SubscribeTransus Intermodal trucking services and container yards deter crime with Milestone IP video surveillance, eliminating the $500,000 yearly cost of security guards.
"We used to have security guards at every facility all night long, which cost a lot - about $500,000 a year or more because we had to have them on weekends and holidays, round-the-clock, in addition to the weekdays. We save that money and have much better control over our security now. We started out using the surveillance just for the theft issues, but there are all these extra benefits like scanning the yards, fixing vehicles, checking if drivers have arrived. "
Mike Malikowski, VP Transportation & Logistics at Transus Intermodal
Challenge: Transus Intermodal has to protect all shipments in transit against theft. Their 12 trucking container yards, located all over the Southeast coast of the USA, tend to be in isolated areas that are dark at night. Guard services were very expensive and inadequate for their needs.
Solution: Incom Interactive Surveillance has installed a mix of JVC network cameras, Pelco Specter 3 PTZ cameras and Sanyo stationary color cameras with good night-time visibility in each location. Milestone XProtect IP video surveillance software is used to schedule the cameras, to record on motion detection, and to view or manage the images archived in its database.
Advantages: Transus Intermodal has saved the exorbitant costs of guards at all locations and improved their control over security issues significantly. The surveillance with its remote access capabilities and better overview of the yards is a new management tool assisting with the dispatch of trucks, and ensuring higher customer satisfaction.
For more than five years, Transus Intermodal has been happily using an IP video surveillance system with Milestone software for protecting their business in 12 locations throughout the Southeast USA including Atlanta, Charleston, Nashville, Dalton, Charlotte, Savannah, Memphis, Jacksonville, and Greenville. Incom Interactive Surveillance, an authorized Milestone partner based out of Atlanta, implemented the total security solution.
"We are most concerned about security at our depots, where the goods have been put in containers in between shipments at the docks, before being picked up by the truckers. Goods are in transit here and need to be protected. We had both attempts and actual thefts before, but a lot less of these incidences since we got the new security system from Incom," reports Mike Malikowski, VP Transportation & Logistics at Transus Intermodal.
"The surveillance is both pro-active and acts as a preventive - the cameras are in plain view and the signs we put up warn about it. That's one of the objectives we had for Transus," explains Tim Mueller, President at Incom Interactive Surveillance. "We purposely made the cameras very visible with strobe lights and big signs to make it clear these were not the best locations to hit on, to essentially move the crime problem over to another place. This acts as the first deterrent."
"Typically, these trucking company container yards are all located near each other in rather isolated areas that are dark at night. In our business we move everything imaginable from computers to printers to furniture to meat or beer - all good targets for thieves looking to score some quick bucks," states Malikowski.
Transus Intermodal customers include all the major steamship companies like Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen, and other companies like Jack Daniels, Engelhard, and Costco. Transus handles the logistics, trucking goods from port or rail connections to the customer locations, warehouses, supermarkets or liquor stores.
"Strict security standards have to be followed in this industry. Every steamship has a security policy that we have to adhere to. We continually get security advisories and standards we have to comply with and prove that we uphold," says Malikowski. "Insurance people know what we do, too."
Transus Intermodal manages 325 trucks of which 90% are contracted, and the other 10% company-owned. They are responsible for storing and moving around 9,200 containers monthly.
"When the loads are pulled off the ships at the ports and before our drivers come to get them, that's where it's critical, when we have a lot of loads sitting in waiting. The cameras are specifically angled at the containers and there's only one way in or out of them, just as there's only one way in or out of the yard," explains Malikowski.
"We're protecting against 'theft of opportunity', those who pull up in a pickup truck or even a little U-haul, crack a bunch of locks open until they see something they like, unload it and run off," says Mueller. "They're looking for opportunities, but they're not going to find them in Transus' yards!"
Management tool for more than just security
They also need to monitor for truck accidents. A truck driver sometimes pulls in too fast, knocks over a fence or pole; hits a building as they drive in or out of the yards. The video surveillance can be used to document evidence of that and resolve any disputes.
"There are also procedures for checking containers in or out at the yards, which can be verified through the surveillance," says Mueller. "If people are working too fast and don't catch everything in the checking process, that can cost the company thousands of dollars later on. Or if a driver takes a container that had damage, that damage is documented in advance so he's not responsible on delivery of the damaged chassis to the customer."
