Booming Trailer Tracking Market Growth to Continue

ABI: Markets for electronic trailer tracking hardware and services are booming. worldwide subscriber numbers will see a strong, prolonged growth well through the end of the decade, and in North America, the percentage of trailers tracked will more than triple. Growth is already very strong: worldwide subscriber numbers have almost doubled since the previous year. Several factors have converged to produce this strong growth: Trailer tracking hardware costs have fallen significantly, while products and services have become more sophisticated. Customers are more aware of the technologies, and many see electronic tracking as an efficient solution to maximize productivity of trailers and resources. This rapid expansion is seeing many new vendors enter the market, and some players chalking up big wins. A good example is GE, which recently acquired Wal-Mart as a trailer tracking customer. The retailer placed an order for 46,000 units. When the fit-out is complete by the end of this year, GE will have more than doubled its market share, putting it on a nearly equal footing with other leading vendors such as Qualcomm, SkyBitz, and Terion. As in any fast-growing market with new vendors, consolidation can be expected, and not all will survive. There are two parts to the trailer tracking equation: hardware and services. Most of the market value is in the ongoing provision of services, and these can range from basic tracking of a trailer's location and status, to multiple sensor connections, integration, and monitoring of parameters such as the temperature of refrigerated trailers. By the end of this decade trailer tracking stands to be integrated with other commercial telematics solutions. Trailer Tracking Markets Publ 20060628