Steady growth projected for electronic container tracking: GPS top integrated technology, followed by cellular, Wi-Fi, RFID-UHF, and Bluetooth

GPS World, Feb, 2005

An "Electronic Container Tracking Survey" published by Oyster Bay, New York-based ABI Research found GPS to be the No. 1 technology used by and/or compatible with today's electronic container tracking systems.

According to ABI Research, more than 20 million freight containers currently circulate the world, with about 7 million of them passing through U.S. ports every year. An estimated 2 percent of these are physically inspected, creating vulnerability that unchecked containers may harbor terrorists, explosives or other hazardous materials.

The good news, according to ABI Research, is that GPS and other electronic container tracking technologies' time has come due largely to security issues and the promises of substantial commercial benefits from a supply chain and enterprise resource planning (ERP) perspective.

Nearly 30 percent of survey respondents pegged the basic annual subscription fee for satellite tracking at $275 or more, while most estimated the average annual cellular subscription in-between $50 and $100. Some 87 percent priced annual RFID tracking subscriptions at $80 or less, with nearly half placing the price tag at $40 or less, partly explaining the boom in this technology segment.

Thirty-eight percent selected supply chain optimization as the primary focus of their company, 26 percent cited loss prevention, 18 percent listed government and regulatory, and an equal percentage stated counter terrorism as its core business.

Primary end-use customers ran the gamut, with shippers/carriers, the non-military public sector, precious and high-value cargo, and ports and container terminals topping the list. Just nine percent selected hazardous materials transport as their primary end-use customer.

While the use of electronic container tracking solutions is projected to climb steadily, less than 10 percent of containers will utilize this technology until the later part of this decade, according to ABI Research. Leading primary market barriers cited were: Lack of standards (28 percent); lack of apparent ROI (20 percent); technology immaturity (19 percent); industry fragmentation (18 percent); and prohibitive costs (15 percent).

GPS                      16%
Cellular Messaging       15%
Wi-Fi                    12%
RFID-UHF                 10%
Bluetooth                 9%
Satellite Messaging       9%
RFID-HF                   8%
RFID-LF                   7%
RFID                      6%
UWB                       5%

Source: "Electronic Container Tracking Survey," Oyster Bay, New
York-based ABI Research, www.abiresearch.com

Electronic Container Tracking Solutions' Integration or Compatibility
with Various Tracking Technologies

Note: Table made from bar graph.