The U.S. freight rail network gets widely considered as the largest, safest, and most cost-efficient freight system in the world, with the nearly $80-billion freight rail industry covering almost 140,000 route miles.
According to data reported by the U.S. Department Of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, 22 regional and 584 local/short line railroads provide more than 167,000 jobs across the United States and offer ancillary benefits that other modes of transportation cannot, to include but not limited to:
- reductions in road congestion
- fewer highway fatalities
- reduced fuel consumption
- lessened greenhouse gases
- lower logistics and maintenance costs
- improved public infrastructure
Technological Advancements
Advances in platform capabilities such as those provided by Gravity are creating new and exciting opportunities for shippers who are only too pleased to be making greater use of North America’s green and efficient freight network.
Demand-Driven, End to End, Full Visibility
The need for supply chains to eliminate silos is one that remains essential. However, new ways of information sharing as a result of the power of tapping into more granular and accurate data is helping ensure automated information and predictive data can get more easily shared throughout all stakeholders within the supply chain in near to real time.
Like an out of control locomotive, this turbo-charged stream of information has enabled complete end to end supply chain visibility and as such, supply chain managers get empowered to make better decisions.
The Power Of Data
Leveraging the power of data provides proven benefits. It allows the supply chain to be proactive rather than reactive regardless of how quickly changes in circumstances occur, providing numerous, significant benefits such as:
- Accurate delivery times
- Efficient stock management
- Reduced inventory levels
- Lowering costs to improve margin and bottom line
Role Of Technology
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) projects a 41 percent increase in freight shipments by 2040 with the greatest freight rail network in the world expected to witness next-generation innovations like lasers, drones, and automated technologies.
The power of technology is fueling America’s freight railroads to ensure they’re capable of meeting not only today’s transportation challenges but also those of the future. Railinc, Gravity’s data provider, is highly regarded as the industry’s largest and most accurate source for real time interline rail data. As a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (ARR), it works to make the U.S. freight rail network safer and efficient through the power of big data, with unrivaled levels of railcar tracking data insights to identify and mitigate risks and enable improvements to service and coordination of the movements of railcars to occur in near to realtime.
By capitalizing on the power of technology such as Gravity’s Rail Tracking product, freight rail can benefit from enhanced and innovative rail tracking capabilities that provide:
- enhanced visibility
- better transport and intake planning
- reductions in administration time and charges
- improved stakeholder relationships
- irrefutable transparency
- early notification of potential delays
- the ability to take corrective action and mitigate risk
If you’d like to know how you can leverage clear and up to date information on:
- the progress and expected arrival time of your cargo
- how you can increase overall performance levels
- enhancing levels of visibility and transparency
- measuring your performance
- how to enable faster, accurate decision-making with certainty
Contact us! One of our team will be more than happy to discuss your needs and help you keep your business firmly on track.
