Returnable containers, pallets, roll cages, trailers, forklifts, handheld scanners and vehicles — know where each was last scanned or read, who it is checked out to, and which returnables are still sitting at customers. RFID at the dock doors, check-outs to drivers, and maintenance that keeps handling equipment on the floor.
Your transport and warehouse systems follow shipments. The equipment that carries them — cages, containers, pallets, the trucks themselves — has no system of its own, so it leaks.
Add each warehouse, zone, dock door and yard.
Tag forklifts, scanners, cages and returnable assets.
Readers at doors record movements and alert you when equipment leaves without a check-out.
Returnables and handling equipment stop quietly walking out of the building.
The day-to-day failures logistics teams describe before they move off spreadsheets and paper registers.
Containers, pallets and cages leave full on every delivery. Some come back on the next run, some sit in a customer's yard for months, some are used by the customer for their own shipments. Without a count per customer, you only notice when you have to buy more.
Handheld scanners, tail-lift trolleys, straps and loading equipment go out with drivers each morning. When something is missing at the end of the day, the only record is who was on shift.
Forklifts, pallet jacks and handhelds migrate between zones and sites. Supervisors lose the first half-hour of a shift finding equipment, and charging bays are empty while units sit idle elsewhere.
A forklift out of service or a failed dock leveller slows every load that shift. When servicing is tracked on a whiteboard, inspections slip and breakdowns arrive at peak volume.
Physically counting thousands of cages and containers across sites takes days, and the number is out of date the moment trucks move. Most operators simply estimate the pool, and the estimate is usually optimistic.
Fix UHF readers at outbound and inbound docks. Tagged cages, containers and pallets are read as they pass, updating each asset's last-seen location and movement history without anyone scanning by hand.
Learn moreCheck returnables out to the customer they were delivered to, with an expected return date. Your outstanding balance per customer is a filter, and overdue units are visible for follow-up.
Learn moreIssue handhelds, trolleys and loading kit to a driver or a vehicle at the start of a shift and check it back in at the end. You always know who last had it.
Learn moreDefine docks, yards and storage areas as zones. An asset leaving through a dock without an open check-out, an unregistered tag at a door or a reader that goes silent can each raise an alert.
Learn moreKeep forklifts, reach trucks, dock levellers and vans on preventive-maintenance schedules. Planners generate work orders from the due list and technicians record the service against the unit.
Learn moreWalk a yard or storage area with a handheld reader and count hundreds of tagged containers in a pass. Audit sessions reconcile found, missing and unregistered units against the register.
Learn moreWarehouses, distribution centres and depots sit on one location tree, so you can see where the pool is concentrated and rebalance equipment between sites.
Learn morePush dock and zone alerts to your own transport or warehouse tools as HMAC-signed webhooks, and pull asset data through the REST API.
Learn moreContainers are read at the outbound dock and checked out to the receiving customer with an expected return date. When they come back on a return run, the inbound dock read or a handheld scan checks them in and sends them to inspection. The gap between issued and returned, per customer, is your outstanding balance.
At the start of a shift, the transport office checks a handheld, trolley and straps out to the driver and the vehicle for that day's route. Asetavo records who has it and when it is due back; it does not track the vehicle's position along the route. At the end of the shift everything is checked back in, and anything missing is flagged to that driver.
Cages and containers are read as they arrive, located to a storage zone, moved to a pick face and read again at the outbound dock. Each read updates the last-seen location, so the warehouse can see how many empties are available and where.
A reach truck comes up on its PM due list. The planner generates a work order; the unit is marked out of service while the technician works on it, and returns to operation when the work order is closed with parts and labour recorded.
On the phone · Logistics
Bulk scan moves, checks in or re-statuses a cage of returnables or a bay of equipment at once. The Map tab shows depots, geofences and where each item was last scanned (Growth and up), and stock-takes run bay by bay. Location is captured only when someone acts in the app, never in the background.
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An illustrative logistics overview beside a real Asetavo screen.
Categories and custom fields keep the details each group needs — serials, warranty, custodian, room.
