Chicago-Port Alton Rail-Link Experiment 

Innovating to Solve Growing Logistics Demands

The American Trucking Association forecasts estimates that over the next decade, the industry will have to recruit nearly one million new drivers into the industry to fill growing gaps from industry growth and to replace those drivers who are retiring or exiting the profession. 

But, isn't automation is expected to provide the capability for over-the-road truck transport?

While automation technology looks to be a promising opportunity to address this growing problem, the reality is that road-tested technology will not be available at a scale necessary in time. Therefore, even while the Elwood Logistics Airport is in the design stages, the executive leadership team has decided to partner with a consortium of local logistics companies to test a variety of technologies to address a dominant issue for long-distance trucking.

Next Stop:  Port Alton

With an approximately 4-hour truck trip between the Elwood-Joliet logistics campus and Port Alton (8-hour round-trip) and direct rail connections, this becomes an ideal corridor to conduct experiments with transferring truck loads onto rail. The joint venture experiment between BNSF, Union Pacific, and KEWL Rail-Link will consist of testing multiple technology prototypes to move containerized freight with or without the driver according to the concept between either the BNSF or Union Pacific yards in the Elwood-Joliet area to the container port at Port Alton. For the experiment, 40 foot containers will be used.

Baseline: Traditional Approach 

The baseline case refers to the traditional approach of taking containerized freight and loading it onto well cars either single or double-stacked, moving them by rail to destination yards where containers are removed, set on chassis, and delivered by truck to local distribution centers and other destinations.

Design Concept 1: Semi-Automated Truck-Ferry

This concept, introduced by Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers, is reimagining the way frieght interfaces railroad system. Parallel Systems is looking to test a battery-electric rail vehicles that move freight. Currently, the design test is to leverage the vehicles' autonomous mode to assist in the make-up of train sets by guiding containers, or sets of containers, around yards during consist buildup. More information is available here.

Design Concept 2: 

This concept consists of a specially designed railcar with the capability of twisting to accommodate a truck's delivery of variety of standardized shipping containers (as shown in the diagram below). 

Design Concept 3: High-Rail Truck Fleet

This design (from Hi-R Trucking Corp) consists of specially designed vehicles that can move freight over road or rail. Equipped with both rubber tired wheels for highway and with flanged steel wheels that can be lowered into place for rail usage, the High-Rail Truck Fleet offers versatility for freight mobility. While vehicles are expected to be costly to acquire and maintain, the benefits are enticing when considering flexibility of movement to pass through congested highway areas via adjacent railroad networks or connect to locations currently not connected to the rail network. In addition, test vehicles indicate very high fuel efficiency operating over rails.

Design Concept 4: Roll-on/Roll-off Truck-Train 

Using a similar design as that of the EuroTunnel, the Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) Truck-Train is designed to have trucks drive onto railcars at a specially designed yard ramps in Elwood or Joliet rail yards and relax for the duration of the 4-hour trip from Chicago to Port Alton where trucks off-load containers and are available to pick up loads at the port and distribute them locally before returning a load to Elwood via the Rail-Link reverse trip.