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Asset Tracking Software Buying Guide for 3PLs
Asset Tracking Software can help 3pls locate and monitor trailers, containers, equipment, and other mobile assets. Evaluate each option against how your team manages multiple customers, facilities, contracts, service levels, billing rules, and transportation partners.
Why this category matters here
For 3pls, the most relevant fit is container & trailer tracking. Confirm that the product supports this workflow in practice and fits the people, systems, controls, and exceptions already in place.
Capabilities to evaluate
- Yard visibility
- Asset utilization
- Location and movement history
- Geofence, dwell, and exception alerts
- Asset inventory and utilization views
Questions to ask vendors
- Which assets, sensors, and coverage environments are supported?
- How are battery life, connectivity gaps, and missing events handled?
- Can events flow into yard, transportation, maintenance, and customer workflows?
- How will this fit the way your team manages multiple customers, facilities, contracts, service levels, billing rules, and transportation partners?
9 marketplace profiles are listed for Asset Tracking Software and 3PLs. Compare their listed details with your requirements and confirm fit with each provider.
Options for 3PLs
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Radar asset visibility for trailers, chassis, containers and railcars, with a unified portal and alerts.
Listed features: Unified Radar portal, Event-driven asset insights, Cargo-status visibility (configured sensors). Listed integrations: ISAAC (confirm implementation), McLeod Software (confirm implementation), Trimble (confirm product and implementation).
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Radar tracks trailers, chassis and other non-powered assets, with device-specific sensors and alerts.
Listed features: Trailer and chassis tracking, Container tracking, Railcar tracking. Listed integrations: ISAAC (confirm implementation), McLeod Software (confirm implementation), Trimble (confirm product and implementation).
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Multimodal shipment visibility with predictive arrivals, exception management and IoT data.
Listed features: Container-shipment visibility, Chassis visibility (confirm module), Predictive arrival times. Listed integrations: Visibility data interfaces (confirm systems and scope).
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Shipment and reusable-asset visibility with IoT data, exception monitoring and Decision AI.
Listed features: Container and reusable-asset tracking, Shipment monitoring, Condition sensing (configured devices). Listed integrations: Integration Hub (confirm systems and implementation).
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Track trailers, containers and equipment in MyGeotab with device-specific GPS and Bluetooth options.
Listed features: Battery, solar and Bluetooth options, Trailer and container tracking, Equipment tracking. Listed integrations: MyGeotab (first-party platform), Platform APIs (confirm device and access).
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Scout AI answers plain-language questions about asset and supply-chain data in the GPX tracking platform.
Listed features: Natural-language asset insights, Configurable location updates, Condition monitoring (device-dependent). Listed integrations: Not listed.
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GPS gateways and Bluetooth Asset Tags provide device-specific tracking and asset-utilization insights.
Listed features: GPS and network-based asset tracking, Battery life by device and reporting mode, Geofence alerts. Listed integrations: Samsara platform APIs (confirm access and device scope).
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Full-stack AI-powered IoT supply chain visibility — from disposable smart labels to satellite-connected reusable trackers, unified on the RELATIVITY cloud platform.
Listed features: Real-time in-transit and in-warehouse visibility (SKU to container level), AI-powered risk intelligence with predictive analytics, Disposable smart labels. Listed integrations: SAP TMS / ERP, Oracle Transportation Management, Blue Yonder TMS.
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Rugged ZTrak location tracking for non-powered assets, with configurable reporting and theft recovery.
Listed features: Rugged ZTrak location tracking, Up to ten-year battery (1–2 daily pings), Theft recovery (current two-minute reporting mode). Listed integrations: Zonar Ignition (first-party platform).
