NEWS |
156-00: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , November 2, 2000
The Port Authority has awarded a $1.9-million contract to Americas Systems Inc. (ASI) of Murray Hill, N.J., to develop and implement the new system, to be called Freight Information Real-time System for Transport, or FIRST. ASI has a 12-year record of success in providing business solutions to the transportation and logistics industry.
Information available on the Web site will be integrated from numerous sources to provide ocean carriers, exporters, importers, foreign freight forwarders, customs brokers, terminal operators and rail and truck providers with "one-stop shopping" for data required to make decisions about cargo pickup and delivery.
For example, a trucking company can use the system to find out the status of a cargo container waiting to be picked up at the port. By verifying first that the container is in and has been released for pick up, the trucker can avoid an unnecessary trip to the port. Additionally, truckers can notify terminals of their impending arrival, which can expedite processing time at the port.
The system is being developed with input from all sectors of the port community, and it has received funding and support for the project as an Intelligent Transportation System initiative from the I-95 Corridor Coalition, a regional partnership of transportation agencies along the I-95 Corridor from Maine to Virginia.
"This new system will provide the optimum customer service to our port tenants, the port community, and to the thousands of truckers who use this port each day," said Richard M. Larrabee, the Port Authority's Director of Port Commerce. "For the first time, our port tenants and the truckers who serve them will be able to obtain real-time information on the status of cargo shipments, individual containers, ship schedules, and highway traffic conditions.
"Truckers also will have access to live camera views of port traffic conditions to check on traffic congestion, and can obtain directions on how to get to any of our terminals," Mr. Larrabee said. "This will facilitate the safe, efficient and seamless movement of freight throughout the New York-New Jersey region."
Steven Bushey, ASI President, said, "We are pleased and proud to be awarded this project. We see it as a natural fit. Our company was founded on the expertise of information systems management professionals who were instrumental in developing standard-setting tools for the international transportation sector. "We are familiar with both the nuances inherent in the business of international trade and the dynamics of seamless information flow," Mr. Bushey said. "ASI develops applications designed to expedite commerce, and we see this project as an opportunity to bring significant improvement to the cargo flow in this great port."