True North American GPS Coverage - Canada to Mexico
Late in June a commercial GPS tracking request came in for the Trackem team to cultivate. Injection mold manufacturer, Stacktech Systems LTD., had a high value shipment ready at its Brampton, Ontario facility and they needed to know where this item was, at all times. In fact, in this case, given the capital value of the shipment, their insurance provider mandated that it be tracked 24/7 or else default any insurance coverage.
Stackteck uses a logistics broker, CS-1 Transportation to secure and contract carriers and logistical plans for their shipping needs. CS-1 and Stackteck reps witnessed a demonstration of the Trackem GPS solution and were happy with the convenience of the portable tracker, the functionality of the mobile app and the instant text or email notifications. CS-1 conducted its research on GPS offerings and ultimately chose Trackem to provide the GPS system to fulfill the existing insurance obligations.
The payload filled an entire 53 foot tractor trailer with two injection molds and a 9,000 lb automation robot on a 16x10’ pallet. All-in, the cargo was worth well over 1 million dollars.
The route was over 3,900 kilometers from Brampton, Ontario to Santa Anita Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico. The trek was done in two legs, the first from Brampton to Laredo, Texas, which borders Mexico and the second from Larado to Santa Anita Tlaquepaque. Stackteck offers ‘to-the-door service’ which brought the delivery directly to a Grupo Lala facility, who are the second largest dairy producer in Mexico. The facility is a molding and packaging facility for the dairy industry. Trackem tracked the shipment the entire way, in real-time.
“The system worked flawlessly along the entire route which was long and across two international borders,” said Richard Pearce, Manager Logistics and Trade Compliance for Stackteck Systems LTD. “Given the value of the shipment, a solid GPS tracking system provided excellent peace of mind all around. It also allows us to instantly answer the very common question from our customers when shipping high value items asking – where is my shipment?” Stackteck has reported fielding a lower number of customer calls and credits that to increased visibility on its shipments, made possible by Trackem GPS.
The magnetic, portable Trackem GPS modem was placed just inside the trailer. This GPS tracker features a long-life lithium-ion battery that can last up to 2 months, so was not a concern for lasting the length of this trip.
Upon arrival, the modem was taken off the trailer. “That was interesting, as I instantly got a tamper notification from the Trackem system that the unit was uninstalled,” said Pearce, “I thought that was a very good feature when I had heard about it, but this proved that it does in fact work when moved or tampered with.” In this case, it was simply uninstalled to ship back to Stackteck in Canada.
After this initial successful shipment, Stackteck has seen the logistics management benefits of the Trackem GPS system and is currently ordering more units.
