Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/378850
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2014 67 J .B. Hunt (CCJ Top 250, No. 6) struck gold in the early 1990s as one of the first motor carriers with an intermodal rail service network. The Lowell, Ark.-based company now boasts the largest fleet of 53-foot containers in North America and one of the largest private drayage fleets across a nationwide network of rail partners. CCJ has recognized a number of fleets for expanding the possibilities of rail. Some recent innovations involve the use of stackable intermodal containers to transport refrigerated, flatbed, liquid bulk chemicals and other specialized loads. Fleets that are not engaged actively with shippers to convert loads of 700 or more miles to intermodal are losing business. Meanwhile, others are gaining ground by using intermodal to add capacity for customers while reducing their costs and emissions. The American Trucking Associations predicts rail intermodal tonnage will grow by 5.5 percent annually through 2019 and 5.1 percent through 2025. While this may seem like a golden opportunity, the business is complex with high barriers to entry. Technology can help to level the playing field. TRACKING EVOLUTION Managing containers, trailer chassis and specialized over-the- road trailers can be complex, with multiple parties involved in the custody chain. Satellite tracking and mobile communi- cations systems are used widely by fleets to manage over-the-road assets, but the technology has been slower to gain traction in intermodal. That is starting to change. NFI (CCJ Top 250, No. 37) – one of the largest privately held third-party logistics providers in North America – rents the trailer chassis and containers it uses for its dry containers that account for about half of its total shipments. None of its TECHNOLOGY HELPS WITH RIDING THE RAIL BY AARON HUFF GOING J.B. Hunt boasts the largest fleet of 53-foot containers in North America and one of the largest private drayage fleets across a nationwide network of rail partners. Third-party logistics provider NFI has 170 stackable refrigerated containers that it monitors constantly using Thermo King's Web-based TracKing telematics system.