ACS picked to automate PierPass off-peak container moves

ACS picked to automate PierPass off-peak container moves    Container terminals operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have hired Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) Inc. to develop and operate the information technology system to manage their proposed program for extended night and weekend gates.
   Launched last August, the initiative is designed to reduce road and port congestion by offering truckers full-service gates during off-peak periods. The terminals created a special purpose entity called PierPass Inc. to monitor the movement of boxes and administer fee collection and rebates.
   Under the plan, terminals will initially charge $20 per TEU for every container that moves through the port to pay for off-peak operations, but will refund the money to shippers for every box that gets picked up during off-peak hours or gets railed inland through the Alameda Corridor.
   ACS will be responsible for developing computer software that will track more than 13 million TEUs of cargo through the nation's largest port complex.
   PierPass said technical challenges with setting up the fee collection, reimbursement and gate-flow auditing system have pushed the start date from sometime in the first quarter until June. Shortages of available labor originally forced the terminals to back off their ambitious timetable for introducing PierPass Nov. 1, 2004.
   Dallas-based ACS is a $4 billion, Fortune 500 company that integrates software and hardware from various sources for manufacturing, retail, government and other sectors. In commercial transportation, it provides computer processing services, network management, systems engineering, information analysis, help desk support, supply chain management and document imaging and processing for trucking and logistics companies, including UPS.
   ACS is probably best known for managing E-Zpass electronic toll collection on the East Coast, photo enforcement of red light and speeding violations and parking enforcement. It also operates the truck bypass system known as PrePass in 24 states. PrePass allows trucks to have their safety credentials, registrations, permits and weight checked electronically at highway speeds. The bypass system matches vehicle identification supplied by a transponder in the truck cab with readings from in-road sensors, pre-certified vehicle data and prepaid taxes to verify compliance so trucks do not have to stop at weigh stations.
   The port PierPass system will rely on similar radio frequency identification tags to communicate between trucks and readers at the gate.