According to the International Cargo Security Council, U.S. businesses lose $10 billion per year in merchandise theft, and the average value of a cargo theft is $500,000, a number that has grown fivefold in the past 25 years. Other estimates range even higher, placing losses to cargo theft as high as $25 billion annually.

While that alone causes concern, a growing number of motor carriers have come to view cargo theft as more than just an economic issue. Instead, their concerns now include national security.

For those reasons, the trucking industry is increasingly interested in ways to deter and prevent the theft of in-transit cargo. Working with dispatchers, drivers and operations personnel to increase awareness is part of that effort. At the same time, motor carriers have also adopted a range of technologies, including mechanical and electronic-locking devices as well as systems for tracking assets such as untethered trailers.

SECURITY SYSTEMS

Hi-G-Tek (www.higtek.com) says it offers highly intelligent RFID solutions and has developed a range of electronic locks, seals and tags – each using an autonomous energy source – that incorporate embedded sensors to alert of any attempt at moving, opening, bypassing or tampering. The devices can be configured for specific applications and provide full sensing and two-way communications capability. Supporting these devices are readers, terminals and specialized software that can monitor many end devices simultaneously, in real time and while cargo is in transit. For electronic sensing devices, the company says two of its biggest sellers are the Hi-G-Lock Industrial Lock, which was developed using a keyed Mul-T-Lock (an ASSA-ABLOY company) device, and the Hi-G-Seal, which uses electronic security sealing/connector wire that can go from 1.8 ft. to 120 ft. in length.  Several Hi-G-Tek sensing devices can be configured to offer up to seven different conditions (open, close, motion, tilt, attach, detach, and temperature) right out of the box.

Kaba Mas (www.kabamas.com) offers its Gitcon security systems for in-transit cargo. The Model G-50 is an externally mounted mechanical lock designed for installation on trailers and container bodies with swing or roll up doors. A choice of common handle and mounting-plate designs allow for simple retrofit of existing assemblies. Tamper-resistant mounting hardware prevents the handle from being removed from the outside. Supplied with an interchangeable core cylinder that can be removed without taking the lock off the door, the cores can be keyed alike, randomly, or for a master key. 

Also available is the Gitcon Model G-152, a permanently mounted, electro-mechanical security system that allows for controlled access by selected users. Access cards, for example, can be programmed to open only specific locks, during specific times, or for a pre-determined period of time. The G-152 can be programmed to function as an electronic seal, a sealable lock or a lockable electronic seal. 

SecureSeal (www.secureseal.com) offers reusable seals that are designed for a minimum of 50,000 operations, equivalent to a vehicle using 13 seals per day, 365 days per year for 10 years. The maintenance-free reusable seal produces random-number security codes and provides tamper evidence for all types of vehicles and trailers. Also offered by the company is SecureLoc, a reusable barrier seal with unique, random security-number generation and an integrated lock for cargo doors. Using a lock-and-key mechanism so only authorized personnel can gain access, SecureLoc combines seal and lock devices in a permanent fixture.

Transport Security Inc. (www.transportsecurity.com) provides a series of physical locking systems collectively known as ENFORCER Security Solutions. Included is the ENFORCER Adjustable Lock, a portable, heavy-duty lock that consists of 10-gauge, chrome-plated spring steel body, and a locking component is surrounded with cast iron to prevent tampering. The device is designed for a tight fit on virtually all containers and trailers and is secured with a weather-resistant ABLOY lock.

Transport Security also offers the Air Cuff Lock, a brake lock made of high-impact-resistant material and secured with an ABLOY lock cylinder to lock tractor and trailer brakes. The company also offers a line of plastic, metal, bolt and cable security seals.

TRAILER TRACKING

GE Equipment Services (www.ge.com) is now integrating the trailer-tracking solutions of the recently acquired Terion Inc. with its Asset Intelligence division, which offers solutions for tracking and monitoring transportation assets. 

Using a remote monitoring device, satellite-based telecommunications and a series of sensors, GE’s VeriWise TRAILER technology gathers and provides information on the location of trailers and the status of cargo. Using the company’s Premier Services Web interface, fleets can access reports on a trailer’s location at specific time intervals for a defined period of time. 

Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com) offers trailer-tracking solutions, including the T2 Untethered TrailerTRACS asset management system. The system monitors the status and location of trailers and containers in near real-time, including position and event reporting throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Other features include over-the-air up-grades, configurable reporting intervals and integration with dispatch software. Options for the system include a solar charging system and door and cargo sensors and mounting to fit a variety of trailer and container types and configurations. 

SkyBitz (www.skybitz.com) GLS Trailer Tracking is a two-way satellite communications device offered with two types of service plans. Basic Tracking provides location reporting based on a reporting and wake-up schedule that can be changed over the air. Smart Sensor Tracking incorporates sensors that provide information for reports that are issued when the trailer has departed a location or arrived at its destination. The GLS mobile communicator is compact, easy to install and provides multi-year battery life. 

TransCore (3sixty.transcore.com) satellite-based tracking, monitoring, and sensing solution provides trailer tracking for monitoring assets. The fully integrated system’s wake-up cycle can be programmed for 30-second to 30-minute response times, regardless of where a trailer is located in North America. Offering full remote configuration and on-the-fly or prescheduled reports over a Web interface, the system is powered by a battery designed to deliver more than five years of nearly maintenance-free service.

INTERIOR LIGHTING SOLUTIONS

Interior trailer lighting quality is important in trucking operations for a number of reasons. These include making it easier for drivers to read freight labels, eliminating errors in securing cargo, selecting items and filling out paperwork. Lamps can mean the difference between seeing small details on a shipping document in a dimly lit trailer and seeing nothing at all, resulting in faster and more accurate deliveries. The latest trailer interior lighting offerings from suppliers include:

Grote Industries (www.grote.com) has demonstrated its ergonomic LED WhiteLight colors, engineered to reduce stress and provide optimum viewing comfort. The LED WhiteLight for interior lighting applications includes the SuperNova, Recessed-Mount and LED Dome Lamp in regular and high-output versions. Both feature potted assemblies for circuit-board protection, a one-piece aluminum housing and removable acrylic lens, built-in, automatic thermal protection and the capability to withstand operating temperatures of -40 ºF to 148 ºF.

Phillips Industries (www.phillipsind.com) has unveiled the new PERMALITE GREEN LED trailer dome lamp that improves the contrast and visual clarity of interior trailer lighting and reduces eye fatigue and glare in contrasting conditions. The PERMALITE GREEN LED features an unbreakable lens and is designed to work in extreme temperatures. Phillips has also unveiled PERMALOGIC to manage power to interior trailer dome lamps, while reducing lamp replacement costs. The controller eliminates any chance of accidentally leaving interior trailer dome lamps on by cutting off power to the lamps when the brake pedal is depressed. Power is also interrupted when there is an under/over battery voltage situation or at a pre-determined elapsed time.  

Truck-Lite Co. Inc. (www.truck-lite.com) has added the LED Super Strip-Lite, now available with a re-placeable lens, to its line of interior trailer lighting products.

The light uses LEDs evenly spaced on a fabricated aluminum channel and is available in two styles for mounting flat on ceilings, along horizontal or vertical shelf and cabinet surfaces or in corners, where they are most effective. Each 6-diode strip draws only 0.7 amps. Twelve-diode strips draw 1.4 amps.