ORLANDO, FL. ORBCOMM, Inc. announced the commercial launch of its GT 1100 solar-powered trailer tracking solution at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition here this week.
“This truly is an autonomous device, a game-changer,” Craig Montgomery, senior vice president of marketing for ORBCOMM, told Fleet Owner. It is designed to stay in operation for the life of the trailer. The ruggedized solution (built to military specifications) utilizes solar recharging technology for low power consumption, efficient messaging and long service life in the field. The GT 1100’s versatile communications platform allows customers to build their messaging schedules around their business requirements without any message restrictions or extra costs, providing the flexibility needed for greater trailer visibility and utilization.
The device is so efficient, according to Montgomery, that it can operate for years in darkness and still report position.
The GT 1100’s compact form factor and low, one-inch high profile make it easy to install on trailer roof tops, specialty trailers, in between the corrugations of intermodal containers and on virtually any type of unpowered asset.
The GT 1100 also includes CargoWatch, a Web application for comprehensive device management, providing complete visibility for fleet and operations managers. This application delivers near-real-time alerts on trailer status, location and history, as well as arrival and departure events, significantly improving operational efficiency, decreasing fuel and maintenance costs and reducing theft.
For maximum coverage at the lowest cost, the GT 1100 can support three modes of global communication-- cellular, satellite and dual mode. Offered initially with cellular communications capability, satellite and dual-mode versions will be commercially available in conjunction with ORBCOMM’s 0G2 next generation constellation launch later this fall.
“ORBCOMM’s GT 1100 solution is designed to make trailer tracking hassle-free, eliminating frustrating battery changes, reducing maintenance and providing customers with a reliable solution that costs much less over time,” said Marc Eisenberg, ORBCOMM’s CEO. “ORBCOMM has developed a suite of asset tracking solutions tailored for the transportation and distribution industry that can meet the needs of every niche market – from reefer monitoring to intermodal container security to dry van asset tracking. Couple these solutions with ORBCOMM’s global satellite and cellular airtime and powerful Web applications, and we offer our customers a complete telematics solution.”
“ORBCOMM today is not the ORBCOMM of the past where we used to sell time on devices like Trillium,” Montgomery told Fleet Owner. “What you are really starting to see is ORBCOMM building a truly comprehensive set of products and services. Our machine-to-machine (M2M) asset tracking is “agnostic” to markets and to mode of transportation. [In addition to ground freight transportation] we are also active in the oil and gas industry and in maritime. We have over 100,000 units on the ocean being tracked. Overall, we have more than 800,000 assets being tracked today and we’ll hit one million soon.
“We are very proud of our new device,” he continued. “Now you can know where goods are from the manufacturing floor to the customer’s door. We are getting ubiquitous supply chain transparency.”
