More RFID Journal Sites: RFID Journal Espanol RFID Journal Brasil RFID Journal Events RFID Journal Awards
Transport NEWS
Text size:
T
T
T
Georgia Ports Authority Hopes RFID Will Boost Efficiency, Throughput
Many of Savi Networks' customers are the companies that actually ship goods. To track the containers en route, the companies affix RFID tags including Savi Technology's Savi Tag ST-676 ISO Container Security Tag, a battery-powered (active) 433 MHz RFID tag that clamps onto a cargo container's door. The tag's unique ID number can then be associated with the shipping manifest and other documents in a database hosted by Savi Networks.
The GPA installed Savi readers at the Port of Savannah's three outbound gates, Sutton explains, to track import cargo. "The Savi project is really about notification of the movement of cargo, letting companies know when a container moves through," he says. "If every container had a Savi tag on it, I suppose I wouldn't need to do this project—but the fact is, they don't."
The Navis project at the Port of Savannah involves tracking containers as they enter and move about the terminal. To facilitate this RFID implementation, the GPA is purchasing about 7,500 RFID tags, each encoded with a unique ID number. The tags will be affixed to the cabs of trucks contracted by companies to bring or pick up containers of goods to and from the terminal. Most of the trucks are owned by local logistics providers and, thus, will have permanent RFID tags screwed to their bumpers. The GPA is sending the logistics companies their RFID tags, and the companies will use WebAccess to enter the ID numbers of the tags they receive and associate those numbers with all their truck ID numbers.
A small percentage of the trucks—long-haulers that may only visit the port a few times per year—will receive temporary tags when they come to the port. Those tags, Dempsey says, will be affixed using magnets.
As a truck enters one of three gates, RFID interrogators will scan its tag and pass that information to the Navis Edge Manager, which will communicate with Navis Express to cross-check and confirm the tag's number. The implementation is expected to include about 12 interrogators, positioned throughout the terminal, each with about a 300-foot-radius read range.
The truck will then move into a lane to be processed through three checkpoints. The first will be outfitted with SAIC's OCR portal, which will scan the serial numbers printed on the sides of each truck's container and chassis, and on the generator set (a refrigeration unit on refrigerated containers), then convert an image of the numbers into a digital format a computer can process. Next, the truck will move forward to a scale and be weighed. Finally, at a third checkpoint called the pedestal, employees will visually inspect the truck's container seals to make sure they haven't been cut or broken off, and that the container hasn't been opened.
more Transport articles
The GPA installed Savi readers at the Port of Savannah's three outbound gates, Sutton explains, to track import cargo. "The Savi project is really about notification of the movement of cargo, letting companies know when a container moves through," he says. "If every container had a Savi tag on it, I suppose I wouldn't need to do this project—but the fact is, they don't."
The Navis project at the Port of Savannah involves tracking containers as they enter and move about the terminal. To facilitate this RFID implementation, the GPA is purchasing about 7,500 RFID tags, each encoded with a unique ID number. The tags will be affixed to the cabs of trucks contracted by companies to bring or pick up containers of goods to and from the terminal. Most of the trucks are owned by local logistics providers and, thus, will have permanent RFID tags screwed to their bumpers. The GPA is sending the logistics companies their RFID tags, and the companies will use WebAccess to enter the ID numbers of the tags they receive and associate those numbers with all their truck ID numbers.
A small percentage of the trucks—long-haulers that may only visit the port a few times per year—will receive temporary tags when they come to the port. Those tags, Dempsey says, will be affixed using magnets.
As a truck enters one of three gates, RFID interrogators will scan its tag and pass that information to the Navis Edge Manager, which will communicate with Navis Express to cross-check and confirm the tag's number. The implementation is expected to include about 12 interrogators, positioned throughout the terminal, each with about a 300-foot-radius read range.
The truck will then move into a lane to be processed through three checkpoints. The first will be outfitted with SAIC's OCR portal, which will scan the serial numbers printed on the sides of each truck's container and chassis, and on the generator set (a refrigeration unit on refrigerated containers), then convert an image of the numbers into a digital format a computer can process. Next, the truck will move forward to a scale and be weighed. Finally, at a third checkpoint called the pedestal, employees will visually inspect the truck's container seals to make sure they haven't been cut or broken off, and that the container hasn't been opened.
