I.D. Systems acquires CarrierWeb in bid to become one-stop shop for fleet management

Asset management technology provider I.D. Systems Inc. has acquired the Atlanta-based telematics provider CarrierWeb, saying Thursday the move will add new technologies, increase its customer base, and allow it to enter more market segments.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based I.D. Systems will integrate CarrierWeb's U.S.-based assets into its logistics visibility solutions group, which is called PowerFleet for Logistics and is led by Norm Thomas.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The combined platform will make I.D. Systems a one-stop technology provider, the company says. "The acquisition of CarrierWeb gives us full, bumper-to-bumper-to-cargo, telemetry solutions for the transportation marketplace. It also addresses what we are hearing from the marketplace, and that is that many customers want a single integrated solutions provider when it comes to fleet telematics and technology," the company said in a "frequently asked questions" statement on the acquisition.

That growth path will include absorbing CarrierWeb's current customers into the I.D. Systems organization, offering them an expanded choice of asset and cargo management solutions and enhanced fleet technology development, the company said.

I.D. Systems Acquires CarrierWeb, Adds Key Technology, Increases Customer Base, and Enters New Market Segments https://t.co/t0ayUCjIHF

— CarrierWeb (@CarrierWeb) January 31, 2019

The move is I.D. Systems' latest move to grow since it acquired forklift and industrial vehicle management provider Keytroller LLC for $9 million in 2017 and folded it into its Vehicle Management Systems (VMS) division.

CarrierWeb is a vendor of real-time, in-cab, mobile communications technology, electronic logging devices (ELDs), two-way refrigerated command and control, and trailer tracking. Its products offer solutions for truck, dry trailer, refrigerated trailer, and driver monitoring and management, including ReeferMate, for monitoring and remotely managing refrigerated trailers and cargo, and CarrierMate, a touch screen on-board recorder / electronic logging device (AOBRD/ELD) that also provides a driver-preferred ELD for regulatory compliance.

I.D. Systems says those tools will complement its enterprise asset management and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) technology suites. "The CarrierWeb assets align with our strategy of expanding and strengthening our position in the fleet management value chain," I.D. Systems CEO Chris Wolfe said in a release. "The acquisition is immediately additive because it allows us to sell complete bumper-to-bumper telematics solutions, with higher monthly revenues, covering in-cab, refrigerated trailers, dry van and containers both to I.D. Systems' existing customers as well as to potential customers whom we have not been able to address previously."

As I.D. Systems absorbs CarrierWeb's technologies, it will also expand its product roadmap, the company said in its FAQ statement. "Our development teams will be working on the next generation of in-cab products, new refrigerated tracking devices with two-way command and control, cargo monitoring and tracking, and the adoption of our analytics engine and artificial intelligence platform for all devices," I.D. Systems said.