Sensors Can Help Your IT Clients Fight Freight, Equipment Theft

By Ally Kutz, contributing writer

Electronic sensors are helping decrease cargo theft in freight, according to an article from Fleet Owner. Cargo theft was more prevalent in Q1 this year and is expected to increase in 2015, so your IT clients could be looking for a solution. American Shipper cited a FreightWatch International reported that 191 cargo thefts occurred in the U.S. during the first three months of this year, a 1 percent jump compared to the same period in 2014.

“We already have wide deployment of telematics systems throughout the industry, so we can already capture [truck and cargo] location information in real time,” Andy Souders, senior VP of products and strategy for Savi Technology told Fleet Owner. “Now we need to couple that with historical theft data so [motor] carriers can shift from being reactive to proactive where cargo theft is concerned.”

Souders explained, “With electronic sensors and seal in place, a carrier can literally ‘see’ when a truck stops and how many times it stops, helping to gauge the amount of time a truck may be unattended. Sensors and seals can help indicate if freight in the trailer gets tilted, gets ‘shocked’ from being moved/dropped, or is subjected to a major temperature change, such as when a door is opened.”

Transportation isn’t the only industry that can benefit from tracking technology to deter theft. A college used GPS technology to proactively address the problem of bicycle thefts on campus.

In addition, technology is available for farm equipment and other heavy machinery that provides the location of the equipment in an SMS to the owner’s phone.