There are many successful RFID deployments. We write about them all the time. But I always love it when I hear about a deployment that delivered not only the expected benefits, but some unexpected ones. PierPass, an active radio frequency identification system run by a not-for-profit company created by marine terminal operators at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, is a case in point.
PierPass was launched in 2005 to address congestion, air quality and security at the ports. Active RFID tags, such as those used by cars for automated toll collection, were handed out to trucks that regularly picked up containers at the port for delivery throughout the United States. A driver was associated with each truck and its RFID tag’s serial number in a database.
Previously, a worker with a clipboard had to check each driver’s license manually, confirm that he or she had a delivery, and allow him or her through. With the RFID system, the driver’s information is stored in a database and associated with the tag’s serial number. When a truck arrives at the gate, the tag is read and the driver’s information pops up on a screen. All the security staff needs to do is confirm that the license handed over by the driver matches the one on file. In the post-9/11 world, this improved security. Checks could be run on drivers when they were registered for an RFID tag for their vehicle, and there was less chance of a security person misidentifying a driver and letting someone through who should not be allowed into the marine terminal area.
The system reduced congestion by dramatically speeding up the amount of time it took to validate a driver’s credentials and check him or her in. Less idling of trucks waiting to get into the terminal to pick up containers meant less pollution, so the goals were achieved. But the marine terminal operators soon realized they could introduce congestion pricing, since the RFID tag let the port know when trucks were arriving and departing. Funds raised for charging extra for picking up containers during peak daytime hours enabled the marine terminal operators to pay workers to work a night shift.
The result? A program known as OffPeak was launched in 2005 to reduce severe cargo-related congestion on local streets and highways around the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. OffPeak nearly doubled the potential capacity of the ports without requiring taxpayer funding or waiting years for new infrastructure construction. PierPass recently announced that the OffPeak program, enabled by RFID, has diverted more than 48 million truck trips from Southern California daytime traffic to less congested nights and weekends.
Prior to the OffPeak program’s implementation, 88 percent of the containers that were picked up and delivered to the ports by truck did so within the first shift of operations, between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Since the program started in 2005, however, approximately half of the trucks have called during the first shift and the other half has called during the OffPeak shifts (6:00 PM to 3:00 AM on weekdays and from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturdays).
The system has not delivered a hard-dollar bottom line benefit to the marine terminal operators, but the costs of employing workers at night is off-set by the revenue from the congestion-pricing scheme. Poor air quality and traffic congestion in the area have been reduced, which reduces friction with the local population. Perhaps most important, the marine terminal operators have not had to invest millions of dollars to expand the port to handle the growth in container volume.
This is a great success story. Many other companies that have deployed RFID systems have also found unexpected benefits. I hope to be able share more of these stories in the coming weeks and months.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal.