b'12American Journal of Transportation ajot.comNew logistics technology emerges fromLabor shortages imperil COVID vaccine distributions complexitiesintermodal performanceA company based in Iceland has developed a data-logger solution for moni- Its not just a lack of truck drivers these days, its toring temperature standards for COVID-19 vaccines across the globe. also fewer terminal and warehouse workers con-tributing to record equipment turnaround times By Matt Miller, AJOT and clogging the system.Distributing the COVID- sary documentation to health supply chain monitoring.By Peter Buxbaum, AJOT19 vaccine throws off logisticalauthoritiesforbothregula- Wevemovedfrom challengesofmind-bogglingtoryclearanceandrecordWhathappened?toWhatAt J.B. Hunt, intermodalforthiscloggedintermodal complexity:Billionsofvialskeeping.Itgeneratesdataishappeningandhowcanvolumes in the second quartersystem.Somecarriershave in millions of containers haveanalytics capable of split-sec- werespond?saidGisliof 2021 increased by 6%. Andreported container usage time tobeshippedasquicklyasond decisions on everythingHerjolfsson,Controlantco- yet,reportedDarrenField,increasing by 20% since the they are manufactured to tensfrom alternate destinations tofounder and CEO. thecompanyspresidentforcargosurgestarted.Inthe of thousands of separate loca- efficacy determination. AccordingtoHerjolfs- intermodal, Network veloc- Los Angeles area, street dwell tionsthroughouttheglobe,Thiskindofmonitoringson, this real time data relayity continues to be well belowtimes for containers increased and with exacting temperatureisgroundbreaking.Itpro- enablesnotonlyimmediateour expectations.by60%justinthelastfew standardsandcoldstoragevides an efficiency and reli- alerts, but decisions that canItsareflectionoftheweeks.J.B.Huntsbiggest necessary from start to finish.abilityonaglobalplatformbemadeextremelyquickly.supply chain slowdowns thatchallengethisyear,said Each dose must be monitoredwithincritical-careproductsMostofthevaccinearriveshavebecomecommonplaceField, has been the detention closelytoensureintegrityand their cold chain that werewithout any issues. But say,in the COVID-19 era. Higherof our trailing equipment by or the vaccine could be ren- practicallyincomprehensibleforexample,thesensorsvolumescombinedwithcustomers. dered useless, with potentiallybefore.Sophisticatedtrack- detectatemperaturedevia- lower velocity doesnt exactlyThe shortage of labor is deadly results. and-tracetechnologypointstion. A customer immediatelyequate to intermodal success. chief among the reasons for A company based in thethe way to a much more pro- (EMERGEScontinued onAfewothernumbers(IMPERILcontinued on IcelandtownofKopavoguractiverather than reactivepage 14) shedlightonthereasonspage 13)providesasolutiontothis need for detailed monitoring acrossgreatexpanses.Con-trolant created the technology beingusedbydrugmaker Pfizer to monitor every dose ofvaccinebeingshipped globally,fromthetimeit leaves a manufacturing plant, untilitisadministeredin someones arm.Theprocessworkslike this: Pfizer attaches reusable data loggers made by Contro-lant to each box of vaccines. These advanced sensors relay tocloud-enablesoftware platforms in real time critical informationaboutthevac-cine, including location, tem-perature,light,movement, possiblesecuritybreaches andpackagetampering. Pfizerisabletointegrate thissoftwareintoitsown enterpriseresourceplanning systems(ERPs)andquality management systems or use a Controlant platform.Making the journey more problematic: Pfizers vaccine mustbestoredatultra-low temperatures formostofits shelf life. And, complicating mattersfurther,theglobal pharmaceutical giant decided todistributethevaccines directly in the US in just-in-timeflexibilitytovaccina-tion points, instead of using wholesalersandtraditional distribution centers. Controlant also provides its technology directly to the USgovernment,including the Center for Disease Con-trolandtheDepartmentof Health and Human Services.Thedatacanbebroad-cast up and down the chain, so all the parties know whats going on. This enables both shipper and carrier a degree ofvisibilityunimaginablea few years back. It gives ship-pers and recipients, including hospitals and clinics, not only knowledge of when supplies are expected but the condition ofthosesuppliesevenafter arrival.Itprovidesneces-'