A-1. The Long Term Trend in Freight Identification Technology [1]
“Freight identification technologies” is another term for “event-driven tools that convert physical activities and conditions into data entries.” The long-term trend in freight identification technology is moving towards automatic dependent surveillance of materiel movements and freight shipments. Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) is a term used in air and vessel traffic control for on-board equipment that automatically determines location and other relevant information without intervention from crew or network managers.
The critical feature of automatic dependent surveillance in regard to freight shipments is that the identification and data recording processes become fully automatic byproducts of the operation. The movement or traffic management process itself triggers identification and data collection. Condition changes stimulate reports in response to sensor changes (door opened) or process measurements that move beyond a threshold (temperature changes). Human beings are out of the loop.
For most of the century prior to World War II, freight shipment status information was a rare exception that required the exchange of telegrams or teletype messages, often with multiple railroads. In the decades after the war, we moved to telephones and faxes to supplement what were at best semi-automatic status reports. Long haul truck drivers, for example, depended on pay phones to report their status to dispatchers.
The early 1990’s were watershed years. Qualcomm pioneered in combining satellite-based location data and two-way mobile digital satellite communications. Schneider National was the first motor carrier to deploy Qualcomm’s OmniTRACS service to its entire fleet. Schneider received automated real-time position reports on the location of its tractors, and then integrated that data into its customer service, load planning, driver assignment, and maintenance management systems. In 1991, the Class I US railroads agreed to a mandatory Association of American Railroads (AAR) standard for an Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) system based on radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Today, virtually all rail rolling stock in interchange service has two AAR standard RFID tags affixed to it. The DoD, stung by intransit visibility problems in the Gulf War, began deploying data-rich RFID tags on containers, air pallets, and major pieces of equipment. They now have the world’s largest active RFID network, covering 350 nodes at ports, terminals, and bases in 36 countries. Finally, two U.S. flag container carriers decided to equip their fleets with “license plate” RFID tags; although one backed away because of complications with its alliance partners, the other followed through.
These changes represent a major turning point. All took people out of the loop and derived status information from other activities, a trend that is far from finished. Two ways the trend will continue to play out are relevant to security as well as productivity: greater penetration of freight markets, and more transparent integration of freight and conveyance identification and status information.
The changes of the last decade cemented the shift from a situation of “Mute Freight in Deaf Networks” to one of “Talking Freight in Listening Networks.” The latter generally reflects today’s best supply chain practices. However, as industry adds more on-board condition sensors and monitoring systems for security and efficiency, we are crossing the boundary to “Smart Freight in Smarter Networks.” [2]
1. This section draws on material in “Trends in the Use Of Intermodal Freight Identification Technology,” the author’s June 1998 paper prepared for the Intermodal Freight Identification Technology Workshop in Reston, VA. Still a useful paper, it is being restored to the ITS America web site in conjunction with the April 2002 Intermodal Freight Security and Technology Workshop. Electronic copies are also available from the author.
2. The three freight and network scenarios are described in “Trends...” Section III, “Freight Identification Trends and Strategies,” pp. 10-14.
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