DLA Distribution San Joaquin tags freight to test Turbo Vision in-transit visibility

The Defense Logistics Agency and U.S. Transportation Command have launched a new phase of cargo-tracking trials, installing satellite-enabled tags on 14 outbound sea van containers and their contents at DLA Distribution San Joaquin from Sept. 15–17 as part of Operation Turbo Vision, a follow-on to this year’s Operation Turbo Fusion.

The exercise moves DLA materiel from several U.S. sites to overseas depots to gauge how commercial and government-owned tracking tools can improve end-to-end asset visibility and answer key operational questions about where cargo is at any point in the journey.

“The point of all of this is to test the communication capabilities when it comes to asset visibility within the Department of War,” said Kenny Shelton, a logistics management specialist at U.S. Transportation Command. “It’s all about not losing touch with where people’s stuff is.”

A parallel tagging effort is slated next at DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. The San Joaquin freight is bound for DLA Distribution Japan in Okinawa, while the Susquehanna loads will head to DLA Distribution Europe in Germersheim, Germany. The tags, which use signals from Global Positioning System satellites, are expected to provide real-time location updates as the shipments travel from opposite U.S. coasts to their destinations.

Five vendors participated, attaching devices that ranged from compact units screwed to pallets to larger trackers secured to container exteriors with heavy-duty magnets. The equipment will be removed on arrival, and officials plan to publish a report on performance and lessons learned.

Results from the drill are intended to help DLA and USTRANSCOM decide whether to incorporate tagging and broader in-transit visibility procedures into routine shipping.

“One thing we’re looking at is how manual it is versus how automated it is,” said Ashley Baker, a procurement analyst at USTRANSCOM. “We’re really thinking of the troops out in the field as we’re looking at these processes.”