In the July issue of DC VELOCITY, we ran an article titled “Is RFID dead?” The answer, of course, was “Definitely not!” In fact, based on what we’ve seen lately, we can safely say the technology is not just alive and well but is also being applied in new and interesting ways.

Take an experiment recently conducted by Queralt Inc., for example. The company, which develops cloud-based RFID, GPS, and sensor applications, says it successfully used RFID passive tags to track workers’ movements within a manufacturing plant in real time.

For its test, Queralt gave a unique tag to each of 250 workers at the start of an eight-hour shift and collected the tags at the end of the workday. When employees passed through an established “choke point,” a passive reader registered their start time. Another reader detected their arrival at their work stations, while others measured some of the workers’ movements during their shift.

Does that evoke images of “Big Brother”? Never fear; the time and motion study was designed to show that RFID could be used to verify actual time worked as well as whether employers are in compliance with federal wage and hour rules, according to CEO Michael Queralt. ;

Working overtime? RFID will know

Even on vacation we can’t stop thinking about material handling equipment.

During a trip to Canada’s Prince Edward Island, we were fascinated by the long rows of plastic-wrapped hay bales we saw in fields throughout the picturesque Maritime Province (see photo). Most bales were wrapped in white, while a few were black or black-and-gray striped. Almost all were round, but we also saw a few square or oblong bales that resembled stacks of giant marshmallows.

How did the farmers do it? It took a good week of watching and waiting, but we finally caught a local dairy farmer in the act. Using a fork attachment on a tractor to lift the bale and another attachment on the side to rotate a roll of plastic up and over it, the farmer wrapped the hay much as a doctor might wrap a sprained ankle. He then placed the bale at the end of the row of previously wrapped bales and pushed against it hard enough to minimize gaps between the bales. The technique allows the hay to be stored outdoors even in bad weather. You can see something similar at www.tudorag.com/Haywrap.htm. (The bales in the photo, by the way, were wrapped as a single tube by a different type of machine.)

As it turns out, the universe of hay wrapping machines is larger than we expected. You can see other examples by conducting a search on YouTube. ; Stretch wrappers find a home on the range

inbound
SmartWay opened to
drayage carriers

Reducing air pollution around seaports has been a touchy subject in recent years, particularly in California, where mandates to clean up drayage truck emissions have generated lawsuits and created conflict among drivers, environmental groups, shippers, and carriers. But does addressing drayage-related pollution have to be so contentious? No, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which announced in late June that it would extend its collaborative Smart Way program to port drayage carriers.

Smart Way is a public-private partnership between the EPA, environmental organizations, and cargo interests, including carriers and shippers. It provides a framework for assessing trans-portation-related emissions and energy efficiency, and publicly recognizes superior environmental performance. Until now, participation has been open only to over-the-road truckers and railroads.

The new SmartWay Drayage Program was developed by the EPA with input from the Environmental Defense Fund and the Coalition for Responsible Transportation (CRT), a group of importers, exporters, trucking companies, truck manufacturers, and ocean carriers. Under the program, port trucking companies and independent owner-operators make a commitment to track their diesel emissions; replace older trucks with newer, cleaner ones; and reduce emissions of particulate matter by at least 50 percent and nitrous oxide by 25 percent within three years.

Participating shippers, which include some of the biggest retailers in the country, will commit to ship at least 75 percent of their port cargo with SmartWay drayage carriers within three years. This will give drayage firms a financial incentive to reduce their emissions. Those carriers will also be eligible to participate in programs that provide low-interest loans and down-payment assistance for transitioning to clean trucks. ;