3 Technical Hurdles To Investigate Before Installing Temperature Trackers

The challenge: Reefer containers are out at sea with limited cell coverage. When not at sea they are hauled on the road, at terminals and in remote destinations.

The solution: A generic GPS device just won’t deliver here. You need a specialized battery operated device that provides 24/7 visibility into the location and temperature of the containers. As they are at remote location at sea, you need a device that still report or store the data and send to you once back in cellular coverage. 

• What happens if the temperature suddenly changes? You need a unit with advanced functionalities that will alert you on temperature deviations so you can be proactive and respond quickly. 
• What about extreme weather conditions? You need a device that can withstand the harshest weather conditions, whether extreme heat or storms. Look for a device that is housed in an IP67 enclosure, this is the highest rated waterproof enclosure that can withstand extreme weather conditions.

Consider the robust Piccolo TMX+, a Wireless Temperature Monitoring device designed specifically to monitor temperature in a closed area such as a refrigerated truck, trailer or reefer shipping container. It is packaged in an IP67 waterproof enclosure with integrated GPS and cellular antennas & equipped with an 7800 mAh rechargeable lithium back up battery and an external digital temperature sensor with +/- 0.5˚ C, +/- 0.9˚F accuracy.

The challenge: Your reefer containers or trailers have multiple cold zones with different temperatures.

The solution: Most generic GPS devices are simple devices that can not deal with complex challenges such as monitoring more than 1 cold zone. You need to look for a specialized device that has the ability to monitor multiple cold zones at once, with different temperatures in each cold zone. Only a specialized gps temperature tracker will do the work.  We offer multiple temperature monitoring devices to meet this need, including the Piccolo TMX+ and the Piccolo STX, both can monitor up to 6 (!) cold zones simultaneously. The latter also acts as a fleet management device for driver behavior and engine diagnostics.

The challenge: You need a temperature tracker for your containers and a telematics device for the cabin to report fleet management data such as engine diagnostics, driver behavior, location, Driver ID, and such. You will most likely need 2 devices for each solution, causing you to double your expenses or choose between what is more pressing for you.

The solution: Once again, you will need a specialized device as the generic devices are able to report location only and don’t have additional complex functionalities. To cut unnecessary expenses, look for a specialized device that acts as a GPS telematics vehicle tracker when connected to the truck and an asset tracker with temperature sensor when disconnected.

Our Piccolo Hybrid+ is the ideal solution for situations like these. It is a dual mode unit, acting as a real time trailer tracking device when connected to power and as an asset tracking device when external power is disconnected, providing comprehensive visibility for trailers parked at job sites waiting to be unloaded and reloaded. The device supports up to 6 wired digital temperature sensors, allowing you to monitor up to 6 different cold zones simultaneously.