Smart pallet tracking, indoors and in transit
Pallet tracking puts a small tag or tracker on each pallet, tote or crate so you can see where it is, how long it has sat there and when it moves. GPX supplies the tags, the network and the software. AssetTag Pro tags report through 150 million gateways, with no readers to install at your sites.
How it works
1. Tag the unit. Each pallet, tote or crate carries a small tag. AssetTag Pro ships activated, needs no app pairing and runs up to 3 years on a replaceable coin cell. For one-way loads, a SmartLabel peels on and tracks the shipment until it arrives.
2. Let the network carry the signal. AssetTag Pro is picked up by phones and devices already in the field, a network of 150 million gateways. A pallet can be seen in your warehouse, on a truck and at a customer dock without readers, portals or gateways at those sites. GPS pallet tracking devices cover loads that need a live position on the road.
3. Work from one platform. Every location report lands in the same pallet tracking software: a live map, a timestamped history for each unit, counts by site, and alerts when something leaves, arrives or sits too long. The same account covers returnable containers and shipments.
Beyond pallets
Most pools are not only pallets. Plastic totes, reusable produce crates, bulk bins, IBCs, racks and dunnage all go missing in the same places for the same reasons, so they belong in the same tote tracking system.
Choose the tag by how the unit travels. AssetTag Pro suits closed-loop units that come back to you again and again, from as low as $45/yr per tag. SmartLabel, from as low as $13 per label, suits one-way trips: tear the tab to activate it, and there is nothing to recover at the destination. Cellular GPS trackers suit high-value loads that need their own position on the road.
If your pool is mostly returnable packaging moving between suppliers and plants, the returnable container tracking page covers that workflow in more depth.
A trusted partner to the world's biggest companies
Pallets rarely disappear in one event. They drift: a few stay at a customer site, a few are used to ship someone else’s goods, a few sit in a yard corner until they are written off. Without a record of where each unit went, the loss only shows up at the annual count. These are the five problems a pallet tracking system is built to fix.
Every unit that is not returned has to be bought again. Tags give each pallet and crate a location and a geofence, so you get an alert when one leaves a site it should not leave, and you can see exactly where it went when it does.
Manual scans and spreadsheet counts miss units and double count others. Tracked counts come from the tags themselves, so each site’s pallet balance is current without anyone walking the rows.
A pool that turns slowly needs more units. Dwell and cycle time reports show which sites hold pallets longest, so you can recover idle stock before you buy more.
Pallets change hands between plants, carriers, distribution centers and customers. A shared, timestamped record of where each unit was, and when, settles disputes about who had it last.
A full pallet delivered to the wrong dock, or an empty one that never starts its trip back, costs you twice. Geofences around each customer and depot confirm arrival, and dwell alerts flag empties that sit too long at a site after delivery.
Inside a building, GPS cannot see through the roof, so warehouse pallet tracking relies on Bluetooth tags. Each tag reports its last known area when it is near a GPX tracker or gateway, so you know which facility or zone holds a pallet without mounting readers on the ceiling. GPX is not an RTLS.
Inside the four walls you get:
1
Last known area: the facility or zone where each pallet was last seen.
2
Movement history: a timestamped trail from dispatch to return.
3
Dwell alerts: flag pallets that have sat in one place too long.
4
Counts by site: see how many units each location is holding right now.
The tags collect the data; the pallet tracking software turns it into decisions. Set a geofence around each plant, customer and depot, and the platform tells you when units arrive, when they leave and when they overstay. Reports rank sites and partners by the pallets they hold and the pallets they lose.
What the software does for you:
1
Geofences: get an alert when a pallet leaves a site or arrives at one.
2
Dwell reports: find the customers and suppliers who hold pallets longest.
3
Loss reports: see which lanes and partners lose the most units.
4
Exports and API: send pallet counts and events to your ERP and WMS.
Ask: Which customer sites hold our pallets longest?
Ask: Which totes have not moved in a month?
Ask: Which lanes lose the most crates?
Get: predictive disruption alerts in transit
Send: counts and events to your ERP, WMS or TMS
Scout AI is the AI analyst in the GPX platform. Ask it about your pallet tracking data in plain language and get answers from live locations, dwell and movement history. It geofences every site in seconds and sends predictive disruption alerts. Counts and events still flow to your ERP, WMS or TMS through API, webhooks and data feeds.
Once a pallet leaves the dock, the question changes from where it is stored to where it is going. GPS pallet tracking reports position on the road, confirms arrival at the customer, and records when the empty unit starts its trip back. High-value or time-critical loads can use a GPS tracker with frequent updates; routine flows can rely on the tag already on the pallet.
