project44 expands supply chain visibility presence in Europe with new technologies

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project44 has introduced new technologies that extend its presence as a multimodal supply chain visibility platform provider in Europe and worldwide.

project44's European network has grown to more than 800,000+ connected assets and a reach of over 2.4 million assets – representing over half of all freight moved by land in Europe. The new offerings expand true intermodal visibility including rail visibility into all European countries with over 99% network coverage, extended visibility for barge, and enhanced cold-chain visibility. This breadth and depth are now even more extensive than any other supply chain visibility provider and therefore delivers the most value to global shippers, 3PLs and carriers.

“Growing environmental pressure on European companies to achieve CO2-neutral supply chain operations by 2030 is driving increased demand toward rail-based transportation across the continent,” said Jett McCandless, Founder & CEO of project44.

“The complexity of the European rail market has so far hindered true cross-border visibility. In response, we are dramatically improving the breadth and depth of our visibility platform globally, and in Europe specifically. Our newest technologies will help our customers improve ETAs, reduce costs, maximize on-time deliveries and maneuver around supply chain bottlenecks.” 

European Rail and New Silk Road Visibility

Shippers and 3PLs in Europe need global visibility across all modes, including rail. Visibility into individual shipments and rail cars, using IoT sensors, is vital given the unpredictability of supply chain disruptions. In addition, as more shippers desire Asia-to-Europe (New Silk Road) rail movements to avoid port congestion and reduce carbon emissions, rail visibility with deep European networks is especially critical. project44’s European rail network now delivers even more value to customers, including: 

• All cargo rail movements across European countries, delivering the most comprehensive visibility coverage for customers 
• IoT-enabled rail tracking mixed with proprietary, direct integration to all of Europe’s rail infrastructure networks for the most precise and granular visibility  
• Visibility for over 99% of European rail volume, including tracking on wagon level for 90% of rail cars, which ensures visibility for every customer shipment  
• Greatly enhanced rail journey ETAs as well as intermodal ETAs end-to-end inclusive of Rail, for the most precise prediction of arrival and customer delivery times  

In summary, project44 delivers more value to customers as a result of even more extensive rail network coverage, higher-fidelity data and better accuracy than any other vendor in Europe. Notably, these offerings ensure customers receive differentiated value by delivering access to both proprietary infrastructure network data and freight forwarder rail data – sources no other vendor has access to. This facilitates faster on-time deliveries, more accurate ETAs and more usage of low-carbon rail shipping. 

Barge Visibility 

Barges are an environmentally friendly and cost-effective transit option but switching between barge and other modalities historically caused gaps in visibility for shippers and 3PLs. project44 is building upon its barge and feeder network with enhanced visibility that introduces precise real-time tracking, covering end-to-end barge segments across Europe for all customers. Key differentiators include:   

• Intelligent asset-matching technology that extends visibility coverage by using data-science based techniques to track individual barges in real-time, without requiring typical identifying information 
• Dynamic routing models that offer highly accurate ETAs for barge arrivals as well as intermodal end-to-end moves that include barge segments  
• Sophisticated water depth modeling and inland waterway data sources that enables carriers to assess load capacity, maximizing on-time deliveries and avoiding delays for shippers and 3PLs 

Cold-Chain Temperature and Condition Monitoring 

Perishable, sensitive cargo requires continuous control and monitoring of temperature and other conditions. Without sensor-level visibility at the shipment level, shippers and 3PLs – particularly in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries – run the risk of product damage, spoilage and high costs from lost product. project44 has offered temperature monitoring for years and is now adding unmatched depth and breadth to its cold-chain visibility solution. The enhanced offering enables users to: 

• Submit temperature ranges on a shipment and be notified if the trailer crosses the threshold, to give customers differentiated visibility, control and product protection 
• Enable IoT and shipment-level tracking to get hyper-accurate locations and receive alerts in real-time for more proactive exception management, logistics operations and customer service 
• Conduct temperature and condition monitoring via IoT for enhanced precision and granular visibility  

Overall, project44’s cold chain technology adds a critical layer of visibility for customers that ship valuable, temperature-sensitive goods. By tracking temperatures in real-time, this offering ensures that goods reach their destination in prime condition. At the same time, it reduces rejected deliveries and minimizes the costs of regulatory compliance and claims processing. 

Extended Intermodal Visibility 

It’s no longer enough to have strong visibility in each transport mode, let alone a single mode. Given the magnitude of supply chain challenges today, companies are forced to move products across more complex intermodal networks and to do so more dynamically. Therefore, stitching together visibility of orders across complex intermodal movements makes all the difference. The combination of these project44’s product launches ensure global shippers, 3PLs and carriers gain intermodal visibility with depth and breadth unmatched by any other visibility vendor in the market.  

What Our Customers Say  

“Intermodal and rail transportation are essential elements of CEVA Logistics' strategy to reach our sustainability ambitions toward 2030,” said Xavier Bour, Global Ground & Rail Leader at CEVA Logistics. “project44’s enterprising platform has been chosen by CEVA to deliver the intermodal visibility needed for better predicting product arrival times and moving cargo efficiently and with minimal complications, boosting the customer experience from start to finish.” 

“project44's platform has significantly reduced uncertainty and complexities previously experienced in the supply chain by enhancing transparency,” said Mark Holloway, VP Global Supply Chain at Goodyear. “This allows us to focus on risk mitigation by leveraging the visibility and data provided to further increase efficiency and build further capabilities such as visibility of other freight and sustainability.”