Terra — Terminals

Before the clock starts.

Cargo changes mode at your terminal, and a demurrage or detention clock starts at the handoff. Terra keeps one live model of every railcar, barge, berth, crew and dray across the systems you already run. It sees arrivals bunching before they land, traces every car-day, gang and truck they will reach, and names the move that matters now.

For intermodal and transload terminals, inland ports, and marine and river terminals. Your terminal system does its job. Terra works across what it produces.

Your terminal

See it on your terminal See a worked example →

In the Command center

Watch it work.

Synthetic data

01 SeeMemphis is running over capacity, and the map shows it in its place in the network.
02 RelieveTerra ranks the sites with room to spare, by distance and spare capacity a day.
03 PlanThe move is planned with its volume, duration and handling guidance.
04 SearchOne question returns the late shipments behind it, record by record.

Two questions

What tells you today?

When interchange runs late, does anything tell you which cars will run past free time, and which drays will turn up to nothing?When a lock starts queuing, does anything tell you which tows will bunch, and which gangs will stand idle?

Terra does. It reads the car location messages against your crew plan and your dray bookings, and shows the car-days forming while there is still time to re-plan.It reads tow positions, lock delays and the river stage against your berth plan and gang orders, and shows the idle labour and barge-days forming while there is still time to re-plan.

If your transload crew lost a shift next week, could you see today what it would cost in car-days?If the river fell a foot next week, could you see today what light-loading and late barges would cost you?

Terra does. It runs that week before it happens: the cars that wait, the free time they run through, the drays that need moving, and where to put the next shift.It runs that week before it happens: the barges that load light or arrive late, the berth windows they miss, the gangs ordered against them, and what to change first.

The gap

The car location message says where the car is. Not what happens when forty land on one day.The tow's ETA says when it should arrive. Not what happens when two tows land on one day.

Interchange running late. The crew plan for Tuesday. The drays booked against cars still in the yard. Each fact sits in a different system, the railroad's messages, the yard spreadsheet, the dray dispatcher, so the first sign is usually a demurrage invoice, weeks later, argued car by car.The lock queue downriver. The gangs ordered for Monday. The vessel waiting on cargo at the end of the week. Each fact sits with a different party, so the first sign is usually a crew on the dock with nothing to work, and a barge demurrage invoice after it.

What Terra flags

In your words, before it costs you.

Cars bunching.
Late interchange turns a steady week into one heavy day. Terra sees the block forming in the car location messages before it reaches the yard.
Free time running out.
Every car's clock against the crew plan, ranked by the car-days it will run, so the right cars are spotted first.
Drays at risk.
Trucks booked against product still sitting in a railcar, seen before the dry run and the detention.
Records that disagree.
The railroad's placement and release times against yours, so a demurrage invoice is checked before it is paid.

Tows bunching.
Lock delays and the river stage, read forward to when each tow will actually reach your dock.
Berth windows.
Barges and vessels against dock capacity and berth time, so a clash shows days before it costs you.
Gangs ordered against nothing.
Labour orders against when cargo will really be at the dock, before the order cut-off.
Records that disagree.
Arrival, placement and release times against the carrier's demurrage bill, so it is checked before it is paid.

A worked example

One late interchange. Forty-six cars. One day.One lock queue. Two tows. One day.

An illustrative operation, not a customer account. The figures are realistic, not real.

What Terra read: Ninety days from a transload terminal's yard system: 2,310 cars from two railroads, with placement and release times, car location messages, the crew plan and the demurrage invoices that followed.
The signal: Interchange has run later each week for a month. The location messages now put 46 cars for the terminal in two blocks that will land together on Tuesday, instead of across Monday to Wednesday.
What it reaches: On the current crew plan, 19 cars run past free time, for about 46 car-days in all. Eleven drays booked against those cars arrive on Wednesday to product still in the railcars.
What is at stake: About $6,900 in demurrage and $2,200 in dray dry runs and detention, $9,100 in all, and a customer whose trucks waited.
The move: Pull an extra transload shift forward to Tuesday night, and spot the cars with drays booked against them first. Projected cars over free time fall from 19 to 4, and dry runs from 11 to none, for one extra shift at about $2,600 in labour. The recommendation arrives with the cars, the interchange trend and the free time attached.
What follows: The decision is kept with its evidence. When the cars release, the outcome is checked against the prediction, and the next demurrage invoice is checked against the record.

