It’s your trailer calling: you’re being robbed

CALGARY — Secured Cargo Ltd. has an interesting solution to the rampant cargo and trailer theft problem, and it’s just about ready to hit market. Combining features of car and building security systems in a basic anti-theft alarm, it then adds optional sophisticated touches — like local paging of the driver, interfaces with communications systems such as HighwayMaster and Qualcomm, and a link to GPS systems.

It’s the brainchild of Calgary businessman Victor Gauthier and electronics expert (and former policeman) Dwight Mayor. They wonder why people will spend hundreds of dollars to equip a $30,000 car with an alarm system and then protect a trailer’s very valuable cargo with a $5 padlock. Their answer will have a list price of $749 for the basic system.

It’s powered by a self-contained battery that recharges when the trailer is connected to the tractor (the battery lasts for as many as six weeks without recharging). The system’s control box is attached to the body or trailer and is activated/deactivated by a code punched into an electronic keypad. Security-conscious fleets could activate the system and then give the driver half the code sequence and the receiver the other half, meaning the full code could only be entered — and the alarm system turned off — by the two of them at trip’s end. Actuation by an ordinary key is available, but not advised.

The basic system uses a door-contact sensor that, when tripped, will set off a strobe light and/or siren. Many other sensors, such as smoke or temperature, can also be used.

The alarm signal can also be sent to ordinary, commercially available local-area paging services with a range of up to five miles. If the tractor is equipped with one of the commonly used satellite or cellular-based communications systems, the alarm signal could be programmed to go virtually anywhere.

The paging option could be useful for small fleets with yards that aren’t manned 24 hours a day but which have ordinary building alarm systems. If that system includes an automatic alert to a security service, the addition of a polling receiver could allow the trailer security system to be interfaced with it. If a trailer door were breached, the security service could be alerted in the same way as if the building had been broken into.

The company will soon launch a similar system designed for container security, with many programmable features, longer battery life, and fewer communications options.

Contact Victor Gauthier at 403/219-3255.