Smart Boxcars Give Rail Shippers Control

Computerworld - Until about 18 months ago, shippers of perishable products that consigned their loads to refrigerated boxcars had to act on faith that a shipment would make its way cross country at the right temperature without the refrigeration unit breaking down or running out of fuel.

Sometimes the shipper ended up with a load of rotten oranges, bad cheese or spoiled juice. But that's changing as railroads roll out new, "smart" refrigerator cars—or reefers, as they're called—that use satellite communications to let shippers monitor and control car temperatures from a secure Web site. The technology also allows them to pinpoint a car's location to within a few feet.

Dave Fleenor, assistant vice president of perishable marketing at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNSF), said the railroad uses a satellite control system from StarTrak LLC in Morris Plains, N.J. The system lets Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF change the temperature setting of each refrigerated unit, diagnose problems and control what's going on inside each car.

Fresh Fruit

Remote control means shippers may never have to face another load of spoiled perishables again, said Scott Slifkin, president of StarTrak. If a refrigeration unit breaks down, a microchip controller card alerts the shipper and the railroad, which can quickly dispatch a technician to fix the problem.

That's important to shippers such as Kraft Foods Inc. in Northfield, Ill., Fleenor said. Kraft started shipping cheese on BNSF before the new refrigerated cars were used, moving about 368 carloads of cheese via the railroad in five years. Since the refrigerated cars came online in August 2001, Kraft has nearly doubled that number, said BNSF spokeswoman Suann Lundsberg.

In addition to the controller, StarTrak equips each reefer unit with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver that automatically determines the car's position to within 10 feet. In the refrigeration unit of each car, StarTrak installed a satellite communications transmitter and receiver, which move data over the MSAT system operated by Mobile Satellite Ventures LP in Reston, Va.

The satellite modem receives data from the receiver and system monitors on the cars and relays it to a secure, shipper-accessible Web site operated by StarTrak.

Tropicana Products Inc. in Bradenton, Fla., which ships fresh orange juice from Florida to Northeastern markets, is retrofitting all of its reefers with StarTrak technology, said spokeswoman Kristine Nickel.

"When the system is fully [deployed] in the next 18 to 24 months, we will have the ability to have the cars communicate with us and let us change the temperature [if necessary], so a load of juice won't be damaged," she said

Bob Smith, the vice president of transportation at Sunkist Growers Inc. in Sherman Oaks, Calif., said that although the StarTrak system lets him monitor temperatures, its location capabilities are wanting. "The location [service] is weak," he said. "Sometimes I don't get an update for 12 to 18 hours."