The surveillance system is used for more than just security and verification of activities in the yards. It is monitored by full-time operators and phone dispatchers in the central headquarters location in Atlanta. They have found the system useful when managing the logistical activities of the truckers on route, getting reports on the status of timing their schedules, truck break-downs, weather or traffic problems requiring diversions, etc.
"In one instance, we had a refrigerated container in transit where it wasn't working right. The driver actually pulled it up to one of our cameras that was a PTZ, and I could zoom in and move the view around, telling the driver what buttons to push on the refrigeration unit to fix it," recalls Malikowski. "We can also get on the phone with the maintenance people from the steamship companies, with the driver on the other phone, and follow their instructions on something like that. What a benefit!"
Likewise, the surveillance images can resolve disputes with the steamship companies, if they make other claims about shipments not being handled on time or properly.
Benefits for both customers and drivers
"With customers, it always comes up. They ask: what's our security? We have shown the system to prospective customers who want to know how quickly trucks can get in and out of our locations. Tim sets them up with remote access to our surveillance and they can just click on the IP address anytime they want, look at the live images of our yards and gates to see how well we run our business. I know there have been customers who doubted what we'd say, but when we could let them look for themselves, there's no question of the quality and speedy service. They are always impressed and satisfied with the 24-hour monitoring," continues Malikowski. "We don't have many security issues anymore, so now we use it for all these extra things that help us run our business better. It helps us plan our overall operation more optimally."
Last winter there was a situation where Charlotte was snowed under but 40 miles away it was clear, so drivers could be diverted to another route. This gives the double advantage of better safety for the drivers and faster deliveries for the customers.
"We're always looking at the actual weather that explains any delays. We're responsible for anything that the drivers do, so we want to be as safe as possible - for themselves, others on the road, and for the goods being transported," insists Malikowski.
The full solution
"We devised a total safety plan for Transus: the cameras, surveillance software monitoring and recording, alarms, increased lighting, gate access, strong perimeter fencing and inspections," states Mueller. "The images are looked at but discarded when nothing has happened. They only have to record based on motion detection, which saves a lot of disk space," says Mueller.
The Transus locations also have a speaker and alarms with a button the operator can trigger to set off. The Axis 2400 server has a relay in it, so when someone unauthorized is seen in one of the locations about to do something suspicious, the alarm can be set off to scare them away. The perpetrators do not know if there is someone in the office building about to come out with a police dog or weapon; they could not know that the operator is really 500 miles away monitoring the site virtually with IP technology.
"We had dogs at one time, along with the guards. But we had to get rid of them: they became a liability because they could come out and really hurt somebody," relays Malikowski. "And the guards aren't reliable enough. We walked into our Charlotte location one night and found the security guard sleeping in his car and we had to wake him up!"
"Oh yeah, that's typical," adds Mueller. "I've known guards who set an alarm clock to go off once every hour to wake them up for going on rounds. And walking around a site does not give the kind of total and simultaneous overview of an entire location that the camera surveillance can."
Incom Interactive Surveillance originally set up Pelco Specter 3 PTZ cameras and Sanyo stationery color cameras with good night-time visibility in each location. The Milestone software is independent in its support of just such a mixed hardware installation.
"If any of the cameras break down due to age, lightning or other damage, they are being replaced and upgraded with newer technology like JVC network cameras. When we did testing with the new JVC IP cameras the first time, we got all excited - it was fantastic! Zooming in on images for great close-ups with full clarity - wow!" smiles Mueller. "But back when we started these installations, the IP cameras didn't have capabilities like infrared and low-light viewing, which is why we had to use the traditional analog cameras that are converted to IP by the Axis video servers for use in the Milestone software."
The Transus offices and yards are very busy during the daytime, so it's the night-time surveillance that is recording, triggered by motion detection in the Milestone software. The software is designed with an open platform that allows integration with other security devices or systems, too. Transus and Incom are looking at integrating their surveillance solution with gate access at their locations, for example.
"We can give electronic access control to each driver, checked by the dispatcher monitoring with the system to open the gates," says Mueller.
"Transus has always been on the cutting edge of technology, more advanced than most other trucking companies, which helps to make us cost efficient. We were pioneers in electronic document imaging systems, for example, and all the drivers have communication devices that provide real-time information. So this new IP surveillance system installed over five years ago is right in line with that modern approach to business," concludes Mike Malikowski.
