Anticipate Additional Time and Resources and Consider Offering Compensation When Integrating Freight Information Systems with Disparate Data Sources.
Lessons Learned from the Drayage Truck Routing and Dispatch Optimization Project in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, California, United States
Long Beach, California
Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) Modernization
Summary Information
Growing freight volumes at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach (collectively known as the Port Complex) have contributed to congestion on port-area roadways, highways, and arterials. To improve freight operations, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) led the Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) modernization project, partially funded by the U.S.DOT’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program. Following earlier prototype, the project was rebranded as the Drayage, Freight, and Logistics Exchange (DrayFLEX). DrayFLEX was designed to help trucking companies plan container pick-ups and drop-offs at the Port Complex more efficiently and in real time by considering traffic conditions, incidents, terminal wait times, truck and driver locations, appointment information, and other operational factors. DrayFLEX included two related applications:
- DrayFLEX Core: A cloud-based dispatch optimization tool integrated with truck management systems to match drivers with container moves based on availability, location, travel time, gate queue conditions, chassis availability, and dual-transaction opportunities.
- DrayFLEX-Trip: A mobile application for truck drivers that provided truck-specific routing with fastest or more fuel-efficient route options, turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic and incident alerts, and terminal wait-time information.
The DrayFLEX project noted the following lessons learned:
- Anticipate Additional Time and Resources and Consider Offering Compensation When Integrating Freight Information Systems with Disparate Data Sources.Trucking company resource constraints, staff changes, and limited third-party support may delay deployment. Future projects may benefit from financial compensation and contractual commitments for participating partners.
- Use flexible development methods and consider market competitiveness. Project experience showed that a flexible development approach helped DrayFLEX Core adapt to evolving user needs, while a longer development process made it more difficult for DrayFLEX-Trip to keep pace with emerging commercial solutions. Future application-based projects should consider the long-term competitiveness and commercialization potential during design and development.
- Plan for integration challenges across disparate systems and information sources. DrayFLEX's reliance on multiple external data sources created integration challenges due to differences in data formats, system reliability, and update schedules, requiring more effort from both technology and resource perspectives than anticipated.
