Cargo thieves operate in real time. Your asset tracking should too.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, cargo thieves are a $15-$35 Billion dollar problem. About 24 cargo thefts occur every single day. These thefts happen in seconds. So why wouldn’t your asset tracking update that fast?

How cargo thieves take advantage of delayed asset tracking

Many asset trackers on the market update every 30 minutes. Some update every 24 hours. How might this play out in a theft scenario? Let’s assume your asset tracker updates every 30 minutes:

Cargo theft timeline with delayed asset tracking

• 12:00PM: A shipment of high value electronics has been taken off your truck. The driver is unaware. The location of this pallet has not been updated.

• 12:30PM: Your stolen pallet updates its location. This location is just inside the geofence, but it doesn’t update again for another 30 minutes.

• 1PM: Your stolen pallet has its location updated. This location is now outside a geofence. Your team is automatically alerted.

• 1:10PM: Your fleet managers call law enforcement.

• 1:20PM: Law enforcement is dispatched. Your fleet shares location data, which is imperfect given the delayed transmission.

Delayed asset tracking compounds the issue at every point in this timeline. Even with the assumption of a geofence, over 1 hour passes between the point of theft and the point of alert. That’s plenty of time for the cargo thief to transfer your cargo, dispose of the pallet, or discover the asset tracker and destroy it.

The solution: Real-time asset tracking

When asset tracking updates in real-time, your fleet has a much better chance of recovering stolen cargo. How might cargo theft play out with real-time asset tracking?

Cargo theft timeline with real-time asset tracking

• 12:00PM: A shipment of high value electronics has been taken off your truck. The driver is unaware.

• 12:00PM: Your stolen pallet updates its location. If the location is being actively monitored, a theft in progress can be shut down.

• 12:20PM: The stolen pallet leaves your geofence. Your team is automatically alerted.

• 12:30PM: Your fleet managers call law enforcement.

• 12:40PM: Law enforcement is dispatched. Your fleet shares the location data, which updates every 10 seconds.

Real-time asset tracking creates minimal distance between the point of theft and the point of alert. This means your cargo thief is much more likely to be caught.

FleetUp’s real-time asset trackers

FleetUp offers a full suite of asset trackers that update every 10 seconds. They are rugged, weatherproof, and easily installed. Plus, they run on the industry’s best all-in-one platform.