CP’s use of chassis tracking technology will help railroad combat shortages. Photo credit: Canadian Pacific.

Canadian Pacific is installing an intermodal chassis tracking product from Blackberry — Blackberry Radar — that will provide shippers with greater visibility and help the railroad better utilize its pool of 53-foot chassis. The technology will help CP shine some light into one of the black holes of supply chain visibility — the location and availability of chassis.

The deal with Blackberry is the latest step by CP to deal with chassis problems besetting intermodal shippers and supply chains, including equipment shortages and long turn times at inland intermodal rail yards. In July, CP said it would speed the transfer of freight at its Bensenville Terminal near Chicago by adding a new location to pick up chassis.

CP will install Blackberry Radar asset-monitoring technology on a fleet of 2,000 domestic 53-foot intermodal chassis. With the technology, CP will gain near real-time data and analytics on the location, motion, mileage, utilization, and dwell and turn times of its chassis. All data is transmitted and stored on a cloud platform and can be viewed in an online dashboard.

That information will help the railroad improve the utilization of its chassis assets, reduce drayage and intermodal costs, and improve customer service, the company said. The devices will be installed at the railroad’s Vaughan Intermodal Terminal in the Greater Toronto area.