CSX to tighten procedures at intermodal ramps

CSX to tighten procedures at intermodal ramps    A new security initiative by Class 1 railroad CSX to limit access to its intermodal facilities could cause some initial shipment delays until employees and truckers get accustomed to the change.
   CSX is scheduled in mid-February to begin limiting the number of people with access to container pickup numbers, said Robert Gernon, vice president logistics sales for Pacer Global Logistics. Only the shipper, consignee and the designated motor carrier will receive the number. Without the embedded, secure number no shipment will be allowed to depart a CSX terminal.
   “So undoubtedly there will be some shipment delays,” Gernon said at a conference this week sponsored by Railway Age magazine.
   Reducing the number of people involved in the transaction is designed to reduce theft and provide supply chain security at the shipment level.
   Gernon said Pacer, a non-asset-based third-party logistics provider that is a major consumer of railroad services, plans to use electronic data interchange messages because that is the securest way of getting the coded numbers into the hands of drayage drivers responsible for the pick up at the rail ramp.
   A Norfolk Southern executive said his company has found security compromised because consignees often give pickup numbers to their drivers via radio.
   A CSX spokesman did not respond to a message for comment.