project44 has revealed a new intermodal visibility component, providing its customers with the ability to track containers in real time from port of origin to destination as they transfer between modes.

The new service provides real-time geo-location based tracking on intermodal shipments, allowing customers to maintain visibility from origin to destination, between multiple hand-offs, and across multiple modes of transport on ocean to rail shipments.

“Collecting data from trucks is connected by ELDs, telematics, and other IoT devices,” explains Raji Bedi, SVP, Product Management at project44. “Unfortunately, these devices are not present on a majority of containers. project44’s solution is able to produce an IoT-like experience without a physical device within the container and deliver on our promise of end-to-end visibility tracking.”

project44’s intermodal visibility makes available real-time data from the entire ecosystem of ocean shipping. This includes terminals, rail lines, ocean lines and drayage providers. The system provides customers with one stream of information. 

When multiple containers under the same bill of lading are split up and shifted to rail on different schedules, it often creates challenges for shippers resulting in extra operational efforts, phone calls, and emails in order to understand what is moving and when. The new service from project44 is designed to provide up to the minute views of these hand-offs taking place in a single source of the truth along with the rest of their supply chain data.

“We believe that project44’s ocean visibility product will deliver accurate ETAs as to when our shipments will arrive at U.S. ports,” said Paul T. Masuda, Chief Strategy & Innovation Office at Yamato Transport USA. “Plus, we will have detailed, real-time data on the location and status of shipping containers as they are discharged, so we know if there is a customs hold that needs attention, when a truck needs to be dispatched and exactly when shipping containers need to be returned to port. Better ETAs and improved container-level visibility at the port will save us and our carriers a lot of time and money and allow us to provide better service to our customers.”