Company Insight

Three Decades of Innovation in Smart Cargo Tracking

How Toll can assist in strengthening US defense supply chains.

Main image credit: Toll Group

Toll Government and Defence has built a strong presence over more than 30 years, growing from a specialist provider of expeditionary logistics into a trusted global partner for defense support across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

The US Department of Defense has been clear that its central concern in the Indo-Pacific is sustaining forces across contested distances, where the supply lines themselves are under threat. Contested logistics and denied environments are no longer planning assumptions; they are the operating reality. Toll Group has spent decades building the resident in-theatre infrastructure that this reality demands. Jonathan Fonseca, Director of Program Management for Government and Defence at Toll, explains how they are positioned to help strengthen US defense supply chains.

What is your personal experience in the tracking systems field?

My experience in cargo monitoring dates back to the early 1990s, when I was involved in managing international logistics projects requiring the shipment of large quantities of food products to remote and operationally challenging destinations.

At that time, supply chain visibility was extremely limited. Containers often disappeared from view during transit, delays were difficult to identify, and information about temperature excursions, transhipment issues or unauthorized openings frequently arrived only after delivery. This created significant operational and financial risks, particularly for temperature-sensitive cargo.

Ennio Zanotti, President of Zenatek

The experience convinced us that logistics required something more than simple shipment tracking: it required continuous visibility, immediate alerts and reliable information throughout the entire transport cycle.

Since no suitable solution was available on the market, we decided to develop one ourselves. That decision ultimately led to the creation of Zenatek and the development of the Zenatek Tracking System (ZTS), designed to provide customers with real-time information on the location, condition and security of their shipments worldwide.

More than thirty years later, our philosophy remains unchanged: transforming logistics data into actionable information that allows our customers to make better operational decisions.

How has the cargo tracking market evolved over the past few years?

Global logistics has become significantly more complex. Recent disruptions have highlighted how essential visibility has become across international supply chains.

Today, customers no longer ask only “Where is my shipment?” They also want to know whether it has been exposed to excessive temperatures, unexpected shocks, unauthorized openings, prolonged dwell times or delays that could compromise product quality.

Digitalization has therefore become a strategic necessity rather than an operational advantage.

At Zenatek, we continue to invest in technologies that simplify shipment monitoring while maintaining reliability, ease of deployment and cost efficiency. Our objective has always been to deliver practical solutions that can be integrated into existing logistics processes without adding unnecessary complexity.

The market now offers countless tracking devices. How does Zenatek position itself?

The tracking industry has grown considerably over the last decade, offering a wide range of technologies designed for different applications.

Rather than focusing on the number of devices deployed, we believe customers should evaluate a tracking solution according to the value of the information it delivers, its reliability, ease of deployment and total cost of ownership.

The Zenatek Tracking System was developed specifically for multimodal logistics, where shipments may travel by road, rail, sea and air under constantly changing operating conditions.

Our objective has never been simply to locate a container. We aim to provide meaningful operational intelligence by combining location data with environmental monitoring and event detection, allowing customers to react promptly whenever abnormal situations occur.

This approach enables companies to improve supply chain visibility, reduce operational uncertainty and better protect valuable cargo throughout the journey.

What makes the Zenatek Tracking System different?

The Zenatek Tracking System combines a self-powered tracking device with a secure cloud-based monitoring platform designed for worldwide logistics operations.

Our devices monitor not only position but also critical environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, light exposure and abnormal handling events. Whenever predefined thresholds are exceeded, users receive immediate notifications, allowing corrective action before minor issues become major problems.

The web platform provides real-time monitoring together with historical journey information, enabling customers to analyse transport performance and identify recurring bottlenecks within their supply chain.

Another important characteristic of the system is its simplicity. Installation requires no complex infrastructure and the platform has been designed to be intuitive, allowing operators to begin using it with minimal training.

For many logistics applications, the disposable nature of the tracking device also represents a significant operational advantage, eliminating reverse logistics while reducing management costs associated with recovering equipment after delivery.

How do you see the future of tracking systems?

The future of cargo monitoring will be driven by three key concepts: visibility, intelligence and connectivity.

Visibility means providing customers with continuous awareness of where their assets are and in what condition they are travelling.

Intelligence means transforming raw tracking data into meaningful operational information that supports better business decisions, improved risk management and greater supply chain resilience.

A data center under construction at Waltham Cross, England. Credit: Hugo Kirk/Getty Images

Connectivity means ensuring that data can be transmitted as reliably as possible throughout increasingly global and multimodal transport networks.

As digital transformation accelerates, tracking systems will become an integral component of broader logistics ecosystems, integrating with transport management systems, warehouse platforms and enterprise software to provide end-to-end supply chain visibility.

At Zenatek, we believe the future is not simply about collecting more data, but about delivering accurate, reliable and actionable information that helps our customers protect their assets, improve operational efficiency and enhance service quality.