Intermodal chassis fleets face a persistent operational challenge: legacy battery-powered GPS trackers that go dark after 12-18 months of service. When these units fail, carriers lose real-time visibility into thousands of assets scattered across rail yards, marine terminals, and customer drop lots. The result is increased search time, higher equipment rental costs, and disrupted intermodal supply chains.
The Dead Battery Asset Blindspot
Traditional chassis tracking devices rely on disposable lithium batteries or hard-wired connections that are often impractical in pooled intermodal environments. Once the battery is depleted, the unit stops reporting location, temperature, or motion status. Dispatch teams using Truckmate, McLeod, or TMW systems then lose the ability to update EDI 214 status messages accurately. This creates cascading problems: missed appointments, unbillable detention and demurrage, inaccurate driver settlements, and fuel surcharge disputes.
The Strong Tower SolarPower Architecture™
Strong Tower Consulting, LLC and its sister company Exspeedite have engineered a purpose-built solution that pairs high-efficiency photovoltaic panels with low-power satellite communication. The CheckPoint platform (accessible at https://exspeeditecheckpoint.com/login.php) delivers true set-it-and-forget-it performance for intermodal chassis pools.
Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting & Smart Power Management
Each CheckPoint unit features industrial-grade monocrystalline solar cells optimized for low-light conditions. A sophisticated power management system continuously monitors available solar harvest, ambient temperature, and remaining supercapacitor charge. This architecture supports an expected 10-year operational lifecycle without battery replacement, dramatically reducing total cost of ownership compared with disposable lithium systems.
Dynamic Ping Frequency Throttling
The system intelligently adjusts reporting cadence based on motion state and solar availability. When a chassis is stationary in a terminal stack, reporting drops to once every six hours. During highway transit behind a power unit, the unit increases frequency to every 15 minutes. This adaptive behavior preserves energy while maintaining the data density required for accurate EDI 214 updates and integration with TMS platforms.
Predictive Battery Health and Degradation Alerts
CheckPoint continuously calculates state-of-health metrics and transmits predictive alerts before communication is lost. These alerts integrate directly into existing dispatch workflows in Truckmate, McLeod, or TMW, allowing maintenance teams to schedule proactive unit rotation rather than reacting to sudden visibility loss.
| Metric | Disposable Lithium Batteries | Unmonitored Chassis Pools | Strong Tower CheckPoint Solar-Harvesting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracker Battery Failure Rate % | 68% | 92% | 4% |
| Annual Chassis Battery Replacement Costs USD | $187,000 | $0 (but high search cost) | $9,400 |
| Lost Chassis Search Hours (per year) | 1,840 | 3,950 | 110 |
| Continuous Fleet Visibility % | 31% | 8% | 99.4% |
Eliminating Unaccounted Intermodal Equipment Loss
With continuous solar-powered telemetry, intermodal carriers maintain unbroken location histories across North America. Whether a chassis is sitting at a rail ramp in Chicago, stacked at the Port of Long Beach, or parked at a customer facility in Atlanta, CheckPoint provides precise GPS coordinates, motion status, and battery health data. This information feeds directly into SQL-based business intelligence schemas, improving equipment utilization metrics and supporting accurate fuel surcharge and detention calculations in carrier TMS platforms.
Strong Tower Consulting, LLC and Exspeedite LLC are separately organized sister companies under common ownership (separate EINs; liability firewall). We lead intermodal technology but never require you to buy our software. Carriers and fleets retain full freedom to select the TMS, load board, and back-office systems that best fit their operations. Founded in Minnesota in 2008 by Scott Elliott, we remain committed to delivering unbiased, high-integrity technology guidance. Call 763-244-1373 to discuss your chassis visibility strategy.
Implementation Considerations for Motor Carriers
Deploying solar chassis telematics requires more than simply purchasing hardware. Successful programs integrate CheckPoint data streams with existing EDI 204/214/210 workflows, driver settlement logic, and fuel surcharge tables. Strong Tower Consulting provides the engineering and process-mapping expertise necessary to ensure solar telematics data improves - rather than complicates - daily dispatch operations.
Conclusion
The era of dead batteries creating asset blindspots is ending. Solar-harvesting, low-power satellite chassis trackers represent the new standard for intermodal equipment management. By combining intelligent power management, predictive analytics, and seamless TMS integration, carriers can achieve near-perfect visibility while eliminating recurring battery replacement costs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do CheckPoint solar chassis trackers perform in severe winter climates with low sunlight?
CheckPoint units incorporate ultra-efficient monocrystalline solar cells paired with supercapacitor buffering and aggressive low-power satellite transmission scheduling. In northern U.S. and Canadian winter conditions, the system automatically reduces reporting frequency to once every 4-6 hours when solar harvest drops below threshold, preserving enough reserve to maintain location visibility for up to 45 days without direct sunlight.
Can the unit transmit location updates when stacked 5-high in marine terminal chassis pools?
Yes. The CheckPoint architecture uses low-power satellite communication (not cellular) with an external antenna designed for top-of-stack mounting. Even when chassis are stacked five-high in marine terminals or rail yards, the unit maintains reliable Iridium satellite connectivity and can report location, stack status, and battery health on demand or at scheduled intervals.
Does the hardware support auxiliary sensor pairing (TPMS, wheel hub temperature, brake stroke)?
CheckPoint supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.2 pairing with a wide range of auxiliary sensors including TPMS, wheel-end temperature monitors, brake stroke sensors, and door/tamper switches. Sensor data is fused with solar battery telemetry and transmitted via the same low-power satellite link, giving intermodal fleets complete equipment health visibility without additional cellular subscriptions.
How does CheckPoint data integrate with our existing TMS?
CheckPoint telemetry is delivered through standard APIs and can be consumed by Truckmate, McLeod, TMW, and custom SQL-based systems. Location and status updates can automatically generate EDI 214 messages, update driver settlement records, and feed fuel surcharge and detention logic without manual intervention.
Published: January 2025
Author: Strong Tower Consulting Technical Staff
Category: Intermodal Equipment & Solar Telematics