C.R. England Intermodal Continues to Add Technology
By Dan Leone, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the Jan. 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Truckload carrier C.R. England said it is moving forward with more technology deployment in its intermodal unit, most recently by ordering more than 600 tracking modules for its fleet of refrigerated intermodal trailers and containers.
“The more data the better, particularly with intermodal and temperature controlled products,” Zach England, vice president of C.R. England’s intermodal division, told Transport Topics on Jan. 11. “It’s critical that we keep a close eye on that when we don’t have a driver nearby.”
C.R. England’s intermodal unit bought StarTrak reefer monitoring units, which are manufactured by Alanco Technologies Inc. The carrier’s over-the-road truckload division uses competing technology from Par Technology Corp.
There are “more data integration opportunities with StarTrak,” England said. “It’s a more robust product and you need that for intermodal. We try to be uniform when it makes sense, but there are times when it’s appropriate to go in a different direction.”
C.R. England has been building out its intermodal fleet with the expectation that this mode of transport “is going to grow even more,” England said. He added that the company will continue to grow its intermodal business aggressively, “as the market dictates.”
C.R. England almost doubled the size of its intermodal fleet in 2010 when it added 300 refrigerated containers to its stock of 320 intermodal trailers.
“We think that the future lies, to a certain degree, with intermodal,” England said.
According to the Intermodal Association of North America, intermodal volumes in 2010 returned to pre-recession levels after crashing in 2009. There were about 12.3 million intermodal shipments last year, more than 15% above 2009 levels, but still about 5% below 2008 levels, according to IANA.
C.R. England, Salt Lake City, ranks No. 22 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.
