A method at a computing device communicating with a plurality of sensor apparatuses within an asset management system, the method comprising: receiving a leasing indication at the computing device, the leasing indication providing one or more assets in the asset management system that are leased to a lessee, the one or more assets having been selected by a user interface of the computing device, the user interface being a representation of a shipping yard or geo-fence, wherein assets are represented with colors or patterns to represent a respective availability of assets to be leased, wherein an asset is determined to be available if it is empty and present in the shipping yard or geo-fence in a current or future time, wherein the leasing indication is based on selection and assignment on the user interface of the one or more assets to the lessee, wherein the user interface includes a box or bucket for each lessee, whereby each asset or group of assets can be dragged to the box or bucket to provide the leasing indication; duplicating an asset record in an asset database within the asset management system for each of the selected one or more assets, creating a duplicated record in the asset database; assigning a policy based on the lessee to the duplicated record; providing a pointer within the asset record to the duplicated record; receiving periodically sensor data for the one or more assets from the plurality of sensor apparatuses each being affixed to a respective asset, the sensor apparatuses including one or more sensors providing temperature and system information associated with the one or more assets, the sensor data including said temperature and system information, the sensor apparatuses further including a cargo detection system to determine, for the availability determination, whether the one or more assets are empty, wherein the cargo detection system comprises: a laser and detector, a time-of-flight sensor, or a camera and light, finding asset records associated with the received sensor data, the found asset records associated with a lessor, wherein policies within the found asset records indicate that the lessor wants to know when over-temperature conditions exist, when sudden deceleration events occur, and/or when a vehicle has entered or exited the shipping yard or geo-fence; applying the policies within the found asset records to the received sensor data, applying the policy for the lessee assigned to the duplicated record to the received sensor data and providing separate reports to the lessor and lessee based on the applying steps. receiving a leasing indication at the computing device, the leasing indication providing one or more assets in the asset management system that are leased to a lessee, the one or more assets having been selected by a user interface of the computing device, the user interface being a representation of a shipping yard or geo-fence, wherein assets are represented with colors or patterns to represent a respective availability of assets to be leased, wherein an asset is determined to be available if it is empty and present in the shipping yard or geo-fence in a current or future time, wherein the leasing indication is based on selection and assignment on the user interface of the one or more assets to the lessee, wherein the user interface includes a box or bucket for each lessee, whereby each asset or group of assets can be dragged to the box or bucket to provide the leasing indication; duplicating an asset record in an asset database within the asset management system for each of the selected one or more assets, creating a duplicated record in the asset database; assigning a policy based on the lessee to the duplicated record; providing a pointer within the asset record to the duplicated record; receiving periodically sensor data for the one or more assets from the plurality of sensor apparatuses each being affixed to a respective asset, the sensor apparatuses including one or more sensors providing temperature and system information associated with the one or more assets, the sensor data including said temperature and system information, the sensor apparatuses further including a cargo detection system to determine, for the availability determination, whether the one or more assets are empty, wherein the cargo detection system comprises: a laser and detector, a time-of-flight sensor, or a camera and light, a laser and detector, a time-of-flight sensor, or a camera and light, finding asset records associated with the received sensor data, the found asset records associated with a lessor, wherein policies within the found asset records indicate that the lessor wants to know when over-temperature conditions exist, when sudden deceleration events occur, and/or when a vehicle has entered or exited the shipping yard or geo-fence; applying the policies within the found asset records to the received sensor data, applying the policy for the lessee assigned to the duplicated record to the received sensor data and providing separate reports to the lessor and lessee based on the applying steps.