This new tracking label could help solve cargo theft

But that project involves working with cities and local governments. The Tracking Label could be a much bigger business, as the shipping and logistics industries are seemingly constantly in chaos. Companies want certainty about shipments, whether they are trying to get a product to someone on time or waiting for a crucial component.

Customers will receive the Samsara Tracking Labels in a sort of sleep mode, which Gal said could last for as long as nine months. Once a customer activates a label, that zinc battery will power the Bluetooth radio for around 45 days. Once the label is no longer needed, Samsara designed it to be disposable. (A lithium battery, Gal said, would have complicated this goal.)

Gal said he expects Samsara’s label to stay in the the world of “critical shipments,” meaning this will mostly help large companies — perhaps even Guy Fieri’s. And it’s not just about cargo theft, he said. Real-time tracking allows companies to make quicker decisions if a shipment is delayed, or re-routed.

“It shifts the paradigm from reactive to proactive. If you know something’s delayed, you can get ahead of it,” he said.

Samsara isn’t the only one trying to create better visibility in shipping; UPS just announced a plan in April to use RFID sensors to track packages in real time.

But as Gal points out, RFID only helps if a shipment stays close to an RFID scanner. If a package falls off a truck — literally or figuratively — he thinks Samsara’s Tracking Label will be far more effective thanks to the company’s constantly-moving network of sensors.

And while it’s not the only consideration, Gal was not shy about the impact he thinks the Tracking Label can have on cargo theft.

“I have a feeling that we’ll bust some crime rings with this,” he said.