Explore the full interactive guide · Browse Asset Tracking Software listings
Asset Tracking for 3pl buying guidance
At a glance: Asset tracking identifies and records the status or movement of reusable or operational assets—such as returnable transport items, trailers, containers, chassis, tools, and equipment—using identifiers and observations captured through processes or technologies such as scans, tags, GPS, or partner events. Identification, event sharing, and precise live location are different capabilities; the asset type and deployment determine which evidence is available. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events; GS1 Traceability standard, version 1.3.0
Fit for 3pl (core)
A 3PL may coordinate asset events across customers and carriers, especially for reusable transport items or shared equipment pools. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Workflow: Map client ownership, carrier custody, facility scans, asset handoff, shipment association, and the event record shared back to each client. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Ask in a demo: Follow a client-owned reusable asset through a 3PL receipt, storage interval, outbound release, and carrier handoff. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Check before choosing: Contract terms, partner identifiers, and permissions can constrain event visibility even when systems are technically connected. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Common workflows
- Identify reusable transport equipment: Define a durable identity for each returnable asset, decide whether the business needs class-level or individual tracking, assign ownership, and specify how tags or labels survive normal handling. GS1 describes GRAI as a key suited to reusable transport items and transport equipment; adopting an identifier does not itself locate the object. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI)
- Capture handoffs and location events: Map the business events that matter—dispatch, loading, receipt, transfer, inspection, return, or loss—and identify which party records each event and when it is exchanged. GS1 EPCIS describes sharing visibility-event data about objects, time, place, and business context; the source does not imply continuous GPS tracking. GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events; GS1 Traceability standard, version 1.3.0
- Select an observation method for the operating environment: Compare scan points, RFID read zones, cellular or satellite devices, power options, coverage gaps, and maintenance responsibility against asset value and route. Separate an identifier or last reported event from a current position estimate and test how stale, duplicated, and missing events are shown. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Questions to ask providers
- What asset classes, individual units, and ownership boundaries are in scope, and which identifier is retained over the asset's life?
- Does the proposed method report an event, an approximate last-known location, or a continuously sampled position, and what is the evidence source for each?
- Which scan, tag, gateway, device, power, network, roaming, and replacement components are included in the design and quote?
- How are missing, duplicated, delayed, out-of-order, and contradictory asset events reconciled across carriers, 3PLs, and customer systems?
- What permissions, retention, data export, partner access, device security, and decommissioning controls apply to the tracking records?
- How will the pilot measure identifier-read rates, event completeness, location age, battery service, and recovery workflow without extrapolating beyond the tested routes?
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an asset for tracking?
A supply-chain asset can include reusable transport items, transport equipment, tools, or other identified objects. GS1's GRAI key is especially suitable for reusable transport items and transport equipment; buyers still need to choose what their own asset register covers. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI)
Is asset identification the same as GPS tracking?
No. An identifier labels which object is involved, while GPS or another observation method may report a position or event. GS1 GRAI describes an asset key, and EPCIS describes visibility-event sharing; neither by itself promises continuous GPS coverage. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
What is EPCIS used for?
GS1 describes EPCIS as a standard for sharing supply-chain visibility-event information about physical objects and business events. It can support event exchange between applications and trading partners, but a buyer must still define which events, identifiers, interfaces, and responsibilities apply. GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Should a business track a container, trailer, and tractor in the same system?
They may be connected operationally but have different owners, identifiers, devices, and observation patterns. Model each asset type separately, then test how a system links a trailer or container to a load and journey without treating a powered-vehicle telematics feed as proof of cargo position. Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI); GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
Can asset tracking prevent theft or guarantee recovery?
No tracking standard or category definition guarantees prevention or recovery. A buyer should evaluate alert coverage, power, communications, response ownership, police or insurer procedures, and actual incident evidence before assigning an expected outcome. GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events
How should a tracking pilot be measured?
Use a defined asset population and route sample, and separately measure identity match, event completeness, observation freshness, coverage gaps, device servicing, and exception resolution. Do not generalize one pilot's route or asset mix to all operations. GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events; GS1 Traceability standard, version 1.3.0
Sources (3)
- Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) — GS1
- GS1 EPCIS: enabling visibility with real time information on supply chain events — GS1
- GS1 Traceability standard, version 1.3.0 — GS1