High Margins, High Tech

Moving perishables has become increasingly important to shipping lines because they provide high-margin business while freight rates generally are still being squeezed. The share of containerized refrigerated capacity - as opposed to transportation on specialized reefer vessels—has grown from 33% in 1980 to a projected 85% by 2021, according to Drewry.

Carriers and other logistics providers are implementing new technologies to manage these cargoes more efficiently and to monitor their status to prevent major problems.

TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico added 350 new high-tech smart refrigerated containers to its fleet in 2017. “Now, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s entire reefer fleet,” noted Tim Nolan, President of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, “is equipped with machine-to-machine telematics technology which maximizes safety and efficiency of supply chain operations and provides clients crucial real-time, end-to-end visibility of their shipments.”

In early 2015, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services launched its ZIMonitor product, which allows shippers to track, monitor and remotely control sensitive, high-value cargo stowed in refrigerated containers. Following a pilot project with Teva-Pharmaceutical Industries, a US-Israeli company known for developing and marketing generic drugs, Zim added 1,900 reefers to its fleet.

“One innovative aspect of this program is that we integrated the monitoring device directly into the reefer equipment,” said Rafi Ben-Ari, vice president for shipping at Zim. “Another is that we established a 24/7 control tower to take care of problems identified by the monitoring.”

During the pilot, Ben-Ari reported, Teva wanted to receive constant alerts. “But once they understood that our control tower was equipped to handle any problems,” he added, “they decided that they needed information only on two milestones.”

ZIMonitor alerts—which may indicate that a container is unplugged or that its temperature is out of range or that it’s off-route—are available over mobile devices utilizing cellular service, which means that it can monitor containers while on the road or in the port but not when they are on the high seas. That would require satellite communications which would increase the cost of the service beyond what Zim’s customers are willing to pay, according to Ben-Ari.

Sealand, on the other hand, as part of investments made by Maersk Group, does offer satellite communications on refrigerated containers. Besides monitoring the status of the cargo, this allows cargo owners to obtain the location of a container every 15 minutes. Shippers and receivers of refrigerated cargo are more sensitive than most to the location and condition of their goods, noted Ariel Frias, who heads up marketing for the carrier, understandably so considering their value, perishability, and, often, time sensitivity.

DHL Global Forwarding introduced a new LifeTrack mobile app last year, a free application that provides customers in the life sciences and healthcare industry access to DHL’s online cold-chain tracking and management platform.

“Our mobile application provides customers with immediate overview of the most critical information, such as temperatures, interventions and shipment resolutions,” said David Bang, global head of DHL Temperature Management Solutions. Once logged in, the application shows shipment details including routing, movement milestones, and potential interventions. Upon completion of key events or detection of potential irregularities, the app informs users and provides details about measures taken where required.

Next Page: IoT and Sensors