Envision yourself as Guy Fieri. (Bear with me.)

It’s late 2024, and your company’s president contacts you to inform that 24,000 bottles of your tequila have gone missing. Presumably, you would have several inquiries, but foremost among them is probably: How did this occur?

The response lies in the fact that global cargo theft is evolving into a more sophisticated issue, while the shipping and logistics sectors are struggling to adapt. Unfortunately for the industry, a significant portion of the world’s cargo effectively becomes invisible between checkpoints at ports or distribution facilities.

On Wednesday, fleet management firm Samsara is unveiling its own answer to this dilemma in the shape of a business-card-sized adhesive tracking label. Dubbed the Samsara Tracking Label, it resembles a variety of shipping labels that could be attached to cargo of all sizes. However, that label conceals a small zinc battery and Bluetooth low energy technology that can be detected by Samsara’s extensive network of devices, providing real-time location tracking in a disposable format.

This isn’t Samsara’s first tracking device. The company has been assisting clients in monitoring “assets” for several years, albeit through various means, as David Gal, Samsara’s vice president of connected equipment, shared in an exclusive discussion with TechCrunch. Yet, those solutions often turned out to be bulky and pricey, he remarked.

“Customers primarily expressed: ‘We need something that operates in real time, and we require something compact enough to affix to any equipment’,” Gal stated. This demand inspired Samsara to develop a product the size of a wine cork, named the “Asset Tag.”

The Asset Tag provided real-time visibility for some clients, but the tag still jutted out from whatever it was fastened to, and was not economically feasible to use on items beyond valuable cargo. Customers also sought its return at the conclusion of a shipment, making it less practical for one-way shipping.

This feedback drove Gal’s team to innovate further, leading to the creation of the Tracking Label.

The key differentiator from other tracking solutions, according to Gal, is Samsara’s pre-existing network of devices. Over the past few years, the company has equipped customer fleets with cameras and sensors to enhance and protect their operations. The Tracking Label utilizes that existing infrastructure as a Bluetooth network to offer customers accurate location information at any moment.

Samsara has already identified additional ways to leverage that network to create new business avenues. In May, it introduced a toolkit called “Ground Intelligence” that employs AI to detect hazards like potholes in real time.

However, that initiative involves collaboration with municipalities and local authorities. The Tracking Label holds the potential for a much larger market, as the shipping and logistics sectors seem to be perpetually turbulent. Companies seek assurance regarding shipments, whether they’re trying to ensure timely delivery of a product or awaiting an essential component.

Customers will receive the Samsara Tracking Labels in a sort of dormant state, which Gal noted could last up to nine months. Once a customer activates a label, that zinc battery will energize the Bluetooth transmitter for approximately 45 days. When the label is no longer necessary, Samsara has designed it for disposal. (A lithium battery, Gal mentioned, would have complicated this objective.)

Gal anticipates that Samsara’s label will remain in the realm of “critical shipments,” primarily assisting large enterprises — perhaps even those of Guy Fieri’s. And it’s not solely about cargo theft, he emphasized. Real-time tracking empowers companies to react swiftly if a shipment is delayed or redirected.

“It transforms the approach from reactive to proactive. If you are aware of a delay, you can address it beforehand,” he stated.

Samsara is not the sole player striving to enhance visibility in shipping; UPS recently revealed a plan in April to implement RFID sensors for real-time package tracking.

However, as Gal highlights, RFID only proves beneficial if a shipment remains near an RFID scanner. Should a package fall from a truck — literally or metaphorically — he believes Samsara’s Tracking Label will be considerably more effective due to the company’s constantly moving network of sensors.

And while it’s just one aspect to consider, Gal was candid about the effect he envisions the Tracking Label could have on cargo theft.

“I suspect we’ll disrupt some crime rings with this,” he remarked.