What Is Online Container Tracking and Why Is It Important

Maintaining complete transparency throughout the supply chain system, including tracking the movement of goods, is crucial for ensuring efficiency and reliability. A Freight Tracking System, like live container tracking, offers a solution for monitoring international consignments. Typically, businesses rely on their carriers’ websites or international logistics providers to track their containers.
Although online container tracking provides visibility, it comes with challenges. One major issue is data accuracy since information is updated by multiple parties, leading to potential inaccuracies and gaps. Data security and consistency of various data points are also concerns. Additionally, visualizing collected data over time poses a challenge.
Despite these hurdles, container tracking is vital for supply chain visibility and receiving real-time updates on important events. In our blog, we delve into the complexities of online container tracking, examine why real-time tracking is difficult, and propose how container tracking software can help businesses overcome these obstacles.

What Is Online Container Tracking?

A Freight Tracking System helps businesses keep an eye on their containers as they travel. Normally, companies have to check different shipping websites or follow links from shipping companies to know where their cargo is. This can be a pain and confusion. But with a Freight Tracking System, it’s easier. It lets businesses see where their containers are and how fast they’re moving. This way, they can make sure everything is on track and estimate when the containers will arrive at their final destination. The system works by gathering data from different sources and putting it all in one place, usually a cloud-based software connected to the company’s data system. This gives a clear picture of where the containers are throughout the journey. So, businesses can adjust their delivery schedules based on this information.

What Is Online Container Tracking Software

A Freight Tracking System helps companies keep an eye on multiple containers being shipped by various shipping lines. It provides a single dashboard where all the details about the containers, companies involved, and packages are displayed. This system also offers useful reports and analytics. With a Freight Tracking System, businesses can easily track:
  1. When the container reaches the assigned terminals.
  2. Loading the containers onto the right carriers or ships.
  3. Departure time of the containers.
  4. Whether the container has reached a transshipment port and when it leaves.
  5. Movement of the container and the estimated time it will arrive at the destination port.
  6. Confirmation if the correct container has been received by the end client or consignee.

Why Is Online Container Tracking Important?

Understanding the importance of online container tracking is easy with this example. Let’s say you have 200 shipments to send through five different shipping companies. If you were to track each shipment manually by visiting each company’s website and entering details like the bill of lading or container number, it would take a lot of time. Let’s say it takes about 2 minutes to track one shipment online. So, for 200 shipments, it would take at least 400 minutes. Imagine how much longer it would take if you had to do this by calling each shipping company! It would be a lot of time and effort. That’s why having an online freight tracking system is important. It saves time and effort because you can check the status of all your shipments in one place, quickly and easily. Plus, it gives you real-time updates on where your shipments are.

Benefits of Online Container Tracking Software

If a business wants to work better, it needs to know where its deliveries are going. Freight tracking systems help with this. They show where shipments are and how long it’ll take for them to arrive. This is important for improving how a business operates.

Auto-capture Shipment Movements :

A Freight Tracking System helps companies keep tabs on multiple containers as they move. It compares delivery schedules and where the containers are currently. This helps companies see how well their shippers or carriers are doing. Traditionally, companies checked the carrier’s website to see where containers were. But that method had a big flaw. The information was often old or not useful anymore.
This could lead to confusion between the company and its customers about where shipments were and when they’d arrive. With live Freight Tracking Systems, companies avoid these problems. The software tracks shipments in real-time, giving businesses up-to-date info.

Real-Time Alerts and Updates :

Gone are the days when businesses had to wait and wait for tracking software to load just to see where their containers were. Now, with online freight tracking systems, they can instantly find out where their cargo is located.
Not only that, but these systems can also automatically send updates to the right people when the cargo reaches certain points along the way. And it’s not just businesses that benefit. Clients waiting for their cargo can also get updates via email or text message, keeping them in the loop every step of the way

Enhanced Customer Relationship :

When companies use a good online Freight Tracking System, they can share info about a container with their customers. This means customers can see updates on their shipments and know when they’ll arrive. This helps companies be better with their customers and makes their brand look good.