IoT and smart pallets
A smart pallet is simply a pallet that can report on itself. Instead of buying pallets with built-in electronics, IoT pallet tracking adds a tag to the pallets you already own, wood, plastic or metal, and connects it to a network and a platform. That keeps the pallet cheap and moves the intelligence into a tag you can transfer, reuse or replace.
What makes it work:
1
Tags that fit the pallets you already own
2
Location, dwell and movement history in one place
3
No readers, portals or site gateways for AssetTag Pro
RFID pallet tracking works well when every pallet passes through a fixed read point: a portal on each dock door, a handheld scan at receiving. Between those points it is blind, and every site that needs visibility needs its own reader infrastructure. Tags that report on their own remove the read points entirely.
| Question | RFID tags and readers | Bluetooth and GPS tags |
|---|---|---|
| What sees the pallet? | A reader or handheld within range | The tag reports through a network |
| Infrastructure at each site | Portals, readers, cabling, install | None |
| Visibility between sites | None until the next read point | Location throughout the trip |
| Customer and supplier sites | Only if they install readers | Covered without their involvement |
| Cost per tag | Lowest | Higher, but no reader spend |
RFID stays a good fit inside a single, controlled facility. For pallets that travel between partners, see our RFID cost per asset breakdown for how the reader spend adds up.
Pallet tracking is priced as one subscription that covers the tags and the service, so there is no separate hardware purchase.
AssetTag Pro tags start as low as $45/yr per tag, and SmartLabels as low as $13 per label. Tell us how many units you run and how they travel, and we will price the whole pool.
Most pallet trackers in a GPX pool are one of three devices: AssetTag Pro for reusable pallets and totes, SmartLabel for one-way loads that never come back, and AssetTag Edge for dense indoor zones near a GPX tracker or gateway. The same tags power returnable container tracking and shipment tracking. See every GPX tracking solution.
Case Study
Read how original equipment manufacturers use GPS tracking to see parts, components and finished goods as they move between suppliers, plants and customers.
Pallet Tracking FAQs
Questions buyers ask about pallet, tote and crate tracking systems
Pallet tracking is the practice of tagging each pallet, tote or crate so you can see where it is, how long it has been there and when it moves. GPX does this with Bluetooth tags, disposable SmartLabels and cellular GPS trackers that all report to one platform. You get a live map, a timestamped history for every unit and alerts when pallets leave, arrive or sit too long.
The best fit is a tag that reports on its own between sites, so you do not need readers at every warehouse, carrier and customer. AssetTag Pro is picked up by phones and devices already in the field, a network of 150 million gateways. Use it for closed loops, SmartLabel for one-way freight, and returnable container tracking for packaging that cycles between suppliers and plants.
Inside a warehouse, Bluetooth tags do the work because GPS cannot see through the roof. Each tag reports its own identity, so stacked, racked or wrapped pallets are still counted one by one. A tag shows its last known area when it is near a GPX tracker or gateway. GPX is not an RTLS, so you see the facility or zone that holds a pallet, not its exact rack position.
Battery life is up to 5 years, depending on device. AssetTag Pro runs up to 3 years on a replaceable coin cell and ships activated, so there is nothing to charge. AssetTag Edge runs up to 4 years on a CR2032 in dense indoor zones. SmartLabel is disposable: it cannot be powered off, and there is nothing to recover at the destination.
It depends on where your pallets go. RFID works inside one controlled facility where every pallet passes a reader, but it is blind between read points. Once pallets travel between partners, Bluetooth tags and GPS trackers report on their own, so you see units at customer and supplier sites without installing readers there. GPS pallet tracking adds a live position on the road for high-value loads.
Deployments go live in days, not quarters. AssetTag Pro ships activated with no app pairing, and it hangs, sticks or screws onto the pallet. SmartLabel starts when you tear the tab. Because AssetTag Pro needs no GPX gateway on site, there are no readers or portals to install at your warehouses or your customers’ docks. Scout AI geofences every site in seconds.
Yes. GPX integrates with ERP, WMS and TMS systems through API, webhooks and data feeds. Tracked counts, arrivals, departures and dwell events can flow into your system of record, so the pallet balance there matches what is actually on each site. GPX adds the location layer. It does not replace your WMS or manage bins and cartons.
Pallet tracking cost depends on how many pallets, totes and crates you track and which devices they need. Hardware and service come together in one subscription, so there is no separate hardware purchase. Reusable tags, disposable SmartLabels and GPS trackers suit different flows, and many pools use a mix. Share your pool size and lanes on a 20-min demo and we will price the whole pool.
