[051015.EN.SEA] Maersk Signs AT&T To Track, Monitor Reefer Boxes Worldwide By GPS

DANISH shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has revealed that it is using AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph) Industrial Internet of Things (Industrial IoT) technology to track and trace reefer boxes.

"Managers can view the location of containers for cargo owners. Back-office workers can find containers, and drivers can be more productive as they have information about their next load to pick up," said the AT&T statement.

Maersk has connected over 290,000 of its refrigerated containers to the AT&T network. Each unit uses a remote container device that has a 3G High Temperature SIM card, a GPS unit, a ZigBee radio and antenna.

It also has multiple interfaces for connecting into the reefer box's controller and the remote device operates two-way from just about anywhere in the world, reports the American Journal of Transportation.

The US telecom giant said in a separate statement that companies that transport containers by truck, railroad or trailers can use the AT&T network to help them have a complete view of their inventory from departure to arrival.

Earlier, onsite supply chain managers would spend time manually checking the condition of each container, said the report.

"Maersk now has near-real time visibility into the conditions of each refrigerated container at almost any part of its journey during the supply chain," it said, adding that supervisors can monitor performance throughout.

AT&T said each container has a monitoring device that collects data with sensors and sends it to a web portal.

Shipping companies can quickly locate containers that are closest to clients who need them, said AT&T. They will also be able to identify customers that keep boxes or longer periods, thus improve usage and produce cost savings.

Source : HKSG.