TradeLens is an open, neutral platform that includes data on half the world’s container cargo, CSX officials say.
“Joining TradeLens is a further demonstration of our commitment to providing customers with broader visibility and increasing our value as a provider of comprehensive supply chain solutions,” says Mark Wallace, CSX executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Blockchain networks bypass traditional financial institutions, distributing data which cannot be altered without awareness of the full network. They are increasingly being used in transportation and supply chain management.
The TradeLens network consists of more than a hundred organizations including shippers, carriers, ports, terminal operators, third-party logistics companies, and freight forwarders, according to TradeLens officials.
In 2018, BNSF was the first Class I railroad to join another network, the Blockchain in Transportation Alliance (BiTA), soon followed by Omnitrax as the first short line company to join.
All class I railroads, including CSX, are now part of BiTA, as is short line company Watco.
I have read explanations of blockchains and puzzled through diagrams of how they work and I can honestly say I have no clue about their practical application. Most the press releases about them are packed with vague statements like “…is a further demonstration of our commitment to providing customers with broader visibility and increasing our value as a provider of comprehensive supply chain solutions…” that do little to describe specific improvements. I guess I have reached the point where the technological revolution is passing me by and I should offer apologies to my late mother whom I teased back in 1985 about her inability to use a photocopier.
@Peter Schierloh- Look at Blockchain as eliminating the middle man. All transactions take place directly between parties.
@Peter Schierloh: Using Blockchain for transportation and logistics management simply means that a shipper and carrier can settle their accounts electronically without the use of a bank.
Since the transactions are encrypted and require private keys depending on the type and value of the settlement, it is very difficult for fraud to take place.
This isn’t much different that the old VAN’s and TX’s that exist today where people can place inventory of a service or product into an exchange and can be brokered electronically. Except those exchanges all required bank data to be passed to insure payment upon receipt.