It’s going to come to this in the very near future: Global BCOs/Shippers that move cargo from origin manufacturing or assembly points to consumers will require that all carriers (trailer, container or boxcar) that move goods on their behalf deploy covert security tracking devices with multiple communications pathways.
This will become one of the key best practices in the layered approach to stand up against the tsunami of cargo theft that cargo owners and their logistics partners face today. The installation of a heavy-duty seal to the conveyance is a close “second-best-practice” layer. Vetting drivers, carriers and all shipment related documentation at the shipping center is a “third-best-practice” that provides assurance that only authorized carriers move the BCO’s cargo. Once the cargo is moving, a user-friendly geofence will present evidence that the goods are enroute to the destination and have not deviated from an authorized route or stopped at an unauthorized location. A robust cyber-security program rounds up the array of best practices.
Covert security devices must report (at a minimum) on both the condition and location of cargo in real-time – no 15-to-30-minute latency on reporting, but NOW. Events that dictate an alarm must also be reported as they occur, in real time, and convey both a time and location indicator to the user. Sensors inside the conveyance must collect and report on the integrity of the cargo in the container or truck, and communications must be redundant so that reporting and event alarms can be received in time to be actionable for the user.
Smart technologies can convey cargo integrity through an array of self-powered and self-reporting sensors that can be preset to meet the demands of the cargo in transit. Light, temperature, humidity, and shock sensors provide input into the transit of the cargo in real or near-real time. Ammonia and CO2 sensors provide reports that suggest humans are being trafficked with the cargo. The system must provide a scheduled report related to the sensor thresholds, and each report must include the location of the conveyance and the time of the report.
If any sensor is triggered due to an excessive force, breach event or out of threshold indicator, the device must also push an immediate event-trigger notice to the user or authorized agent. The push or event notice must also provide the location of the event and the time that the event was recorded by the system. Added technologies should provide evidence of door tampering and an image of the door at the time of the tamper incident. This provides the user or agent with actionable intel (and proof) related to the door-open event, authorized or under distress, so that appropriate actions can be set in motion.
Notices on schedule or triggered by events or anomalies inside the conveyance must also be supported by a robust geofence capability. The geofence must be easily erected around a facility to provide notice of a conveyance being removed from an authorized location, crossing a border, or entering/leaving a yard/terminal. They can also be used to erect electronic guardrails on specific routes to assure that drivers do not deviate from approved or expected routes, Finally, a geofence can be used to document certain milestone activities in the supply chain, showing, for example, when a container or trailer is out-gated from a terminal by way of the geofence notice instead of the terminal operator’s push notification.
A system should provide a measure of utility to the cargo owner or his logistics services provider. Access to a dwell calculator will allow the user to see when assets are at rest for a pre-set timeframe, and can be useful to separate fact from fiction in contested demurrage or detention situations with cargo at key locations in their supply chain. Having this capability, for full or empty conveyances also eliminates the arguments around detention and demurrage! How many man-hours would be saved if the data is un-wavering, accurate and tells the whole story.
The backbone of a security system is the communications platform that connects the device to the user and his application/app. Systems must provide real time monitoring with enhanced security features. The device must provide unparalleled visibility into the location and status of the BCO’s assets, in transit or stationary at a facility. By leveraging GPS and cellular/satellite communications capability and added layers of communications through mesh and disruptive tolerant network capabilities, the system must ensure that assets are not only tracked with precision but also protected against potential security threats.
These systems exist today and can provide cargo owners with assurances of visibility into security conditions during transit. Devices must be able to report on both condition and location during expected and emergency or risk-elevated locations and circumstances.
It must come down to this: The cargo owner must demand deployment of technologies that provide visibility and assurance of the integrity of the cargo and conveyance anywhere around the globe. Anything less is, today– not acceptable, and in the future, should be the absolute minimum standard for all such “track and trace, security devices/systems.
Ocean carriers, trucking, railroads and IMCs, 3PLs, Freight Forwarders and NVOCC’s will only provide as much “security and transparency” as the Shipper/BCO demand! Demand more, demand covert, secure tracking, and you’ll get it. This will cost a little more per shipment. However, this can all happen at less than $50 per shipment, which was the number recently agreed to by Shippers on a JOC Podcast with the CEO of a global ocean carrier. In fact, this can happen for as low as half that rate, and it can happen NOW! The technology exists to meet all these parameters today. The covert design, the Triple redundant communications, the sensor suite and the secure back-end are available today. BCO’s/Shippers just need to demand it from their transportation providers.
With the huge increase in TEU and Trailer capacity today at the end of 2025, Shippers and BCO’s need to ramp up their requests for safe, secure and transparent shipping data.
