GPS Tracking in the Refrigerated Transport Industry
Consumers fret that their carton of ice cream or cold cut turkey might spoil during the trip home from the grocery store. That anxiety is only a fraction of what is experienced by long haul truckers with refrigerated trailers. Imagine being responsible for the cross-country transport of tons of East Coast lobster. You’ve got three days to deliver the delicacy, exactly on schedule and at exactly the right temperature.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the authority to make sure that happens. In addition, trucking companies are spending billions of dollars on their own equipment, personnel and infrastructure systems to make sure the shipments entrusted to them arrive at their destinations as fresh as possible.
Today’s two-way locating, navigating, communications and control systems utilize GPS tracking, radio frequency and cellular wireless networks, or a combination of those technologies.
Government Involved in GPS Tracking and Temperature Management
The health department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Center for Disease Control and any number of other government agencies are very interested in what’s traveling in the back of that truck trailer cab. Millions of people are sickened every year by bacteria in food. An open door on the lobster shipment, somewhere en route from dock to distributor, can change the interior temperature of a truck by several degrees. That can be a catastrophe on a load of refrigerated cargo.
While transporting food items from one place to another, special consideration must be made regarding the packing and temperature maintenance of the truck. It is imperative that the driver, as well as the fleet manager, work to protect the contents. Fortunately, with the latest developments in the field of science and technology, GPS tracking, in concert with other wireless communications, can make every truck delivery reliable, efficient and cost-effective.
LandAirSea Systems, a leading provider of passive and active GPS tracking systems and accessories, has furnished real-time tracking systems to worldwide companies dealing in temperature sensitive goods. These companies run fleet operations including refrigerated trucks, catering trucks, insulated trucks and freezer trucks. Its leading real-time tracking solution is the Victoria GPS Tracking System, which is a 100 percent Web based system with 10-second position updates.
Through GPS tracking and temperature systems, company drivers and managers get to maintain almost complete control over refrigerated trucks. Transportation and dispatch managers can remotely access humidity and temperature sensors, main systems controls (door and hitch locks, cabin temperature, tire pressure, engine idling, etc), speed of travel and real-time vehicle tracking to determine if the truck will be arriving at its destination on time. And they can extend that ability out to an entire fleet.
These systems have integrated email or message alert systems that are activated for critical events, such as if the specified temperature and humidity limits are exceeded.
Sophisticated Electronic/Computer Systems Monitor Trucks
In refrigerated trucks outfitted with GPS tracking and temperature control systems, a sophisticated monitoring system is installed in the truck. The unit encompasses a GPS tracking system, a cellular handheld, a GPS/cell antenna, an integrated backup battery, and a temperature sensor with laser sighting. A GPS tracking receiver in the truck receives GPS tracking signals, combines the data with that from the vehicle’s main system controls, and transmits the information over a cellular network to a central location where the data is stored on servers. A customized software application is used to assemble the data in a useful form. From the driver’s cab and from central control, personnel can obtain complete information regarding the various aspects of the trip such as status reports, history logs, temperature plots, GPS location reports and maps.
An added benefit is the GPS tracking and temperature control system provides full printable reports of every transport to ensure that all functions are in accordance with local and federal health, environment and transportation laws.
Almost every company handling food preservation and transportation is using GPS tracking and temperature systems to monitor temperature, trip progress and maintenance.
Early Days before GPS Tracking
In earlier times, resourceful cooks came up with fairly efficient techniques for preserving food, such as canning, bottling, drying, preserving, smoking, salting, and storage in root cellars. These techniques have for centuries been reliable methods for keeping food in edible condition. But for the most part, they restricted food to the region in which they were grown, harvested and processed.
Now, with advanced GPS tracking technology and powerful refrigeration, it has become quite easy to transport the most delicate of food items from one part of the world to another.
Tags: fleet, GPS Tracking, Temperature Management, transport
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