How container e-lock tracking works
A container e-lock seals the box and reports on itself. From the port gate to the consignee, Trakora applies the lock, stamps every yard and checkpoint crossing as a gate event, raises a tamper alert within thirty seconds if the seal is broken, and closes with a signed PDF audit trail. Here is each step.
How it works at a glance
- Hardware
- Mobicom GL600 master / slave e-lock
- GPS interval
- 5 min
- Tamper latency
- 30 s (rope-cut, cover-open)
- Crossings recorded
- Every yard & checkpoint via gate-events
- Geofence model
- 3-layer (yard, corridor, destination)
- Off-route thresholds
- 5 min warning · 8 min critical
- Closes with
- Signed PDF audit trail per booking
- What it is
- Transit evidence — not an accredited customs seal
Port gate to consignee, in six steps
Each step writes to the same record, so the trip explains itself at the end — the artefact you actually buy.
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Book the container
The discharge list arrives as a vessel manifest or an Excel file; each line becomes a booking carrying container number, consignee, corridor and destination yard.
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Assign driver and lock
A technician pairs a Mobicom GL600 master or slave e-lock to the booking from the mobile technician app; the Web Bluetooth configurator at
/admin/elock/configureprovisions a lock in about 2 min. -
Apply the lock at the port
Applying the seal stamps lock applied on the audit trail and starts the corridor clock. This is the first gate event of the trip.
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Move under watch — gate events
The lock reports GPS every 5 min on a Vodacom or Halotel SIM. Every yard and checkpoint crossing is stamped against the booking as a gate event, so the container's path is a sequence of recorded, timestamped crossings — not a guess after the fact.
Yard geofenceport + destination yardsCorridorDar→Mbeya route tubeDestination geofencearrival trigger -
Exceptions in real time
If the seal is broken, the tamper rule fires within 30 s to SMS, WhatsApp and push. Off-route raises a warning at 5 min and critical at 8 min. Each exception is itself written to the trail.
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Arrive and close
Arrival and unlock are stamped, the lock is released for the next trip, and the booking's signed PDF audit trail is available to the transporter and to the cargo client.
Signed PDF audit trail — booking MSKU 418 2306
- Lock applied (gate event)06:12 EAT
- Departed Dar es Salaam07:40 EAT
- Checkpoint Morogoro11:05 EAT
- Arrival Mbeya18:22 EAT
- Unlocked at consignee18:35 EAT
What happens the instant the seal is broken
Tamper is the rule the whole product exists for. It is the difference between finding out at the border and finding out in thirty seconds.
The seal is cut or opened
The e-lock detects that it has been opened, cut or physically interfered with outside an authorised unlock. The tamper rule triggers on the event itself, not on a later GPS fix.
An alert within 30 seconds
Rope-cut and cover-open reach SMS, WhatsApp and push within 30 s, naming the container and its last position — carried by the word TAMPER, never by colour alone.
Act on the exact location
With the container named and located, the operator can call the driver, alert the escort or the consignee, and — because the event is on the trail — prove exactly when and where the seal was broken.
Transit evidence, not a customs seal
Trakora ships a tamper rule in two modules for two different jobs. Knowing which you need matters — so does knowing what neither one is.
Container tracking (this module)
Here, tamper is transit evidence: proof for the transporter, consignee and — if asked — the authorities that a container moved from port to consignee without the seal being broken. It records and proves chain-of-custody. It is not an accredited customs seal and does not replace one where TRA or TPA mandate it.
/ elock · tamperCargo security (the other module)
There, tamper is loss prevention: catching interference with a device or seal anywhere — a yard, a store, a static asset — regardless of a customs journey. If your question is theft rather than customs evidence, that is the page you want.
/ security · tamperHonest limits
How the mechanism behaves at its edges — the part a datasheet usually skips.
What this cannot do
- Trakora records and proves chain-of-custody; it is not an accredited customs seal system and does not replace a TRA/TPA-mandated seal where one is legally required. This page makes no TBS-approval or ECTS-concessionaire claim — any such status is —† stated only where verified.
- The lock reports over GSM. In a dead zone, fixes and gate events buffer and backfill when coverage returns — so a crossing can appear on the trail a few minutes after it happened, with its original timestamp.
- A tamper event raised while offline is delivered on reconnection with its original event timestamp, not the delivery time.
- Off-route detection needs a configured corridor. A container moving outside any configured corridor is tracked, but not corridor-evaluated.
- Gate events record crossings of yards and checkpoints you have defined; an undefined location is still tracked by GPS, but is not stamped as a gate event.
Certifications shown as — are to be confirmed — this page makes no accredited-customs-seal, TBS-approval or ECTS-concessionaire claim, and states no threshold value as fact beyond the shipped product timings. No claim or number here is invented.
Frequently asked questions
What is a gate event?
A timestamped record that the container crossed a yard or checkpoint you have defined. The sequence of gate events is what turns a GPS trail into a chain of custody.
How fast is a tamper alert?
Within 30 seconds. Rope-cut and cover-open reach SMS, WhatsApp and push, naming the container and its last position.
Is this an accredited customs seal?
No. It is transit evidence — it records and proves chain-of-custody with a signed PDF trail. It does not replace a TRA/TPA-mandated customs seal, and we make no TBS or ECTS-concessionaire claim.
How is this different from cargo security?
Container tracking is customs and transit evidence, port to consignee. Cargo security is loss prevention anywhere — a yard, a store, a static asset. Both share a tamper rule; they answer different questions.
What if the truck loses signal?
Fixes and gate events buffer on the device and backfill when coverage returns, with their original timestamps. A tamper raised offline is delivered on reconnection at its real event time.
What do I have at the end of a trip?
A signed PDF audit trail per booking: lock applied, departed, gate-event checkpoints, arrival and unlocked — the whole journey as one timestamped record.
More on container tracking
See it run on your first container
Tell us the corridor and container volume and we will scope a quote in TZS, with a VAT invoice and Swahili support. You can start on a free trial.