks are. That compelling reality has made Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and asset tracking the hottest technologies in the world of truck transportation.
Here we update the GPS and tracking scene. Since we can't possibly list everyone, we've concentrated on those providers who specialize in trucking and provide specific trailer-tracking products.
Not included are companies that offer tracking and GPS as part of more ambitious onboard or logistics systems that do not include trailer tracking. Among them are such major suppliers as Cadec, GEOCOMtms, Tripmaster, PeopleNet and Xata, to name a few. We've also excluded companies that bundle hardware and communications services -- usually to offer on a regional basis.
The companies listed below provide location data to fleet customers on secure web sites, although some, such as Qualcomm's OmniTRACS, report over proprietary connections as well.
Aether Systems Inc.
www.aethersystems.com
Aether has been a mobile communications player since acquiring the MobileMax dual-mode system from Motient Inc. in September 2000. This year, Aether acquired more established trucking products from @Track Communications just before that company changed its name to MinorPlanet Systems USA. Aether now markets Aether TrackWare and Aether 20/20V.
TrackWare is a trailer-tracking system that can be used on unhooked -- or untethered -- trailers. TrackWare reports trailer GPS locations up to four times a day; a messaging system can also report when a trailer is hooked or unhooked, loaded or unloaded, or when doors are opened or closed. Trackware communicates over cellular-based networks.
Aether 20/20V provides GPS tracking to powered vehicles on a no-money-down basis. The service can report up to every 30 minutes or on customer demand. Aether estimates that 20/20V costs approximately $1.50 a day per truck.
AirIQ, Inc.
www.airiq.com
AirIQ stresses wireless communications through handheld devices with the driver, whether he/she is in the truck or not. The company also offers truck location monitoring and untethered trailer tracking to various kinds of fleets.
AirIQ onboard tracking systems monitor truck performance in real time and can warn dispatch when a truck is being driven too fast, for example. Vehicles can even be disabled (and re-enabled) remotely.
In September, the company announced services tailored particularly for the commercial trucking business and a partnership with automotive supplier Delphi Corp. to co-develop a vehicle telematics interface module for future wireless services.
AirIQ communicates over cellular networks.
ARINC
www.arinc.com
Most of the 2002 news from ARINC has involved its primary aviation-oriented operations. Still, the company offers a variety of fleet tracking products including untethered trailer tracking.
ARINC units can report on open or closed trailer doors as well the status of refrigeration units through a choice of communications carriers, including the Orbcomm low-earth-orbit satellite system.
Axiom Navigation Inc.
www.axiomnav.com
Axiom makes GPS receivers for OEMs and offers a suite of six Accu-Tracker mobile communications units. Short-range units automatically download data from trucks returning to a terminal, for example, while long-range units with optional battery backup can be used for trailer tracking throughout most of North America.
Axiom jumped into the trucking market this year with Accu-Tracker units that use Cellemetry or Aeris.net's Microburst service, both offering wide-area coverage based on the analog cellular network. In regional markets, other Accu-Tracker units use GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) digital cellular from providers such as AT&T and Cingular.
iNet-Blue Corp.
www.tra-x-all.com
The iNet-Blue company offers a suite of tracking and GPS products for trucking including a new product, the BlackHawk Tracker, which is designed for use with untethered trailers, reefers, and containers. The company calls BlackHawk "reusable" because it can be temporarily attached to a trailer or container for a single use then easily moved to another unit.
The company also introduced the Penguin system, a separate unit that mounts in a reefer to constantly monitor and keep a record of temperatures. The Penguin communicates wirelessly with a trailer-tracking or mobile communications unit elsewhere on the truck.
iNet Blue products use various communications modes.
Qualcomm
www.qualcomm.com/qwbs/
Qualcomm dominates the truckload market for mobile communications with its high-orbit satellite-based OmniTRACS system. More recently, the company has entered private fleet and LTL markets with OmniExpress, a digital cellular-based system. But last year, the company dropped out of the untethered trailer tracking business, at least temporarily.
Qualcomm attributed the move to uncertainty about the future of the analog cellular network and said a new untethered trailer tracking product with digital cellular capability should be on the market by 2004.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm still offers the tethered version of TrailerTRACS, which operates in conjunction with OmniTRACS or OmniExpress. TrailerTRACS notifies of hooks and unhooks as well as other trailer-related events.
Teletrac Inc.
www.teletrac.net
Teletrac's VLU+ (Vehicle Location Unit plus) provides tracking data over AT&T, Verizon and Alltell CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) networks, which serve primarily metropolitan markets.
The company's ATU (Asset Tracking Unit) provides untethered trailer tracking. ATU draws power from a battery or from a solar panel and communicates over Numerex's Cellemetry network, which is built on the backbone of the analog cellular system.
Earlier this year, Teletrac introduced a feature to immediately alert dispatch of problems such as unauthorized use of a vehicle. Alerts can be sent to one or more email addresses or cell phones.
Terion
www.terion.com
Terion emerged from a brief bankruptcy in September with new financing. The company moved its corporate headquarters from Florida to the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Plano and is now a trailer-tracking specialist. Terion's only product is FleetView, which communicates from trailers -- hooked or not -- over the Verizon cellular network.
Terion recently introduced Cargo Sensor, a single-component adjunct to FleetView that mounts inside a trailer to detect the presence of cargo. Cargo Sensor uses ultrasonic, high-frequency sound waves to determine an empty or not-empty environment and reports to fleet customers.
According to Terion, Cargo Sensor is adaptable to trailer lengths and interior surfaces -- plywood or metal plates, for example -- and can record the exact time a trailer is emptied so that carriers can, among other things, verify claims for detention and storage charges.
Vistar Telecommunications Inc.
www.vistar.ca
Vistar Datacom offers the GlobalWave system for tracking and GPS. GobalWave communicates over a high-orbit, geosynchronous satellite, which provides near universal North American coverage and service from hooked or unhooked trailers.
The onboard system can report the status of reefer units and truck doors. With an optional lithium battery, a GlobalWave unit can operate for as long as four years. Standard batteries recharge when the tractor is hooked.
In conjunction with other products, GlobalWave can provide driver/dispatch messaging over the same wide coverage area. Vistar works with a number of partners such as Preco-Boise (www.preco.com) that offer a range of mobile tracking and communications products.
This year, Vistar announced GlobalWave communications would be integrated with TruckMate enterprise software from Maddocks Systems.
