SkyBitz, a satellite-based asset tracking and information management service provider, in partnership with StarTrak Systems, a provider of transport refrigeration wireless monitoring and control services, launched the SkyBitz Reefer Control Solution, described as an affordable refrigeration monitoring and control technology, at the 70th Annual Truckload Carriers Association Convention in Nassau, Bahamas.
By integrating the SkyBitz GLS 210 Mobile Terminal with StarTrak’s ReeferTrak module, SkyBitz Reefer Control is designed to offer fleet managers the ability to monitor, manage and control all of their reefer assets from any desktop in real time, at an aggressive price point.
Partnering with SkyBitz provides StarTrak access to a customer base of more than 450 fleets. The SkyBitz Reefer Control solution offers customers the combined benefits of a satellite communications and tracking solution with a two-way control system available for all types of transport refrigeration configurations from StarTrak. StarTrak also is offering SkyBitz’s satellite solutions to its customers.
“Our customers are always looking to increase operating efficiencies, and the SkyBitz Reefer Control offering is a vital tool to help them quickly achieve those business objectives,” says Homaira Akbari, chief executive officer of SkyBitz. “Our intelligent sensor technologies have been adopted by fleet owners who recognize that tracking and monitoring technology is a key component in the ability to make better business decisions, protect assets and cargo, and produce visible results to an improved bottom line.”
SkyBitz Reefer Control adds the ReeferTrak innovation to its current broad suite of intelligent sensors developed by SkyBitz. Key to the SkyBitz Reefer Control Solution is the ability to offer two-way communication and control with up-to-the-minute microprocessor information. Precise monitoring and real-time control of wireless temperature monitoring protects loads from spoiling, thereby reducing freight claims, ensuring cargo security and improving insurance risk and rates. Through the ReeferTrak module, the SkyBitz Reefer Control system interfaces directly to the microprocessors of reefer units provided by all major manufacturers.
The affordable monitoring of reefer status includes features such as operating state, temperatures, alarms, battery condition, fuel level, etc., and two-way control functionality to change reefer temperature set-point, clear alarms, etc. This advanced functionality is all visible via the SkyBitz website application, InSight. “Our successes within the trucking industry are now being expanded to additional vertical markets such as oil and gas and marine, and we will continue to penetrate markets where there is synergy for customers looking to better manage their global assets,” Akbari says.
“SkyBitz has over 140,000 trailers under management and continues to grow that number aggressively,” says Tim Slifkin, StarTrak chief executive officer. “This joint effort brings StarTrak’s well-established ReeferTrak platform to the large SkyBitz customer base and allows StarTrak to deploy ReeferTrak to its own customers utilizing the innovative SkyBitz satellite technology. This significantly extends the customer bases of both companies with what is, by far, the most comprehensive mobile reefer management tool available. This is a groundbreaking development, and we are delighted to be working so closely with SkyBitz to bring this to the market.”
