IntelliTrans provides rail car in—transit visibility

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, March-April, 2002

When Victoria Wagstaffe went back to work after attending the MTMC 2002 Training Symposium, the first thing she did was type www.intellitrans.com/mtmc into her computer.

Once she was logged in, Wagstaffe, from the Transportation Office at Fort Irwin, Calif., then populated a Web page with crisp keystrokes. Under "Empty Car Request Entry," Wagstaffe filled in blanks such as Vehicle ID, Shipment Type, Shipper, Unit and Commodity. In so doing, the Chief of the office's Rate Branch booked an order for several hundred railroad-owned cars for a shipment from the National Training Center bound for Fort Riley, Kan.

What Wagstaffe did on April 1, said Mike Hunley, Program Manager of IntelliTrans, in Atlanta, was to complete her first use of "the optimum way to order railroad cars."

Hunley introduced IntelliTrans software to a group of veteran transporters March 28. The firm was recently selected by MTMC to manage its 2,216 Department of Defense railroad cars and track the railroad-owned flatcars used by the Department of Defense.

IntelliTrans is an amazing system, said Hunley--and the firm's software does far more than order rail cars. In an instant, the software can print a report on the last reported location of the Department of Defense's railroad cars--all 2,216 of them. And the visibility does not stop there. The software can produce such reports as:

* Historical--Identification of cars at destination report

* Activity Summary--Current situation report.

* Jeopardized Cars--Delayed rail cars report.

The car tracking software sweeps away the old. Wagstaffe will no longer have to trade facsimile reports with MTMC to periodically track car location information. She can enter the information directly at the IntelliTrans Web site, then call up the site as needed to track the progress of the cars.

The information will now be instantly visible to qualified users on the Web site, such as Wagstaffe, and her counterpart at the receiving installation.

George Gounley, Chief of the Asset Management Branch, MTMC Operations Center, says the IntelliTrans software has produced immediate changes in the way he and his team operate. The nine workers in his office will shrink to five, and in the future, the smaller team's mission will grow to include contractor supervision of the management of MTMC's 10,000 shipping containers. The containers, mostly used for ammunition, are currently managed by Intermodal Branch, Joint Traffic Management Office, at MTMC Headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

Hunley's seminar audience included Vicky Joseph, who moves railroad cars of equipment of the 4th Infantry Division and 1st Air Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas. Before attending the symposium, Joseph had never heard of IntelliTrans.

"I think it's going to be great," said Joseph, of the installation's Directorate of Logistics. "It's sure going to help me out. I'm really looking forward to it."

Dan Donovan, of the Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, Calif., shares her enthusiasm. Donovan orders rail cars through Union Pacific Railroad.

"It's got great potential, once we get the bugs out of it and find out who's responsible for what," said Donovan.

Other class members included Robert Knierim, a transportation instructor in the basic and freight courses at Fort Eustis.

"I'm teaching the wrong thing," said Knierim. "I'm still teaching the old way of booking railroad cars. I've got to change my instruction. Everything is different now."

It is easy to get started, said Hunley. Requests for a user name and password should be made by e-mailing MTMC at dodx@mtmc.army.mil or by calling IntelliTrans customer service at (404) 523-7474, ext. 119.