Actionable Insights

Freight tracking systems come with smart dashboards that help businesses make smart decisions using data. These systems gather data from past and current shipments. They collect details like dispatch, milestones, ports, and delivery confirmations. Over time, they build up enough data to provide useful insights. They can analyze carrier performance, delivery times, and locations. All this information is accessible through one easy-to-use dashboard. It helps companies understand their cargo situation and fix any shipment problems quickly.

Saves Time

Using a reliable Freight Tracking System, companies don’t have to check lots of different websites or make loads of reports by hand. They don’t need to keep updating Excel all day either. The online Freight Tracking System does all this stuff automatically. That means workers can save time and concentrate on more useful tasks. Later, we’ll talk about five problems with tracking shipments that a business can fix by using an online Freight Tracking System.

5 Challenges You Can Overcome With Online Container Tracking Software

Lack of Communication Among Stakeholders :

When companies rely only on freight companies or carriers for updates on shipments, it can cause problems. They might not have the right information to tell their customers when their orders will arrive. This can make it hard for businesses to grow and manage their supply chains well. Nowadays, customers want to know where their orders are at all times. They want updates in real-time. But if there’s a lack of communication between different groups involved in shipping, it can be tough to provide this information.
That’s where a Freight Tracking System comes in handy. It’s an online tool that helps businesses and their customers track shipments in real time. With this system, everyone can see where goods are at any given moment. This makes the shipping process more transparent and helps solve communication problems.

Shipment Security

Ensuring the security of shipments is crucial, especially when they pass through different hands and locations. Whether it’s a short or long-distance delivery, the cargo goes through various points like warehouses, storage areas, and docks before reaching the customer. Without a proper freight tracking system, there’s a risk of security breaches, especially if all parties involved don’t follow safety protocols. A live tracking system for containers can greatly enhance security. It monitors the containers in real-time, using data from each delivery milestone and the container’s movement. This helps in identifying any potential delays and automatically alerts the companies involved.

ETA SLA Breaches

When shipping containers, lots of people are involved, which can make it hard to keep track and communicate effectively. This can cause delays in deliveries and mess up the estimated time of arrival (ETA), breaking the promised delivery times. Delays in one part of the journey can lead to delays elsewhere, making it tough for businesses to get timely updates.
Using a live freight tracking system can help solve these problems. It lets companies track their shipments in real time, make smart guesses about when they’ll arrive, and notify everyone involved about any delays. It can even predict extra costs, like if the container gets held up at a port for too long.

Lack of Visibility

As the global supply chain keeps growing, there are more ships, cargo, containers, ports, and delivery routes. This makes it harder to keep track of everything, reducing visibility. Relying only on carrier and shipping channel data isn’t good enough anymore to track containers effectively.
That’s why having a Freight Tracking System is important. It gives real-time visibility and tracking of shipments. With this system, companies can easily see where their containers are at any time.

Suboptimal Shipment Planning

When goods are sent out on a ship, the sender or seller arranges for them to be picked up once they reach a certain point in their journey. This is usually called the last-mile pickup, but it can happen in the middle of the journey too, depending on how far the goods have to go. If the shipment is late or arrives early, businesses end up paying extra to reschedule the pickup. But with a smart freight tracking system, businesses can plan the whole journey more efficiently. They get automatic updates on key milestones, and alerts if there are delays or early arrivals. This helps them plan better for things like pickups.

FREIGHTOSCOPE™ Best Online Container Tracking System

FREIGHTOSCOPE™ has a great online system for tracking containers. It helps businesses keep an eye on their shipments in real time using just one dashboard. This system is really handy because it combines tracking and tracing for shipments as they move from one place to another. It gives companies a clear view of where their containers are going.
With the FREIGHTOSCOPE™ freight tracking system, it’s easy to connect with a business’s ERP system. This helps improve planning for shipping and reduces fees for holding containers too long.
Using FREIGHTOSCOPE™ live container tracking software has been a big help for its clients. If you’re curious about how this software could help your business with freight tracking challenges and help you make decisions in real time, you can ask for a personalized demo today.