Innovation and Investment keep JAXPORT and partners on the leading edge
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A tradition of innovation runs deep among JAXPORT and its partners.
Major investments, including a 47-foot deepwater channel, terminal modernization, and sustainability initiatives, set a pace of progress that continues year after year.
TOTE recently extended GPS tracking to 100% of its dry containers. According to Tom Wallace, Vice President of Service Excellence at TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, the move enables TOTE to locate any of its dry or reefer containers in real-time on land, at sea or in the yard.
Using geofencing, customers can pinpoint the location and free time of any container within their facilities. In addition to pool management tools that help control detention and demurrage charges, the technology helps prevent theft and provides peace of mind to shippers.
TOTE is providing automobile shippers peace of mind through specially-designed 53-foot auto frames that hold three cars and can be safely lifted on and off vessels in containers, rather than driven on and off.
Reefer cargos are also receiving enhanced care from real-time temperature monitors that relay inside temperatures of TOTE’S reefers from point A to B. Additionally, TOTE’s refrigeration units use a more environmentally-friendly refrigerant to keep cargo at temperature while onboard TOTE’s LNG-powered vessels—and beyond.
AJC Group taps terminal innovations to enhance Puerto Rico trade lane
![AJC Group Vice President of Transportation and Logistics Chris Swartz](https://www.jaxport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Chris-Swartz.png")
AJC Group is one of the largest shippers of reefer containers to Puerto Rico.
The international food trader is an essential supplier to Puerto Rico and a beneficiary of recent terminal enhancements at JAXPORT.
They include three eco-friendly 100-gauge electric container cranes installed at SSA Atlantic’s Blount Island terminal in 2023 and two hybrid diesel-electric container cranes arriving in 2025 to further expand capacity at Blount Island.
“JAXPORT has done such a great job for us on their execution,” said AJC Group Vice President of Transportation and Logistics Chris Swartz.
“I think what they’ve done innovation-wise and investment-wise has just continued to drive their efficiencies.”
WATCO to bring battery-powered electric locomotive to JAXPORT
In 2025, Watco, a single-source transportation and supply chain services company in North American and Australia, will introduce a battery electric locomotive (BEL) to its JAXPORT fleet.
Ports are an ideal application for BELs. Curtis Sloan, AVP, Policy & Sustainability at Watco, said the company successfully developed and deployed three BELs at other locations. “Using battery electric locomotives to provide switching services is win-win. Burning less diesel saves money and is better for air quality, both in terms of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants,” Sloan said.
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AMPORTS’ visibility technology drives faster car inventory turns
Auto processor AMPORTS receives automobiles from nearly every vehicle manufacturer through JAXPORT.
To optimize inventory visibility, Chief Commercial Officer Mark Boucher said they use a state-of-the-art yard management system that is constantly being analyzed and improved. Knowing the location and status of each specific vehicle in the production process enables them to pre-schedule work, optimize labor and minimize vehicle handing. This allows AMPORTS to expedite completed vehicles to carriers for dealer delivery.
As more JAXPORT partners lean into innovation to enhance Jacksonville’s link in the supply chain, the state and region is better positioned for growth in the future.
Story by Conrad Winter
Edited by Kimberly Norman
Design by Andre Carriere
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