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Tracking trucks with TMW

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2:43 PM Nov. 08, 2004
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By tjackson [at] crain [dot] com

TMW Systems Inc.,
a Beachwood provider of software for trucking companies, says it will
add up to ten jobs in the next 12 months to support its new alliance to
offer satellite tracking of trucks and shipping containers.

The alliance with SkyBitz ,
a Dulles, Va., company, means that TMW will use SkyBitz’s global
location system technology to power the trailer tracking service TMW
offers to trucking companies. TMW also will resell SkyBitz’s products
and services.

The new employees will be necessary to implement the alliance, said
Tom Weisz, CEO and founder of TMW. TMW currently has about 150
employees, including 35 who have been hired this year.

Terms of the partnership weren’t disclosed.Mr. Weisz would not disclose sales figures for TMW.

The service will give trucking companies detailed information about
what’s happening with their trucks, such as whether a trailer door is
opened before the truck arrives at its destination and whether a
trailer has been misrouted, according to TMW.

Satellite tracking for trucks isn’t new, but most tracking devices
have required an independent power source, such as the power generated
by a truck’s engines, Mr. Weisz explained.

SkyBitz’s small devices are powered by lithium batteries that can
last up to three years and can be attached to shipping containers or
other objects that don’t have a source of power, he said.

The new alliance was announced at TMW’s annual users group
conference, being held today through Thursday at the InterContinental
Hotel and Conference Center in Cleveland. The meeting is expected to
attract 700 people, said Cindy Nelson, director of marketing at TMW.