RFID and Container Shipping

How Container Tracking Devices will Facilitate International Intermodal Transport
When bar codes were first used to track freight cars on trains more than 60 years ago, these innovations revolutionized the national transportation system because of the automated fashion in which they monitored each car’s location and contents (Smith, 2017). Today, the same trends are taking place with respect to the addition of radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking devices to international intermodal transport containers. Although the addition of RFID tracking devices appears to represent a major step in the same direction as bar codes for train freight cars, the technologies are not without their constraints. To determine the facts, the purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion concerning how new container tracking devices will improve international intermodal transport of goods. A review of the relevant literature in this regard and important findings is followed by a summary of the research in the paper’s conclusion.
Review and Analysis
At present, the global container shipping industry has between 20 and 5 million containers in service, but just a small percentage of these are routinely tracked from point of origin to their destinations (Cozzens, 2016). There is a growing consensus among shipping industry professionals, though, that the addition of tracking devices to containers can facilitate international intermodal transport in significant ways. For example, according to one tracking device vendor, “With businesses relying on the timely movement and arrival of goods via shipping containers, it’s become increasingly important to know where a particular container (or trailer) is at any time, and its transport progress to the final destination” (Container tracking with GPS tracking devices, 2017, para. 2).
One Swiss company that has taken the lead in persuading the international intermodal transport industry to improve operations by integrating RFID tracking devices is Traxens, which has partnered with the Mediterranean Shipping Company and the global container shipping company, CMA CGM, to install RFID tracking devices on their containers. Given that these enterprises account for nearly 25% of the world’s current container shipping, it is clear that the deployment of RFID tracking for containers is already well underway (Cozzens, 2016), and for good reasons.
Some of the ways that these container tracking devices will facilitate international intermodal transport include their ability to use global position system technologies to monitor their locations from point of origin to destination, as well as their ability to use the ship’s own automatic identification system (AIS) for this purpose during transit in order to conserve battery power (Cozzens, 2016). In this regard, Cozzens reports that, “Once we have determined that a container is on board a ship, we can use the AIS ship-positioning data rather than the GPS on the device — especially as the device may be under deck with no view of the sky” (para. 5),
In addition, tracking devices facilitate international intermodal transport by improving the ability of shippers to assess GPS positioning data from the tracking devices to compare existing locations with expected locations to identify any deviations or anomalous events which could indicate container tampering or mistakes in navigation (Cozzens, 2016). Moreover, when container tracking devices are used, shippers automatically receive progress reports at scheduled intervals concerning the locations and status of their containers including a mapping feature that graphically illustrates these data sets (Container tracking with GPS tracking devices, 2017) In sum, container tracking devices can help the international intermodal transport in a number of valuable ways.
Notwithstanding the numerous proven advantages that can be achieved with RFID tracking devices for containers, the implementation process has not been without its concerns and constraints, some of which remain firmly in place. For instance, Giermanski (2016) points out that there remains a need to establish universal communication protocols for RFID transmissions that can be applied in any country-specific setting. In this regard, Giermanski emphasizes that some of the current constraints to the deployment of RFID tracking devices include “disparate frequencies worldwide; disparate communication protocols; its land-based character and accompanying costs for access and maintenance of the infrastructure needed; and its security vulnerabilities” (p. 23).
In support of these assertions, Giermanski (2016) cites the fact that because communications frequencies differ in various regions of the world, the RFID frequencies that are used for container tracking in the United States may not operate properly – or at all – in China. Likewise, dissimilar communications protocols for RFID tracking devices will invariably limit their effectiveness unless and until standardized frequencies and communications protocols are established and accepted by the international community. As Giermanski (2016) concludes, “Protocols tell each container transponder and the interrogator--when to start and stop, what language to use and how fast to talk. Unless the instructions are clear to each, communication may not take place. As with frequencies, there are no global protocols or standards” (p. 24). Given the enormous economic and logistical benefits that can be achieved using container tracking devices, though, it is also reasonable to suggest that these constrains will be resolved in the foreseeable future.
Conclusion
The research showed that the international intermodal transport system is already a modern marvel that makes it possible for consumer goods from distant countries to be efficiently shipped around the world in ways that were unimaginable just a century ago, and the addition of RFID tracking devices will make this global transportation system even more efficient in the future. The research also showed, though, that the effectiveness of the current tracking devices is constrained by a lack of standardization in RFID communication frequencies and protocols. Nevertheless, the significant advantages that can be achieved using container tracking devices will encourage the resolution of these current constraints and it is reasonable to suggest that virtually all containers in the foreseeable future will be equipped with a tracking device.
References
Cozzens, T. (2016, August 31). Shipping container tracking on verge of big increase. GPS World. Retrieved from http://gpsworld.com/shipping-container-tracking-on-verge-of-big-increase/.
Giermanski, J. R. (2016, February). Military supply chain tracking system: Both inefficient and dangerous. National Defense, 95(687), 22-25.
Smith, E. (2017, September 5). Right track, wrong station. Tedium. Retrieved from https:// tedium.co/2017/09/05/kartrak-railroad-barcode-history/.