The structure of a container may be a simple asset, but there’s nothing simple about tracking its location throughout the U.S. supply chain.
In recent years, chassis providers and technology developers have overcome the challenge of electronically tracking the use of these assets with shippers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), carriers, marine terminals and rail ramps.
“The problem is that there are many parties and systems involved when using the structure to dry containers,” Glenn Jones, global vice president of product and marketing for Blume Global, told American Shipper.
Jones said Blume’s solution tracks structure by estimating per diem and detention fees, then reviews and reconciles invoices to verify the fees are correct.
The container body business in the United States is unique to the rest of the world. In Europe and Asia, these assets are controlled by trucking companies. In the United States, the majority of the estimated 500,000 hulls are controlled by a few leasing companies and towed for use by truckers from marine terminal pools and railroad ramps.
“The process of matching orders to structures and containers is still semi-manual,” Jones said. “We are still a long way from fully tracking these assets.”
GPS promise
In recent years, GPS has become one of the most promising technologies for tracking structures in the U.S. supply chain.
American Intermodal Management (AIM), which merged with FlexiVan earlier this year, began attaching GPS sensors to its chassis in 2017, about a year after it was formed by several former APL executives.
“AIM was founded with the belief that technology can expand the value of a structure beyond the transportation function,” said AIM Founder and Chief Operating Officer of FlexiVan Than Seeds.
GPS sensors mounted on AIM’s chassis first provided the company and its charter customers with real-time geographic location, tire pressure and braking data.
“The combination of AIM and FlexiVan will allow us to scale our network of GPS-enabled assets more quickly to reach more customers across a broader geographic area, and customize solutions to provide data in a way that is more useful to their needs,” Seeds said.
FlexiVan currently has about 25,000 GPS-enabled chassis across the country. Seeds said the company is primarily focused on equipping chassis with GPS for its charter customers, such as shippers, truck drivers and freight consolidation companies. He added that since these tenants control the assets, they want to know their whereabouts at all times.
“We are seeing an increase in customer interest in GPS-enabled equipment,” Seeds said. “The tracking benefits alone provide compelling value even before we consider the analytics benefits. Having automated, real-time information is of great value to network operators. It speeds up the decision-making process.”
TRAC Intermodal, another large US marine hull provider, will equip the customer’s charter hull with GPS technology provided through Spireon’s FleetLocate platform.
In addition to providing real-time tracking, GPS data provides TRAC chassis customers with mapping, geofencing, container assembly and disassembly details, and access to active and historical data. TRAC also uses solar panel technology to keep its GPS units charged.
US chassis provider Direct ChassisLink (DCLI), which uses a variation of Blume’s proprietary chassis management tool, will also enable the chassis with GPS tracking, if requested by the lessee. (DCLI and Blume are both owned by Apollo Global Management but operated separately.)
Swimming pools pull into the IT structure
Hull tracking technologies within pools remain limited by the sheer number of transportation truck drivers hired by shippers, 3PLs, and ocean carriers to pick up and drop off Hulls.
Blume provides a form of structure tracking in swimming pools with its technology operated at marine terminal gates and railway ramps. Depending on the working arrangements of these facilities, structure complex inspections and check-ins are performed manually or via RFID card readers.
Blume’s software allows structure providers to know when a structure leaves the group, who is responsible for it, who uses it, and when the asset returns. The Hulk’s arrival back at the complex prompted Bloom to create the bill, Jones said.
TRAC said it will provide GPS-based chassis tracking for designated chassis groups. For example, the company said it covers approximately 75% of the structure using this technology in its ZIM Expedited Pool, a pool dedicated to its Xpress (ZEX) e-commerce service for ocean carriers.
However, in neutral chassis groups, TRAC uses EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) data to track and manage this equipment.
“TRAC Structures Inventory Management is a complex system, designed to continuously receive and interpret data from hundreds of our trading partners,” the company said. “This data, which includes on- and off-gate structure information or the roadability status of the equipment, is used by TRAC to track the equipment and manage the inventory of its combinations.”
However, TRAC believes that current equipment tracking efforts within the United States are still just scratching the surface. The company said the increasing complexity and demand for real-time data will require webhooks and APIs (advanced programming interfaces) within its electronic data interchange (EDI).
To facilitate technological developments, TRAC said it is investing heavily in data science. In 2018, the company changed its data management process from a traditional model to a “next-generation data technology platform that allows TRAC to support its customers with real-time, actionable insight and rapid decision-making.”
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Click for more FreightWaves/American Shipper articles by Chris Gillis.
