Tracking the Shift from Road to Rail

One of the most important metrics in the intermodal freight industry is the accurate tracking of goods as they move through the system. Knowing when freight will arrive at its destination is a vital part of choosing the mode of transport that businesses use either for shipping their products or for ordering goods. A greater part of the appeal of using truck transport is the relative ease and accuracy of the ability to track the progress of goods in transit. Being able to mirror these metrics for other modes of transport has been an important part of the development of the world’s intermodal network. One company that understands this is the UK firm Freight Arranger who has spent two years developing a cloud based cargo tracking platform that provides real time reports on the progress of goods in transit across Britain’s rail networks.

This important development in multimodal transport efficiency has been funded by both the British government’s Technology Strategy Board as well as a number of private investors. Freight Arranger has just completed their first closed trials of their new application. Their Sales & Marketing Director, John G. Russell has reported that these were a success, saying, “Freight Arranger has demonstrated its capability, and we see it as an excellent potential as a tool for intermodal freight.” This is seen as a vital step in moving more freight off of Britain’s already clogged motorways by making it practical to accurately track delivery times on the UK’s underused rail networks. With the development of the London Gateway coming to completion in November 2013, this new technology will become an important part of the development of the sea to rail aspect of the operations of the new deep water port on the Thames.

The real development of this system revolves around the frequency of the status reporting that it provides, cutting refresh times from the current four hour minimum to once every seven minutes, providing real time metrics on the progress of individual containers through the British rail networks and allowing shippers and customers alike to have real time estimates for delivery of their goods. It is hoped that this technology will provide the confidence in the rail network that is seen as a vital part of it being accepted as an efficient part of the intermodal infrastructure. Freight Arranger is currently available for free trials to new users and is offered for consignments as small as a single container.