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Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) recently turned to the World Wide Web to better serve the operational and shipping-information needs of its shipper and Class I railroad customers.

Specifically, TRRA deployed Railcar Management Inc.'s (RMI) RailConnect® Web-based portal, which provides customers with instant tracking information. RailConnect Transportation Management is designed for yard and inventory control, managing local work/train crews, switch billing, demurrage billing and management reporting; the Web-based shipper interface allows customers to communicate shipping instructions and other requests electronically. RailConnect Equipment Management Services is designed to provide faster, more accurate car hire payable accounting; the e-Repair system, accurate repair billing.

Previously, TRRA used a mainframe system that was "difficult and expensive to maintain, and yielded very little management information," said TRRA President Gerry Gates in a prepared statement. Customers faxed switching requests and billing information to the railroad, where it was keyed into a system.

Now, TRRA customers are able to transmit information through the Internet, enabling the terminal road to provide shippers with better access to their inventory and Class I customers with coordinated shipment scheduling, which "enables them to more effectively manage their business," Gates said. More than 60 of TRRA's local customers now use the system.

TRRA processes more than 300,000 cars annually and provides switching service for five Class Is.