Tracking cross-border shipments in real time
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Freight forwarding and transport · Organisation: Deloitte · Maturity level: Pilot
Deloitte and a corporate client developed a working prototype for tracking cross-border consignments. The solution combined Hyperledger Fabric, Thingstream and pallet sensors to capture location data automatically via mobile networks. The published results demonstrate the technical feasibility of tamper-resistant data recording, but provide no evidence of production-scale deployment or quantified savings.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot — Client prototype for cross-border real-time tracking; no production scope and no quantified impact published.
- Evidence: Evidence medium
- Editorial review: pending
Description
Deloitte designed a networked track-and-trace system based on modern distributed ledger technology for an industrial client. The trial aimed to eliminate patchy transparency and media discontinuities during the cross-border transport of freight goods. Using robust sensors and a shared data platform, all participating parties were able to trace consignment movements without manual data entry.
As part of the project, Deloitte combined the enterprise blockchain Hyperledger Fabric with AWS cloud resources, the Thingstream connectivity service, and self-sufficient pallet sensors. The hardware transmitted location data autonomously via global GSM networks to the backend infrastructure, creating an end-to-end flow of information. Each incoming data record was immutably committed to the blockchain to rule out subsequent manipulation or billing disputes. The initiative primarily served as a technical feasibility study in multinational freight transport under real-world conditions. Quantitative metrics regarding cost reductions or throughput times were not publicly published after completion of the pilot phase.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Through the shared audit trail, companies obtain reliable evidence regarding the physical whereabouts of pallets and transport goods. This significantly simplifies the resolution of delay liability claims between shippers, freight forwarders and consignees.
Employees perspective
Transport management staff no longer need to record locations manually after the fact or enquire by phone. The automated provision of data enables faster intervention in the event of actual transport delays.
Benefits
General
- Gapless documentation of consignment locations without manual scanning processes
- Tamper-proof record-keeping in cases of damage or loss
- Direct integration of telemetry data into cross-company processes
B2B — organisations
- Faster resolution of liability issues between freight stakeholders
- Reduced administrative burden for clarification at border crossings
Employees
- Relief from routine manual tracking queries
- Increased reliability of operational documentation in dispatching
Challenges
General
- Dependence on stable mobile connectivity in border regions
- Limited battery life and costs for IoT sensors at pallet level
B2B — organisations
- Requirement for standardised interfaces between divergent freight forwarding systems
Employees
- Training required for handling IoT hardware and ledger status messages
Technology foundation
The architecture is based on Hyperledger Fabric as a permissioned distributed ledger for confidential supply chain data. Via IoT sensors on pallets and the Thingstream network, geodata is transmitted via GSM to AWS services and immutably committed to the ledger.
Implementation examples
Deloitte prototype for cross-border pallet tracking
Cross-border transports frequently suffer from a lack of transparency, disparate telemetry systems, and error-prone manual logging of handover points.
Deloitte developed a functioning prototype for the continuous tracking of pallets across national borders. The system linked IoT sensors, GSM connectivity and Hyperledger Fabric into a tamper-proof platform.
The consulting firm Deloitte evaluated real-time tracking of freight consignments based on a distributed ledger together with an industrial client. The solution deployed pallet sensors that transmitted location data via Thingstream and international GSM connections to an AWS environment. All waypoints were recorded in Hyperledger Fabric to model the transport history in a tamper-proof manner. The study proved technical feasibility, but did not provide published metrics for operational savings in standard operations.
Preventing data loss when switching between national mobile networks, and ensuring an unforgeable consignment chronology.
Tags
Supply chain, Tracking, IoT, Hyperledger, Logistics