TRACAR

Improving Inter-modal Cargo Transportation with Low Frequency RFID Battery-Less Tag Technology

As the flow of goods across borders increases, better control with cargo during intermodal transportation is an important competitive measure for all enterprises. As a leading partner in TRACAR I and II - supported by the European Commission DGXIII - TSS is responsible for the technical development of a supervision system for intermodal transport of cargo covering road, rail and sea transport.

Objectives

TRACAR aims to encourage the use of intermodal transport for sensitive cargo, e.g. frozen and fresh goods, by providing improved supervision and management as the goods journey from originating site to final destination. This is done by:

• providing start-to-end monitoring of cargo transport
• enabling remote alterations of pre-set journey conditions
• recording all activity during transit
• ensuring that the cargo is transported in good condition
• providing an audit trail in the event of any failure

Method

In the TRACAR I project the complete road-rail intermodal journey is monitored from originating site to destination. Cargo monitoring is concentrated on refrigerated and frozen goods and includes positioning of the swapbody and security of the swapbody, the vehicle and its contents as well as temperature and vibrations during transit. The conditions for the whole journey is recorded within a read/write tag (log tag) which is located inside the swapbody and can be verified at the destination site by the recipient.

The TRACAR II project monitors the complete road-sea intermodal journey in the same way as TRACAR I, just adding standard Reefer and Dry Cargo Containers to the system. However, as a sea route is included it is necessary to use GPS and Satellite communication to monitor, position and supervise the container and the condition of its contents at any time during the journey.

The key technology used in TRACAR is low-frequency battery-less tags employed in an unconventional manner, i.e. located beneath the road surface at the entrances to, and within, terminals; and at the entrances of originating and destination sites. The tag is also placed on the surfaces of transporting vehicles ‚ ships, trains or trucks; and on the tops and bottoms of containers, so that they can be identified when stacked.

At the start of the journey conditions are pre-set into the read/write tag. From that point onwards every aspect of the journey is monitored and recorded and, in the event of any system failure, an alarm is triggered, which notifies the shipper of the variation from the set conditions. The recording in the log tag includes all aspects of the modal change. By the use of remote telephony all pre-set conditions can be monitored and either be corrected remotely or, in the event of criminal activity, local action can be taken.

The TRACAR I system uses an onboard computer combined with a communications interface within the vehicle, which in turn connects to the processor, sensors and log tag inside the swap-body using short-range radio.

The TRACAR II project demonstrates two separate forms of supervision. One using the ships own onboard computer equipment to manage the positioning and communications with the individual container, while the other will carry the functions of geographically positioning each container, totally independent of the ship's equipment and the ship's management.

Benefits

The TRACAR system supervises cargo wherever it is located, on water or land, in storage or in transit. It improves the possibilities of tracing containers and their cargo, thereby:

Increasing security of the cargo by:

• reducing the risk of high-jacking, piracy and theft
• eliminating manual procedures in the security routines
• continued tracking of cargo if ship or container is high-jacked, changes course, or diverts from the planned route to another

and

Reducing transportation costs as:

• less manual handling of freight documents supervision is needed
• ships and trains have larger capacity ‚ compared to trucks
• insurance costs are reduced due to the systems ability to identify any point of failure.