New credit card sized tracking label could help solve rising cargo theft
A new credit card-sized tracking label has been developed to combat rising cargo theft. The thin, disposable device uses cellular and satellite connectivity to let logistics companies track shipments in real time, offering a cost-effective tool to protect goods in transit.
Background
- Cargo theft has been surging in the US and Europe, with organized rings targeting high-value shipments (electronics, pharmaceuticals, apparel) from trucks, warehouses, and rail yards. Losses now run into the billions annually.
- Traditional tracking solutions (GPS dongles, full container trackers) are bulky, expensive, or require hardwiring — impractical for the millions of individual packages flowing through supply chains.
- The article describes a new paper-thin, credit-card-sized tracking label that can be slipped into boxes or pallets. It uses low-power cellular (LTE-M/NB-IoT) to report location periodically, lasting weeks or months on a tiny battery.
- This is part of a broader trend in "asset intelligence" — cheap, disposable IoT trackers that make supply chains visible at the item level, not just the truck or container level.
- Key players to know: companies like Project44, FourKites (visibility platforms), and label/tag makers like Samsung (SmartThings) or specialized startups (PingThings, Roambee) are competing in this space.