Breakthroughs and Challenges in Live Tracking Technologies

The demand for live tracking of goods is on the rise. Businesses need accountability for shipped items and the automation that live tracking provides. Customers also want to know the exact location of their goods, whether it’s to coordinate meeting the package upon arrival or to confirm its delivery.

However, live-tracking most shipments remains cost-prohibitive. While tracking technology continues to advance, businesses must carefully evaluate the pros and cons of current options and determine the best use cases for ensuring safe shipment delivery.

Currently, the most prevalent option involves tracking devices with lithium batteries. These devices, attached to shipments, provide constant updates on the freight's movement. Despite their long-lasting and rechargeable nature, lithium batteries are considered dangerous goods requiring safe disposal. Moreover, these expensive devices necessitate a reverse logistics plan for their retrieval and management, adding complexity and costs.

Another challenge with these devices is the need for manual pairing and activation. Warehouse or desk agents must manually associate shipment references with tracker device IDs and ensure activation. This process is prone to errors, such as mistyping long IDs or forgetting to activate the device, ultimately limiting the scalability of deployment.

Dark zones, where devices receive no coverage and cannot communicate, also pose a problem. Device suppliers have added capabilities like Wi-Fi, GPS, LTE, LoRa, and NBIoT to improve data quality and shipment location tracking. However, these capabilities require high-powered batteries, further increasing device costs.

Form factor is another consideration. Tracking devices are often bulky and not discreet, making it obvious to potential bad actors which shipments are being tracked.

Due to these challenges, applying such devices to most shipments is not feasible, as the return on investment is insufficient.

There is a strong demand for devices that address cost, are simpler to manage, easily disposed of, provide high data quality, and eliminate the need for reverse logistics. While no solution meets all these criteria, improvements are being made, including creating thinner, less bulky, and less environmentally impactful devices.

In the near term, companies must carefully consider their use cases to determine the best tracking technology match. For needs involving security and detailed telemetry in high-risk zones, high-powered devices with multiple sensors are necessary. These devices, though more expensive and complex, provide good data quality and are justified for high-value goods.

For basic tracking needs, new low-powered trackers with non-dangerous goods batteries offer promising solutions. These trackers, combined with a form factor similar to a shipping label that integrates into normal labeling processes and can be disposed of in regular waste streams, make live tracking at scale more attainable.

While demand for live tracking in logistics is growing, current options present challenges regarding cost, environmental impact, complexity, and scalability. Companies must weigh their tracking needs and the trade-offs involved. High-powered devices may be necessary for detailed monitoring of high-value goods, while newer low-powered trackers offer a viable solution for basic tracking needs with reduced environmental impact and simplified disposal. As technology evolves, balancing functionality, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness will be crucial to unlocking live tracking's full potential.