TOTE Maritime Alaska working with ORBCOMM to monitor freight in transit

The ubiquity of Internet of Things (IoT) was made more evident by a recent announcement by ORBCOMM Inc. a leading global provider of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and IoT services. The ocean cargo container industry is even hopping on the band wagon.

TOTE Maritime Alaska has selected ORBCOMM to provide a broad portfolio of telematics to monitor and control its refrigerated and dry intermodal and over-the-road assets, including containers, trailers and flatbeds. 

TOTE Maritime Alaska is a leading Jones Act carrier serving the Alaska market, connecting greater Alaska to the Continental United States and beyond. Also serving the trade is Matson Navigation, which has been providing online visability for reefer shipments for some time.

This is the second deployment for TOTE Maritime, following the success of the TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico reefer management system deployment earlier this year.  

Spokesmen for ORBCOMM said its ReeferConnect and CargoWatch services provide real time cold chain monitoring for TOTE Maritime Alaska’s refrigerated containers and trailers, delivering “precise temperature monitoring.”

Also provided is and data needed for ensuring cargo protection as well as compliance with the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act regulatory mandates.

TOTE Maritime Alaska is also deploying ORBCOMM’s CargoWatch services for tracking their insulated trailers, dry containers and flatbed equipment to improve asset utilization and security.

“ORBCOMM’s advanced telematics solutions are an ideal complement to TOTE Maritime Alaska’s best-in-class service and assets, and will enable us to provide maximum safety and further improve the overall customer experience,” said Michael Noone, President, TOTE Maritime Alaska.  “Our commitment to innovate is essential to our success, and we look forward to deploying ORBCOMM technology on our assets to provide even greater service for our customers.”  

TOTE Maritime Alaska began installing ORBCOMM’s solutions in the second quarter of 2017 and will complete installation of all equipment by early Q1 2018.