The good news is that enhanced container security methods, based on technologies such as RFID, cellular and satellite communications, are on the way.
These technologies also promise substantial commercial benefits from a supply chain and enterprise resource planning (ERP) perspective.
Depending on the technology and application, electronic tracking can not only log a container's movements around the world (sometimes in real-time), but can also alert administrators that, for instance, a container was opened without authorization.
ABI Research analyst David Schrier cautions that deployment of these technologies for commercial cargo containers will not occur overnight.
The overall number of commercial containers utilizing an electronic tracking solution will remain in the single digits until the latter part of this decade.
"Two pivotal drivers towards mass-market adoption of electronic container tracking will be mandates to suppliers by the U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart to use RFID in pallet-level supply chain solutions," claims Schrier.
Savi Technology, long a dominant player in U.S. Department of Defense asset tracking projects, is best positioned to be the market leader in container tracking worldwide.
Savi already operates over 1,400 RFID network checkpoints worldwide for the U.S. military and is preparing to deploy their network commercially.
The new report, "Container Security and Tracking", examines and evaluates evolving solutions and technologies for global electronic container tracking, including: RFID, GPS, cellular, satellite, Ultra Wideband, Bluetooth, barcode, and optical character recognition.