Wabash recently launched a cargo security solution that turns the trailer itself into a secure, connected system designed to prevent cargo theft and not just document loss after it happens.
The announcement at Manifest 2026 is a major step in the trailer maker’s efforts to transform traditional trailers into what it calls “platform trailers” capable of offering end-to-end cargo assurance.
The solution, based on Wabash’s February 2025 acquisition of TrailerHawk.AI, integrates the physical locking mechanism inside the trailer with a mobile application that creates a digital seal and provides cargo access throughout the shipment.
The announcement comes as the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) estimates that cargo theft costs the industry $6.6 billion annually.
“The industry can no longer rely on decentralized cargo security tools that lack real access control and don’t verify who has access to a shipper,” said Brett Somma, managing director of Wabash. “Wabash is taking a new approach to overcoming these challenges with our cargo security solution, showing how the trailer itself becomes part of a secure, closed system that prevents theft.”
The technology stack addresses what Sama described as a fundamental gap in traditional cargo security. Disposable seals and passive tracking devices offer limited protection and little control. Wabash’s solution creates multiple secure points of contact at the cargo gate, enabling encrypted communication, in-transit monitoring and proactive intervention.
“The trailer essentially becomes an extension of the shipping warehouse while it’s in transit,” Soma said. “We offer the shipper a level of certainty that has never existed before.”
The system requires strict verification of the driver before moving the shipment. Drivers upload their commercial driver’s license, use phone biometrics to access the application and full verification links to their carrier. The platform then captures the tractor’s license plates, verifies the vehicle identification number against the carrier’s Department of Transportation number and verifies insurance coverage.
“We not only verify the driver, we verify the tractor, we verify the insurance, we verify the carrier, we do a record of the relationship between that driver and that carrier,” Soma said. “And that’s before they even touch the trailer.”
The platform replaces traditional wrap-around seals with a fully digital system that logs the “who, what, where, when and why” of every cargo access event. Carriers can set access permissions to allow drivers to enter when they reach a geofenced pickup location, set up automatic access at specific coordinates or require shippers to physically open the door via the application.
