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Short Line Data Systems ROCS Update – July 2004
Website: www.sdsrocs.com
Greetings-
As we move into the lazy, hazy days of summer, we have been busy the last month at a number of industry meetings and continuing the development of Version 9. In this update we will discuss what went on at these meetings as well as where we are with Version 9, which is still on track for a September release.
Version 9
We have been working on Version 9 pretty much on a constant basis, and we are about 95% complete with the development of the new features. First and foremost has been the development of the Car Hire Data Exchange (CHDX) messages, which will be a major improvement to the Car Hire system. The programming of the messages is now complete and debugging and testing is underway.
The rest of the system is going through the regular period of reliability testing, and throughout we are finding the usual tweaks and little items to adjust and change, but otherwise users will find that Version 9 has a number of features that make is easier to use, and is a more stable environment than the previous versions.
Industry Meetings
I attended two industry meetings in the last month, both with direct implications in the Short Line industry. The first was the ASLRRA Technology committee meeting in Cary. I described the purpose for the committee in last month’s update, and I have to say that the meeting was extremely productive and we have a number of subjects that we will be looking into over the next few months. The subject that I am focusing on and am chairing a subcommittee on is remote computing. The subcommittee includes the four EDI providers and others from within the industry, and we will be taking a good, hard look at what the needs of the Short Lines are, what cost levels the Short Lines can bear, and what is available to meet these needs and cost levels. I’ll keep you posted on what we find, and what else comes before the whole committee. Also, if you have a topic that you feel that the committee should be looking at, let me know. It shouldn’t be limited to data issues, as we are looking at all sorts of things, like freight cars, bridge testing, radio frequency issues, and others that might pop up at any time.
The other meeting that I attended was the Short Line Integration Team meeting in Fort Worth. The SLIT is tasked with recommending to the AAR what EDI messages the Short Lines must report, and what time lapse between the event and the report is acceptable. This group also created the “report cards” that are being sent to all Short Lines monthly, showing what their level of compliance is with the three current reporting levels that have been set up. The four EDI providers were invited to the meeting to discuss what solutions there are to get the approximately 140 railroads that are not reporting at all to start reporting. While this might sound high, these railroads probably account for less than 10% of the total cars Short Lines carry. The bottom line is that any non-reporters are unacceptable, as we need to tell the shippers where their cars are. We heard from one company about how knowing the status of their fleet saves the company tens of thousands of dollars per month. This efficiency equates to more shipments that are sent by rail, and more business for the Short Line.
The group came up with a couple of ideas for getting more railroads to report, as well as a couple of modifications to the guidelines, and these will be brought out in the coming weeks.
Why do I do this? Well, there are all of the standard reasons, such as giving back to the industry, and having nothing better to do, but the true answer is really a combination of those and others. I personally have a hard time sitting on the sidelines and waiting for someone to tell me what I have to do, when I have the opportunity to participate and help shape the guidelines. I hope that my experiences as both a Short Line operations director and EDI system creator can help these groups “shape the future” to a level that is reasonable to everyone.
Well, that is all for now. Next month we should have the final roundup of the new features in Version 9, the release schedule, and probably some news on a new product that we are working on.
Stay Cool,
Steven Friedland President
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