Abstract
Cargo tracking issue on train transportation is challenging area because of long distance haulage, theft, terror attack and customer service. This paper aims at evaluating various cargo tracking systems in terms of cost and technology. The contents of this paper consist of the research trend of cargo tracking system in the railroad transportation and reviewing of technical alternatives in cost and service side. GNSS and RFID are reviewed as location tracking technology, Internet and Satellite technology like INMASAT and Low Earth Orbit are also reviewed as communication infrastructure. This paper selects cost and service factors in two alternatives of GNSS-Satellite and RFID-Internet, among GNSS-Internet, GNSS, Satellite, RFID-Internet, RFID-Satellite and evaluate each alternative in terms of cost and service. In a result, in terms of cost, RFID-Internet type is superior to GNSS-Satellite type, but in service GNSS-Satellite type is preferred to RFID-Internet in point of area coverage and service coverage.