Reefer truck
tracking integration
GPS tracking combined with temperature probes in the cargo box, so you can see where a refrigerated truck is and whether the load stayed cold. Every excursion arrives with a time and a location.
THE PROBLEM
The load arrives warm and nobody can say when it happened
Chocolate, dairy, frozen food and medicines all depend on the refrigeration unit running for the whole journey. When a load is rejected at delivery, the shipper, the carrier and the receiver argue about where the temperature went wrong. Without data, nobody can prove it.
Shippers who use subcontracted carriers have the least visibility. The trucks are not theirs, the reefer units are not theirs, and drivers have their own incentives. Running the refrigeration burns fuel, and switching it off for part of the trip saves money for the carrier and costs the shipper the load.
A standard GPS tracker reports where the truck is. Knowing how cold the cargo stayed needs temperature sensing in the box, tied to position and time.
HOW WE SET IT UP
Location and cargo temperature in one record
Probes sized for long cable runs
The probe often sits far from the device in a reefer box. Cable resistance would read as extra temperature on a 2-wire PT100, so we fit 3-wire PT100, which cancels the lead resistance.
GPS and temperature in one stream
Temperature readings report together with position and time. A temperature rise on the dashboard comes with the place it started and how long it lasted.
Alarms with a delay you set
Thresholds and delays are set per channel, so a short door opening at a delivery stays quiet while a real excursion alerts your team by SMS, call, WhatsApp or email.
An API for the shipper
Data lands in RIOD Live or your own server, and an API lets your quality team or TMS review every trip in detail, including trucks run by subcontracted carriers.
FROM THE FIELD
What a chocolate manufacturer learned
Refrigeration switched off on the road
A chocolate manufacturer used subcontracted refrigerated trucks and wanted to know whether refrigeration ran correctly in transit. Some drivers were switching it off to save fuel, and nobody saw it until product arrived soft.
Sensors, cloud and an API
We supplied sensor devices for each truck, built the cloud platform and gave the customer an API to review data in detail. Every switch-off then had a time and a location.
AT A GLANCE
Reefer truck tracking integration
- What is measured
- GPS position plus cargo temperature from separate probes
- Hardware
- RNDSquare GPS and telematics tracker with compatible temperature sensors
- Temperature sensing
- 3-wire PT100 probes for long cable runs in the cargo box
- Connectivity
- GNSS positioning, cellular reporting, MQTT over TLS 1.2
- Where data goes
- RIOD Live cloud, your own server, or your existing platform through an API
- Reports
- Trip temperature history with audit trail, PDF and Excel export
- Engineering note
- Cargo temperature comes from the added probes; the GPS unit provides location and time
FAQ
Questions buyers ask us
Can a GPS tracker monitor the temperature in a reefer truck?
A GPS unit on its own reports location. Temperature comes from probes installed in the cargo box and connected to the system, so both report together. That combination is what links each temperature excursion to a time and place.
How do you catch drivers switching off the reefer unit?
Cargo temperature reported with position shows the moment the box starts warming and where the truck was. On a project for a chocolate manufacturer, this made every refrigeration switch-off visible with time and location.
Why use 3-wire PT100 probes in refrigerated trucks?
In a reefer the probe cable runs a long way. With a 2-wire PT100 the cable resistance adds to the reading and the box looks warmer than it is. A 3-wire connection cancels that lead resistance.
Can shippers see temperature data from subcontracted carriers?
Yes. Data reaches RIOD Live or the shipper's own server, and an API lets the shipper review each trip in detail, whichever carrier ran the truck.
Need proof the cold chain held?
Tell us the trucks, the products you move and who needs the data. We will propose the probe setup, the tracker and the integration.