BlackBerry has joined forces with Alabama-based McLeod Software to provide transport and logistics companies with better fleet visibility.

BlackBerry’s asset tracking technology has been integrated with McLeod’s software for an improved view of transport event data.

McLeod Software is a transportation management system (TMS) provider, delivering enterprise software to the transportation and logistics industry.

BlackBerry Radar, which provides monitoring and asset tracking for trailers, intermodal containers, chassis, equipment and railcars, will be integrated directly into McLeod’s Loadmaster trucking dispatch management system, to support McLeod customers with actionable real-time information on the status of their assets. The insights provided should improve asset use, reduce empty kilometres and optimise personnel productivity.

Specifically, it can reduce wasted time for drivers searching for trailers, and operations personnel doing manual yard checks. The integration also introduces notifications when trailers become loaded or empty, or if the trailer doors are opened in unauthorised locations.

“McLeod is pleased to welcome BlackBerry Radar to our certified integration partner network utilising our latest mobile communications API platform,” said Ahmed Ebrahim, VP of partner alliances at McLeod Software. “Customers who have chosen BlackBerry Radar, for its reliable asset tracking and monitoring, want to know that their selected provider works with their TMS. With this partnership our customers can have confidence that BlackBerry technology will work seamlessly alongside their existing McLeod platform. Integrated BlackBerry data will enable our customers to be better at load planning, and enable operations teams to see their trailer status and location while they are booking load assignments, all directly within the McLeod platform.”

Christopher Plaat, senior vice president at BlackBerry Radar, added: “BlackBerry Radar’s intelligent asset tracking allows customers to improve their service offerings and increase their asset utilisation, ultimately leading to a better bottom lin. We share a number of mutual customers with McLeod, and this partnership will benefit them immensely by bringing the two technologies together. Our customers across the logistics and transportation industries who are already using BlackBerry Radar devices and McLeod’s Loadmaster platform will now be better equipped to make more informed business decisions using the combined data we provide.”

BlackBerry Radar provides easy-to-install, asset monitoring for trailers, chassis and containers that provides near real-time information around location, cargo status, trip events, mileage and door open-close status through an intuitive on-line dashboard. All data are transmitted and stored securely on a cloud platform, which maintains the privacy of user information at all times.

“The real-time insights that we get from the custom reports and dashboard that BlackBerry Radar provides have considerably improved our preventative maintenance intervals, load visibility, asset utilisation and customer service,” said Brad Durham, director of maintenance at Swing Transport. “Feedback from the team on the McLeod Software integration has been equally positive with our operations team no longer having to jump back and forth between systems, especially when things are busy. We’re confident that we’ll see additional efficiencies as we continue to make improvements to our overall technological infrastructure.”