To transport your goods, your containers travel from one location to another and go through various partners. Therefore, tracking your containers is extremely essential to ensure their successful journey to the doorstep of the customers. Due to the advancement of technologies, container tracking has become easier and effective.
Container tracking technology has advanced in the recent years, making it more reliable for you to track your shipments. Since there are many methods to track containers these days, it is essential to be aware of all the prominent ones and understand how they work. This will help businesses enhance their customer service level by providing them up-to-minute updates about their containers.
The most common methods of container tracking are as follows:
- A) Global Positioning System (GPS): GPS tracking is one of the most popular and accurate ways to track your containers. By using satellites, businesses can pinpoint the location of their containers in real-time.
- B) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID): RFID tracking is another popular method that uses electromagnetic fields to track items. This technology is beneficial as it does not require a direct line of sight to the object being tracked, making it perfect for containers that are in transit.
- C) Internet of Things (IoT): IoT tracking is a relatively new technology that uses sensors and RFID tags to track objects. This method is growing in popularity as it provides more detailed information about an object’s location and condition.
Apart from the methods mentioned above, there are other ways to track your containers, such as using barcodes or QR codes. However, these methods are not as popular or accurate as the ones mentioned earlier.
Regardless of the method chosen, it is important for businesses to have a system in place that can effectively track their containers. By doing so, they can provide their customers with up-to-date information about their shipments and improve their customer service level.
Importance of Container Tracking
Tracking your container plays a crucial role in the supply chain of your business. It will also help you react faster to the expectations of the clients and customers. Not only container tracking will help you save costs but also allow you to increase transparency to your customers. Here are some advantages of container tracking:
Faster Delivery
As a business owner, time will play a crucial role in the success of your company. The sooner you know the expectations of your customers, the better you can react to them. When you track your containers, you will receive real-time notifications from your carriers that will help you adapt to the changes quickly. Not to mention, you can also respond perfectly if there’s any delay.
Cost-Saving
If your container is delayed or stuck at the port, your company will be charged for detention and demurrage costs. This additional cost might affect the cash flow of your business.
With cma cgm tracking you can undoubtedly reduce the detention and demurrage costs. Remember that the freight industry is dependent on multiple partners. Therefore, one delay at a specific medium will cause a delay on other mediums too. This will ultimately increase the costs. By updating your partners will the real-time location of your containers, you can easily reduce the demurrage and detention costs.
Enhanced Customer Relations
Improving the relationship with your customers is one of the most important factors you need to know. If you track your containers, you can provide great transparency to your customers with the real-time location, estimated time of arrival, and status of your containers. This will not only provide them a peace of mind but also great comprehension. This is one of the best ways to increase customer satisfaction. As per Helpscout, customer relations are important.
What are the Tracking Methods?
Most freight forwarding companies use two different methods to track their containers: through location tracking or updates arriving from the partners. Receiving real-time updates from the partners regarding the location of your container is important. However, you can also verify the information with an advanced tracking system. It will work as an added layer of security.
Tracking with Carriers and Trucker Updates
Logistics managers verify all the checkpoints that the containers go through to ensure accurate tracking. They also contact an implicated partner:
- Road Transport: When the partner picks an empty container, they fill it and deliver it to the POL. The logistics managers check the position of the containers thoroughly so that they can arrive on time. This is done through the combination of emails, phone calls, and messages. This type of information is usually decentralized. Make sure you use a collaborative platform to receive all the updates in one place.
- Ocean Carrier: Once your containers have been picked by the ocean freight forwarding carriers, you can check the website of the company to receive updates regarding the location of your containers.
Conclusion
Remember that tracking your containers is the most effective way to improve your supply chain. Not only you can make your customers happy, but also provide great services without facing any delays.