What Terra read: Ninety days from a river terminal: 640 barges, with tow positions, lock delays, berth assignments, gang orders and the barge demurrage invoices that followed.
The signal: A lock downriver has queued longer every week for a month, and the river is falling. Two tows expected on Monday and Wednesday will now arrive together on Thursday: 27 barges against a dock that unloads about nine a day.
What it reaches: Gangs are ordered for Monday and Wednesday, when nothing will be at the dock. From Thursday, 18 barges wait past free time, and the vessel loading from the terminal on Saturday is short of cargo.
What is at stake: About $12,200 in barge demurrage and $7,800 in gang minimums for crews with nothing to work, $20,000 in all, and a vessel waiting on the berth.
The move: Cancel Monday's and Wednesday's gangs before the order cut-off, and order two gangs a day from Thursday to Saturday. Projected barges over free time fall from 18 to 5, and no gang stands idle, for about $3,900 in extra gang hours. The recommendation arrives with the tows, the lock trend and the river stage attached.
What follows: The decision is kept with its evidence. When the barges release, the outcome is checked against the prediction, and the lock's record carries into the next plan.

$9,100 at stake. One shift moved, for $2,600 in labour.$20,000 at stake. Gangs moved to Thursday, for $3,900 more in labour.

Works with what you run

Nothing to replace.

Your terminal or yard system runs the dock. The railroads, the ocean lines and the towing companies send their messages. Your dispatcher books the drays. Terra works across what they all produce, to see what they mean together. Exports, spreadsheets and EDI work as readily as APIs.

Reads from

Terminal or yard system
Container and car messages, and EDI
Tow and lock reports
Gate and scale
Crew, gang and dray schedules
Spreadsheets and exports

Ports, and the problem with handoffs →

How to start

See it on your terminal.

Show us where the operation breaks down. We build Terra around the systems you already run, show you what it sees on your own arrivals and releases, and you compare it with what you run today.

You bring: Car arrival and release history, plus the demurrage invoices that followed. Exports or spreadsheets are fine, with car location messages if you have them.Barge arrival and release history, plus the demurrage invoices that followed. Exports or spreadsheets are fine, with gang orders if you have them.
We bring: Terra, built around your data, your systems and how you actually operate, and a walkthrough of what it sees on your own arrivals, crews and free time.
Cost: There's no cost while we work with you, for the foreseeable future. You see what the software does on your own operation before it costs you anything.
Then: Terms are agreed only once you have seen what the software does on your operation. They are sized to what you run, not to us, and nothing becomes a contract until you agree to it.

See it on your terminal

Your data

Used only for your operation. It is never shared with, or used for, anyone else.
No third-party models. Your data is never sent to an outside model provider.
An NDA first, before you send anything, if you want one.
Where it is processed is named before any data moves, and access is limited to the people working on your operation.
Deleted on request.

Questions

What operators ask first.

Do we have to replace our terminal or yard system?

No. Your terminal system does its job. Terra works across what it and your partners' messages produce, and nothing you depend on is touched.

Does it work for rail and river terminals alike?

Yes. The clock starts at the handoff either way. Terra reads railcars, car location messages and drays at a rail terminal, and barges, lock delays, berth windows and gangs at a river or marine one, and many terminals run both.

What do you need from me?

The problem, someone who knows how the terminal runs, and the arrivals and releases around it, with the demurrage invoices that followed. Exports or a spreadsheet are enough to start. Imperfect data is fine.

Is this built for an operation my size?

Yes. We build around the operation in front of us, at whatever size it is, and it costs nothing while we work together.

What does it cost?

Nothing while we work with you, for the foreseeable future. You see what the software does on your own operation first. When it has shown its value there, we agree terms with you, sized to what you run, and nothing becomes a contract until you agree to it.

Why is there no cost?

Because the software is best judged on your own operation, not on our word. It isn't a trial or a pilot: you see what it does on your own data first, and when it has shown its value there, we agree terms with you.

What does it cost once the software has shown its value?

Terms are agreed only after you have seen what the software does on your own operation. They are sized to what you run: how much of the operation the software covers, the volume and the number of sites, not the size of Theralon. You start with the product that fits the problem in front of you and add the rest when it has earned it. Nothing becomes a paid contract until you agree to it. The same software runs owner-led operations and large ones alike.

Who sees my data?

Only the people working on your operation. It is never shared with or used for anyone else, never sent to a third-party model, covered by an NDA if you want one, and deleted on request.

Find your operation