A joint seminar in Chicago earlier this month helped fleet executives understand the realities of connected transportation and how they can help leverage them to their advantage.

The seminar was held by BlackBerry and fleet services graphics provider Modagrafics on April 6, at the Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. Issues on the agenda ranged from connected transportation trends to the evolution of the smart trailer and how new technology works.

Also included was a demonstration of the BlackBerry’s new IoT Asset Tracking System sensors, outlining how the system monitors critical events such as door opening/closing, cargo load/no load, and the internal environmental conditions of trailers, such as temperature, humidity and barometric pressure.

Late last year, Modagrafics signed a sales agent agreement with Blackberry to market the Blackberry Radar asset tracking system to fleet owners.

“Our seminar brought together fleet managers and logistic leaders within the greater Chicago area to discuss some of the big changes happening in asset management as smart connected technologies transform the space,” said Derek Kuhn, senior vice president – BlackBerry IoT. “Discussing the issues facing fleet management and how technologies, both now and looking forward to the near future, are going to be able to solve them was our main focus.”

“This was a very important event for our local fleet owners to attend,” added Modagrafics President and CEO Paul Pirkle. “They always are looking at us for ways to improve their fleets’ efficiency, in addition to helping manage their brand perspective and increase customer impressions.”