WASHINGTON: The Port of Houston Authority is exploring the possible use of an innovative technology that would move containers to and from port terminals on driverless, electric-powered transporters operating on elevated guideways. Freight Shuttle International unveiled a prototype of the system Friday at Texas A&M’s Transportation Institute at Bryan, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott and others watched as a 53-foot highway trailer was pulled along a guideway by electromagnetic power from a linear induction motor.
Linear induction motors have been used for years to power passenger shuttles such as the AirTrain at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. FSI has adapted the technology to move containers or trailers over an elevated guideway that would be clear of the car and truck traffic below. Stephen Roop, FSI’s founder, chairman and president, said the steel-wheeled shuttle could transform port operations by providing an emissions-free solution to bottlenecks caused by trucks hauling containers to and from ports, or at congested border crossings.
Houston port officials are intrigued by the potential to smooth cargo flow and reduce emissions and costs. The port authority has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore whether and how the technology might work at the US Gulf’s largest container port.
“We’re very interested,” said Richard Byrnes, the port’s chief infrastructure officer. Though the port hasn’t committed to build the system, it plans to spend several months on an initial study to identify additional questions raised by the technology. “We don’t know what the optimal solution will be,” Byrnes told JOC.com. “But this is a technology that has been on the drawing boards for a decade. Now that it’s become a reality with the prototype, it’s time to think through what the logistical, operational, environmental, and economic costs and benefits could be.”
Byrnes said the potential uses of the shuttle include links between Houston’s Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals, or connections between the terminals and off-dock depots, warehouses, railyards, or terminal satellite facilities. He said the port has pursued transportation innovation since the Houston Ship Channel was opened a century ago, and that expected growth in the region’s population and the port’s cargo volume make it essential to find solutions to bottlenecks.
“No matter where the trucks go to or from, getting them through the heavy traffic zones is the costliest part of the trip, and the one that generates the most emissions and delays,” Byrnes said. “This is where the Freight Shuttle could play a part.” The Freight Shuttle would operate over prefabricated bridges installed in sections up to 150 feet long. FSI officials say that the bridge supports would require only six feet of right of way, which means they could be installed on road shoulders or medians and would take up little space within terminals.
Unlike magnetic-levitation systems, FSI’s transporter runs on steel wheels over a metal pad. The linear induction motors generate magnetic force to propel the transporters. The only moving parts are the wheels and fans to cool the motor. FSI officials note that the transporters produce no on-site emissions. The current prototype is designed to carry trailers or containers weighing up to 70,000 pounds at intervals as short as 10 seconds. Rubber-tire gantry or straddle cranes would lift and lower containers on multiple spurs at each end of the guideway.
Gordon Dorsey, FSI’s vice president, strategy and commercial development, said that in his previous career as a Maersk Line executive, he was struck by the inefficiencies of the “rubber-tire conveyor belt” of trucks waiting to move containers in and out of ports. “Congestion is a friction on the economics of moving cargo,” Dorsey said. “I always thought, ‘Man, wouldn’t be be really nice if somehow they could put these containers on an elevated guideway where they would be separated from all of that traffic.’”
Many US ports have invested in on-dock rail ramps designed to reduce the strain on truck gates. However, Dorsey said on-dock rail requires accumulation of a full trainload of containers. By contrast, the freight shuttle allow movement of individual boxes.
“The Freight Shuttle combines the best of trucks and rail,” Dorsey said. “The rail piece is the efficiency of the steel wheel. The truck piece is the movement by individual unit. As soon as your box is ready to go, you go.”
FSI officials say the system is designed not to replace truckers, but to make their work more efficient. The idea is that by quickly moving containers to off-terminal locations, congestion can be reduced and drivers won’t have to waste time sitting in line. Adoption of the shuttle at Houston would require cooperation of multiple parties, including port businesses, labor, and federal, state, and local transportation agencies.
Roop noted that the under the FAST Act, the Freight Shuttle qualifies as an intelligent freight transportation system, making it eligible for federal funding and offering the potential for public-private partnerships. “We think this provides an excellent vehicle for bringing private capital to bear on the transportation system in a way we haven’t seen much in this country,” he said.
