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April 30, 1999 9:05 AM, EDT

Truckload giant Schneider National will retrofit its fleet of 43,000 trailers with tracking devices produced by Vantage Tracking Solutions, a unit of Orbcomm.

Vantage’s tracking product will enable Schneider to determine each trailer’s position, detect whether it is attached to a tractor and whether it is loaded or empty, the companies said. Data from the trailers will be integrated into Schneider’s fleet management and logistics operations.

The two companies have been working together for two years in developing and testing the product, and will begin installing the tracking system in June.

Schneider, based in Green Bay, Wis., is the first customer of Vantage’s trailer-tracking product.

In a related development, Orbcomm has reached an agreement with Qualcomm, supplier of satellite-based communications, in which Vantage’s trailer tracking will be made available to Qualcomm customers.