Strong Tower CheckPoint Intermodal Drayage Tracking: Marine Terminal & Rail Ramp Visibility

Since its founding in Minnesota in 2008, Strong Tower Consulting has delivered transportation systems architecture for motor carriers, freight brokers, and private fleets. With more than 18 years of experience, the firm developed the Strong Tower Intermodal Ramp-to-Door Visibility Matrix™ to solve one of the most expensive problems in intermodal drayage: uncontrolled exposure to ocean carrier per diem, demurrage, and rail storage charges caused by terminal congestion and chassis shortages.

The Matrix pairs CheckPoint Outside Carrier Visibility Portal (Exspeedite's app-less mobile GPS tracking platform) with ocean carrier EDI 322 status messages and terminal interchange records. The result is precise, defensible documentation of every segment of the ramp-to-door move.

The Strong Tower Intermodal Ramp-to-Door Visibility Matrix™ Architecture

The Matrix is a real-time event correlation engine built and maintained by Strong Tower Consulting. It ingests four primary data streams:

• CheckPoint driver telematics (latitude, longitude, speed, heading, timestamp)
• Ocean carrier EDI 322 intermodal status messages
• Marine terminal and rail ramp TIR (Terminal Interchange Received) events
• Customer order and container master data from Exspeedite TMS Software

Data is joined on container number (primary key) and normalized to a common UTC timeline. The system then applies polygon geofencing and business rules to classify each move segment and calculate liability for detention and demurrage.

Core Mathematical Components

Terminal gate arrival and departure events are detected using the Haversine formula for great-circle distance between the driver's GPS coordinate and the known gate centroid. A typical terminal geofence radius is 150 meters.

const R = 6371e3; // metres
function haversineDistance(lat1, lon1, lat2, lon2) {
  const φ1 = lat1 * Math.PI/180;
  const φ2 = lat2 * Math.PI/180;
  const Δφ = (lat2-lat1) * Math.PI/180;
  const Δλ = (lon2-lon1) * Math.PI/180;
  const a = Math.sin(Δφ/2) * Math.sin(Δφ/2) +
            Math.cos(φ1) * Math.cos(φ2) *
            Math.sin(Δλ/2) * Math.sin(Δλ/2);
  const c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1-a));
  return R * c; // distance in metres
}

When distance < radius and speed < 3 mph for more than 90 seconds, the driver is considered inside the terminal queue. Queue duration is recorded as:

QueueMinutes = (t_gate_exit - t_gate_entry) / 60

Demurrage Prevention Threshold Table

Data Flow and Integration Points

The following simplified flow illustrates how Strong Tower Consulting implements the Matrix for intermodal drayage carriers:

Driver App-less CheckPoint GPS Ping
          |
          v
Exspeedite CheckPoint Portal (https://exspeeditecheckpoint.com/login.php)
          |
          +--> Real-time Webhook to Strong Tower Matrix
          |
EDI 322 Ocean Carrier Feed (via VAN or API)
          |
          v
Strong Tower Intermodal Ramp-to-Door Visibility Matrix™
          |
    +-----+-----+
    |           |
Terminal Geofence   Rail Ramp Storage Clock
    |           |
    +-----+-----+
          |
          v
Demurrage Defense Report + Turn-Time KPI Dashboard
          |
          v
Exspeedite TMS Software (https://exspeedite.com/tms-software)
  

Webhook Payload Schema (Example)

{
  "event": "geofence_exit",
  "container": "MSCU1234567",
  "driver_id": "DRV-4782",
  "timestamp_utc": "2025-04-03T14:27:19Z",
  "latitude": 33.7554,
  "longitude": -118.2163,
  "geofence_name": "Pier T Gate",
  "queue_minutes": 47,
  "speed_mph": 2.1,
  "edi_322_status": "TERMINAL",
  "demurrage_exposure": 0
}

Implementation Roadmap from Strong Tower Consulting

1. Discovery & Data Mapping - Review current EDI 322 feeds, terminal access, and CheckPoint configuration (2 weeks)
2. Geofence Engineering - Define precise polygon boundaries for each marine terminal and rail ramp using GIS data (3 weeks)
3. Matrix Engine Deployment - Install real-time correlation engine and webhook listeners on secure cloud infrastructure
4. Exspeedite TMS Integration - Connect visibility events to order and billing records inside Exspeedite TMS Software
5. Demurrage Dispute Workflow - Train dispatch and billing teams on automated report generation and carrier portal upload
6. Continuous Optimization - Monthly KPI review with Strong Tower Consulting analysts

This methodology is part of Strong Tower Consulting's broader TMS Implementation and ELD-EDI Integration practices. Carriers also frequently engage the firm for Carrier Rate Matrix Optimization to ensure drayage rates properly reflect terminal performance.

Who Benefits Most

The Strong Tower Intermodal Ramp-to-Door Visibility Matrix™ delivers the greatest ROI for:

• Intermodal drayage carriers operating at Southern California, Pacific Northwest, and East Coast ports
• Freight brokers and 3PLs managing port-to-door container moves (see our Brokerage & 3PL practice)
• Specialized heavy-haul operators moving overweight containers from rail ramps (see Specialized & Heavy Haul)

Frequently Asked Questions