SkyBitz Inc., Dulles, Va., announced five new trucking customers for its satellite-based trailer tracking and information management service.

According to SkyBitz, four of the new customers are commercial trucking companies Southern Cal Transport Inc., On Time Transportation Inc., Gill Brothers Transportation and Royal Freight L.P. The fifth is Fugro Chance, a survey company.
All are installing SkyBitz Mobile Terminals that use Global Locating System (GLS) to provide location information.
Standard Global Positioning Systems (GPS) compute a tracking unit’s position on the unit itself, then transmit that location information to a service center or to dispatch. SkyBitz GLS uses tracking unit’s signal to compute its location on the ground. No computation is done on the unit itself, which lowers power requirements. SkyBitz transmits through high-orbit, geo-stationary satellites using AA batteries.
Earlier this month, SkyBitz closed $16 million in new financing and entered into an agreement with Motorola to develop new GLS products. The company has made a practice of announcing new customers in groups of five.