According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of active remote container tracking units deployed on intermodal shipping containers was 77,000 in Q4-2011.
Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 66.9 percent, this number is expected to reach 1.0 million by 2016. The penetration rate of remote tracking systems in the total population of containers is estimated to increase from 0.4 percent in 2011 to 3.6 percent in 2016. Berg Insight’s definition of a real-time container tracking solution is a system that incorporates data logging, satellite positioning and data communication to a back-office application.
The market for container tracking solutions is still in its early stage. Aftermarket solutions mounted on high value cargo and refrigerated containers will be the first use cases to adopt container tracking. Orbcomm has after recent acquisitions of Startrak and PAR LMS emerged as the largest vendor of wireless container tracking devices with solutions targeting refrigerated containers. Qualcomm, ID Systems and Telular are prominent vendors focusing on inland transportation in North America, which is so far the most mature market for container tracking solutions. PearTrack Systems, Honeywell Global Tracking, EPSa and Kirsen Global Security are examples of companies offering dedicated solutions targeting the global end-to-end container transport chain.
“Ever since the events of 9/11, there have been a lot of activities to bring container tracking solutions to the market”, said Johan Svanberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight. He adds that it is however first now that technology advancement, declining hardware prices and market awareness are starting to come together to make remote container tracking solutions attractive.
Mr. Svanberg concluded:
“Container telematics can help stakeholders to comply with regulations and meet the high demands on security, information visibility and transportation efficiency that comes with global supply chains”
