b'2American Journal of Transportation ajot.comWheres my freight? IN TER MO DAL2021Ports, carriers, and tech companies are work-ing on better intermodal visibilityBy Peter Buxbaum, AJOTInJuly,thePortofLosinplacetoprovidecargo Angelesannouncedthestatustotheirclients,noted launchofacargo-volumeTomForbes,vicepresident predictor,calledHorizon,ofNavisRail,aplanning toprovideshippers,termi- platformforfreightrail-naloperators,truckers,androads.Theexpansionof rail carriers a picture of con- this view to include detailed tainer movements at the portinformationonincomingor sixmonthsinadvance.Theoutboundinternationalcon-feature,anadditiontothetainerswoulddramatically portslargerdigitaltechnol- improvethisvisibility,he ogyplatform,usesanalgo- added. But this information rithm based on historical andis not readily available to all trending volume data to issuesegmentsofthetransporta-monthly volume updates halftion process. a year ahead. One challenge is that rail-Tools like Horizon, if usedroads rarely directly exchange across other North Americanfiles with ocean carriers. There gateways,couldhelpallevi- (FREIGHTcontinued on atethevisibilityproblemspage 8) Canadian Pacific gives Kansas City Southern deadline on merger deal (See related story on page 4)facingintermodaltranspor-tation.Intermodalvolumes have been surging as demand forgoodsincreasedduring the pandemic, yet rail carriers arehavingdifficultymatch-ing capacity with demandlargelybecausetheydont havevisibilitytoincoming containers. Many shippers also lack visibility once shipments hit the intermodal system. TheAmazoneffect,as some call it, means that ship-pers and consumers alike want to track shipments from release todeliveryfore-commerce packagesandbusiness-to-businessshipmentsbutthis capabilityislaggardinthe intermodalsector.Intodays supplychain,everyoneneeds to know where their shipments areatalltimes,saidWard Proctor,directorofbusiness solutionsatTransmetriQ,a provider of an intermodal vis-ibility tool.C omplexS upplyC hainThegoodnewsisthat ports like Los Angeles, as well astransportationproviders andtechnologydevelopers, are putting systems and pro-cesses in place to improve the situation. These tools include directconnectivity,butthey are also increasingly employ-ing artificial intelligence and predictiveanalyticstopro-vide more accurate estimated times of arrival (ETAs). Partoftheproblemfor intermodalisthatitscom-plexsupplychainincludes manystakeholders,such asports,drayagetruckers, warehouses, intermodal mar-ketingcompanies(IMCs), and railroads. Visibility to the firstmileiswherethefog setsin,accordingtoSteve Dowse, senior vice president forproductmanagementat BlumeGlobal,aprovider ofanintermodaltechnol-ogy platform. Knowing that freight has begun its journey isthestartofbeingableto predict ETA.Many railroads have tools'