“The question we so often hear is ‘Please tell me where my container is before my customer asks’”
Freight consignors use the system to make a container movement enquiry on a ‘postcode to postcode’ basis. FreightArranger does all the hard work by finding intermodal train capacity with suitable transit timings and appropriate gauge capability, checks terminal opening times and lift capability, and arranges any short-haul road transport for pre- and end-carriage. The algorithms which search for solutions are biased to find rail transits for all or part of the journey as appropriate. FreightArranger handles all the complications of container types, routes, gauges and timetables behind the scenes so that consignors do not need to get involved in the complexities. While in transit, FreightArranger gives real-time tracking information, on an enquiry and/or alert basis. Data is refreshed every five seconds, which compares to rival software update intervals of on the hour, or in some cases every four hours. The system also allows for self-customised alerts which could include, for example, a desktop or email alert due a set number of minutes before goods are expected to arrive, or a separate indicator if a train is running more than a certain amount of time behind schedule.
One of the big drivers for the service according to Radcliffe,
‘is the question we so often hear from forwarders: ‘Please tell me where my container is before my customer asks’. Our locator service stops goods going into a black hole and is available to customers and to the road haulier that is picking up the goods, making their time more efficiently spent too. ‘In the past, once a train left the terminal, consignors did not know where it was until it arrived. We have witnessed instances where businesses have remotely tracked their goods all the way through the supply chain, only for it to go completely off the radar as soon as it enters the rail system.’ FreightArranger can be used to fill unused capacity on block trains, acting as a sales agent to smaller companies at a lower cost and more efficiently than freight operating companies can do in-house. And it’s these ‘ones and twos’ of extra containers
Strong opinions on rail
Radcliffe has formed strong opinions of the industry he has joined. On HS2 he said: ‘The UK is already more congested than other developed nations. The population and economy - the two factors that determine demand for transport - are both forecast to grow. So it’s inevitable that, without investment, transport congestion will increase. ‘Unless we want to see economic recovery stifled by an inability to deliver goods, services and people on time, improving the transport network is essential. Doing nothing is not an option. ‘Rail freight makes sense over longer distances. That’s when it becomes the lower cost, lower carbon option. It isn’t stuck in traffic jams. It isn’t clogging our roads. It’s delivering straight to the heart of our cities without adding to
December 2013 Page 55
on a train that Radcliffe says is where the profit margin is. ‘You can lose a lot of money if you don’t have a full train on the move.’
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