Returnable containers · Pallets · Roll cages · Totes and crates · Stillages · Dollies
Trailers · Delivery vans · Trucks · Yard tractors · Tail-lift units
Forklifts and reach trucks · Pallet jacks · Dock levellers · Racking inspections · Battery chargers
Handheld scanners · Driver devices · Label printers · Dock-office PCs · Radios
Load straps and bars · Trolleys · Tyre and workshop tools · Safety equipment
Every container checked out to a customer stays on their balance until it is read or scanned back in. Account managers see how many units each customer holds and how many are overdue, and can raise it at the next delivery with a list rather than an estimate.
Before ordering more cages or containers, check the pool: how many are on site, how many are out, how many are overdue and how many are waiting for repair. Recovering units from customers is usually cheaper than buying new ones.
Handhelds and loading equipment are checked out to the driver and vehicle each shift. At check-in, anything not returned is visible straight away against a named driver, instead of being discovered at the next stock count.
Put MHE on preventive-maintenance schedules and record every service and repair on a work order. Supervisors see which units are out of service and why, and planners can bring servicing forward before a busy period.
With every warehouse and depot on one location tree, operations can see that one site is short of cages while another has a surplus, and transfer units with a recorded movement instead of buying for the short site.
Tag returnables with UHF RFID and count a yard or storage area with a handheld reader. The audit session reconciles reads against the register and highlights units that are missing or were never registered.
Material-handling equipment, dock levellers and vans need regular servicing and inspections. Asetavo holds PM schedules, work orders and service history on each unit, next to its location and custodian, so the workshop knows which unit is due and where it was last seen.
Returnables are small individually but add up to a significant capital pool. Losses show up as replacement purchases, not as a line anyone owns. Asetavo puts the pool on the register — with purchase cost, depreciation and a clear record of who holds each unit — so losses can be measured, recovered or charged back.
Logistics networks are multi-site by definition. Asetavo puts every warehouse, distribution centre and depot on one tree, with docks and zones inside each, so equipment and returnables can be seen and moved across the whole network.
Returnables move in volume, get stacked, shrink-wrapped and handled roughly, and pass through docks faster than anyone can scan them one by one. That is where UHF RFID pays off. For lower-volume equipment, a QR label and a phone are enough.
Best for containers, cages, pallets and stillages. Fixed readers at dock doors read tags as loads pass, and handhelds count stacks without unstacking. Use on-metal tags on steel cages and stillages. Business plan and above.
What is UHF RFID?For forklifts, handhelds, trolleys and loading equipment that are checked out one at a time. Drivers and supervisors scan with a phone. Available on every plan.
What is QR?If your warehouse already scans barcodes on returnables, those codes can be mapped to asset records during onboarding and used alongside RFID.
What is Barcode?For driver devices and small, high-value items where a tap is quicker than aiming a camera. Growth plan and above.
What is NFC?Not sure which to use? Try the tag technology selector or compare plans.
Drivers, dock staff, supervisors, the workshop and finance all touch the asset register. Role-based permissions keep each group to its own actions, reader events are authenticated, and every check-out and movement is on the audit trail when a customer disputes a balance.
Your WMS, TMS, fleet and telematics systems stay in charge of shipments, routes and vehicle location. Asetavo manages the assets. The two connect via the REST API, alerts can be pushed out as signed webhooks, and everything exports to Excel or CSV. There are no pre-built named connectors.
Set up each warehouse, DC and depot with its docks and zones, and list customers who hold returnables as custodians.
UHF RFID for returnables that move in volume, QR for MHE, handhelds and loading kit. Test RFID tags on your actual cages and containers before ordering in bulk.
Tag returnables as they pass through inbound docks and inspection, rather than trying to recall everything at once. The tagged pool grows every day.
Install fixed readers at the busiest docks, confirm signed events are arriving, and set zone and exit rules.
Check returnables out to customers on dispatch and equipment out to drivers each shift, so balances and custody build from day one.
Add service schedules for MHE and vehicles, then run a network-wide stock-take to establish the starting pool.
Something we didn’t cover? Walk us through your sites and assets and we’ll show you how Asetavo would be set up.
Book a demoBring your returnable pool size, your sites and a list of customers. We will show dock reads, customer balances, driver check-outs and a pool count on your data.
No card required · Workspace ready in minutes · Simple USD pricing
