The installed base of active cargo tracking units reached 6.1 million in 2018

Berg Insight, the world’s leading IoT market research provider, today released a new market report covering the cargo tracking market.

The number of active tracking devices deployed for cargo loading units including trailers, intermodal containers, rail freight wagons, air cargo containers, cargo boxes and pallets reached 6.1 million worldwide in 2018. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.3 percent, this number is expected to reach 20.4 million by 2023. Trailer telematics is today the most developed market, followed by tracking devices for general cargo applications and intermodal containers. The markets for rail freight wagon and air freight cargo tracking are considerably smaller but will grow substantially during the coming five years.

The total market value for trailer and cargo container tracking solutions reached at the same time an estimated € 857 million in 2018. The market for remote tracking solutions for cargo containers has entered a period of healthy growth that will continue for several years. Growing at a CAGR of 16.3 percent, the total market value is forecasted to reach € 1.8 billion in 2023. Berg Insight ranks ORBCOMM as the largest vendor of tracking solutions for cargo loading units, having a significant installed base of trailers as well as containers. ORBCOMM is together with SkyBitz, Omnitracs, Spireon and I.D. Systems the leading players on the North American trailer telematics market in terms of number of active units.

The European trailer telematics market is substantially smaller than the North American and is dominated by Idem Telematics, Schmitz Cargobull, CLS Group and Transics/WABCO. On the market for container tracking solutions, three major vendors are Malaysia-based Envotech and Sierra Wireless and Geoforce based in the US. Mecomo and Agheera, both based in Europe, are strong vendors in the adjacent swap body segment. Future Telematics, Intermodal Telematics and Nexiot based in Europe and Amsted Rail based in North America are significant vendors of tracking solutions for rail freight wagons. Sensitech, Roambee and OnAsset Intelligence are moreover notable players in the general cargo segment, also offering solutions for air freight cargo tracking. Technological developments in the telematics industry in recent years have resulted in more advanced tracking solutions.

“Today’s telematics solutions generate an increasing amount of data on the status and location of cargo and cargo loading units”, says Martin Bäckman, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight. Along with the development of more capable tracking solutions, low-end solutions are becoming increasingly affordable. “The price for real-time tracking technology is now at a point where customers find it viable to track also low-value goods such as non-perishable food”, continues Mr. Bäckman. This enlarges the addressable market significantly and tracking of trailers, containers, rail wagons and cargo boxes is expected to become increasingly common in the next decade.