CSX Introduces GPS Shipment Tracking
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Screen Grab Courtesy of CSX (via Twitter)
CSX is taking the “rail customer experience to the next level” by installing GPS tags on its railcars and containers to provide up-to-the-minute location information anywhere on its 20,000-mile network, the Class I announced March 28 via a Twitter post.
According to CSX, which has used global positioning systems for years on its locomotives to “enhance safety and support the efficient flow of trains across the network,” GPS shipment tracking is a “significant improvement” over the automated equipment identification (AEI) system, which relies on wayside detectors to identify railcars fitted with transponder tags. AEI can pinpoint a railcar’s location only when it passes an AEI wayside reader, providing limited insight into each shipment’s progress.
With GPS, CSX says it will offer a whole new level of tracking detail, providing up-to-the-minute location information. GPS tags on railcars and containers transmit electronic signals to communication satellites, which relay location coordinates back to CSX’s ShipCSX shipment-tracking database.
In rail terminals, on the line of road, or at shipper and receiver locations, GPS can automatically establish and communicate car and container location data, which then flows into customer service systems that are accessible to customers around the clock.
From their desktop or mobile device, CSX says customers will be able to see shipment locations in near real-time—and use that information to manage their operations more efficiently.
“GPS is one more way CSX is investing in technology to improve the customer experience and increase supply chain efficiency. And it’s one more reason for customers to choose CSX as their safe, reliable and sustainable transportation partner,” the Class I said.
