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SYNCHRONET MARINE DELIVERS FIRST OF ITS KIND TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY TO PORT OF OAKLAND USERS
Innovative Technology Reduces Truck Traffic And Public Road Congestion
SynchroNet Marine Inc., a premier maritime technology service provider, and the Port of Oakland today
announced Phase II of the SynchroMet™ service. Phase II integrates ocean carriers with motor carriers through a virtual container yard
(VCY) to perform mutually beneficial street turns, to reduce costs and ease port congestion. SynchroMet links community members to their
own highly secure and proprietary segment of an Application Service Provider (ASP) platform. The SynchroMet™ service, accessed through
the Internet at www.synchromet.com, is where inbound containers can be posted as empty street-turn opportunities and matched in real-time
with off-dock equipment needs to cover export bookings.
"Local stakeholders have rallied around the development and implementation of SynchroMet due to the numerous and immediate benefits it
offers," said Wilford W. Middleton, CEO, SynchroNet Marine. "Street turning equipment is not a new concept, but SynchroMet's technology
platform offers the port community a unique opportunity to leverage the volume of transactions to ease congestion and reduce costs."
"SynchroMet provides the Port of Oakland with a tool to alleviate congestion. The use of SynchroMet will reduce Port truck traffic and public
road congestion, a benefit to our West Oakland neighbors and Bay Area commuters," said Jerry A. Bridges, maritime director for the Port of
Oakland. "The Port of Oakland and SynchroNet Marine are partnering directly with local stakeholders to understand and facilitate sustainable
solutions to the issues currently faced."
In addition to the integration of ocean carriers into the street turn approval process, SynchroMet establishes strict, standardized and
binding community guidelines for Community Members who use the platform. An Equipment Interchange Receipt (EIR) form with standard terms
and conditions is provided, but ocean carriers have the ability to incorporate additional terms into the EIR form. With SynchroMet, there
is clear accountability and liability between motor carriers for damage/insurance and per-diems. Additionally, Phase II facilitates the
liability transfer between motor carriers, and the provision of additional free days to the receiving motor carrier.
"APL was one of the first ocean carriers to embrace SynchroMet, because we see SynchroMet as a win/win for APL from both a carrier and a
terminal operating perspective," said John Allen, director of equipment balance for APL. "This activity will positively improve our equipment
turn time, equipment availability to our customers while also aiding to reduce our operating costs. SynchroMet effectively addresses the
liability requirements required to be in place between parties in the transaction, and provides APL with visibility to the street turn process."
In Phase I, SynchroMet provided equipment visibility and opportunities for collaboration that reduced road and gate congestion at local marine
and rail terminal facilities. Endorsed by the Northern California Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference, SynchroMet reduces empty truck miles
and positively reduces diesel emissions effecting the local environment. SynchroMet allows users to track street-turned containers by
individual unit number and provide confirmation of a street-turn event to terminal operators and ocean carriers. In addition, SynchroMet
provides motor carriers with a one-stop-shop for information on port and terminal operations, customer service and contact information
with links to ocean carrier and leasing company web sites.
"SynchroMet has saved us an enormous amount of money," said Alan Osofsky traffic manager, Rodgers Trucking Company, San Leandro, CA.
"We have been able to street-turn over 300 units that would have sat in our yard acquiring charges, and we are saving man-hours normally
incurred each time we return an empty container to the port. We estimate we save an average of two-to-three hours per container by using
SynchroMet for street turns."
"The ability to make street turns is a major time-saver for our dispatcher and our drivers, and increases our turns per day," commented
Val Bamrick, P&R Trucking, Oakland, CA. "When the terminals are congested, SynchroMet is one of the only ways we are able to access
equipment to meet our export customer requirements."
SynchroNet Marine in conjunction with the Port of Oakland will continue to work with local stakeholders on future service plans, including
marine terminal integration with the virtual container yard.
ABOUT THE PORT OF OAKLAND
The Port of Oakland, the fourth-largest container port in the United States, handled over 1,700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs)
in 2002. Established in 1927, the Port oversees some 19 miles of waterfront, including Jack London Square; more than 900 acres of
maritime terminal facilities and Oakland International Airport, which served 12.7 million passengers and handled more than 600,000 metric
tons of air cargo in 2002.
ABOUT SYNCHRONET MARINE, INC.
SynchroNet Marine, Inc. provides customer value through creative customer solutions and technology innovation. SynchroNet's equipment
interchange, asset management and cost optimization services improve profitability and reduce costs for its customers in the global
transportation industry. SynchroNet offers three exclusive services SynchroBox™ and SynchroSlot™ and SynchroMet™.
SynchroBox covers all trade lanes throughout the world; whether maximizing the potential
for cooperative container management that exists between short-sea
operators and major trade lane carriers in the Asian and European market, or helping international carriers inexpensively reposition
equipment from inland or coastal USA points. SynchroSlot enables customers to
inexpensively reposition empty equipment and access
incremental revenue generating opportunities. SynchroMet is a congestion management
tool developed to improve asset utilization and
operating efficiency for transportation service providers in a Metropolitan area.
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in San Ramon, CA, SynchroNet is privately held and venture funded. For inquiries contact SynchroNet
Marine, Inc. at 2600 Old Crow Canyon Road, Suite 101, San Ramon, CA 94583, USA, telephone (925) 855-4400, fax (925) 855-4420, or visit
SynchroNet on the world wide web at: http://www.synchronetmarine.com
CONTACT:
Paul Larking
SynchroNet Marine Inc.
Tel.: (925) 855-4400 x211
Fax: (925) 855-4420
E-mail: plarking@synchronetmarine.com
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