Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

inbound

RFID at the races

RFID helps Los Angeles Marathon officials keep track of runners.

DC Velocity Staff
By DC Velocity StaffJun 30, 2009
DC Velocity Staff
See Full Bio

Twenty thousand runners pounding the pavement for more than 26 miles. How do you keep track of all of them? Officials of the Los Angeles Marathon rely on RFID tags and readers. Event organizers first tested the technology in 2008 and were so pleased with the results that they used it again in late May for the 2009 road race.

Each of the registered runners attached RFID-enabled timing tags from ChronoTrack Systems to his or her shoelaces. The tags, which incorporate UPM Raflatac RFID tags and Impinj tag chips, recorded times at the start, at the finish, and at milestones along the race route.

According to UPM Raflatac, attaching the disposable plastic-enclosed tags to the runners' shoes ensures consistent placement and readability. At certain milestones, the Los Angeles runners pass over urethane ramps that use UHF antennas to transmit race data to readers. Custom-designed controllers then format the collected data for use by scoring software. The system logged accurate data for 99.84 percent of the runners in 2008.

One thing we know: If this technology had been around in 1980, Rosie Ruiz wouldn't have had a chance of scamming Boston Marathon officials.

ArticleTechnology
upm raflatacjuly 2009chronotrack systems
ArticleTechnology
upm raflatacjuly 2009chronotrack systems

The Latest

reagan national DCA airport pic
Disaster Response

Reagan National airport plans to reopen today after deadly crash

More Stories

How clever is that chatbot?

Oh, you work in logistics, too? Then you’ve probably met my friends Truedi, Lumi, and Roger.

No, you haven’t swapped business cards with those guys or eaten appetizers together at a trade-show social hour. But the chances are good that you’ve had conversations with them. That’s because they’re the online chatbots “employed” by three companies operating in the supply chain arena—TrueCommerce, Blue Yonder, and Truckstop. And there’s more where they came from. A number of other logistics-focused companies—like ChargePoint, Packsize, FedEx, and Inspectorio—have also jumped in the game.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

NMFTA to release proposed freight classification changes this week
Featured

NMFTA to release proposed freight classification changes this week

diagram of lithium-ion battery in EV
Batteries/Chargers/Motors/Fuel

Lithium refinery to build $1.2 billion factory in Oklahoma

a blurred image of a forklift in a warehouse
Material Handling

Lift Truck Roundtable: An inside look at a volatile market

cargo handling cranes at a port
Cranes

Port of Savannah got four more ship-to-shore cranes on Saturday

a port yard with artificial intelligence
Artificial Intelligence

​Putting artificial intelligence to work

warehouse workers handling boxes
Supply Chain Optimization Software

Aptean picks up fellow supply chain software vendor Logility

White House in washington DC

Experts: U.S. companies need strategies to pay costs of Trump tariffs

With the hourglass dwindling before steep tariffs threatened by the new Trump Administration will impose new taxes on U.S. companies importing goods from abroad, organizations need to deploy strategies to handle those spiraling costs.

American companies with far-flung supply chains have been hanging for weeks in a “wait-and-see” situation to learn if they will have to pay increased fees to U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement agents for every container they import from certain nations. After paying those levies, companies face the stark choice of either cutting their own profit margins or passing the increased cost on to U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices.

Keep ReadingShow less
phone screen of online grocery order

Houchens Food Group taps eGrowcery for e-com grocery tech

Grocery shoppers at select IGA, Price Less, and Food Giant stores will soon be able to use an upgraded in-store digital commerce experience, since store chain operator Houchens Food Group said it would deploy technology from eGrowcery, provider of a retail food industry white-label digital commerce platform.

Kentucky-based Houchens Food Group, which owns and operates more than 400 grocery, convenience, hardware/DIY, and foodservice locations in 15 states, said the move would empower retailers to rethink how and when to engage their shoppers best.

Keep ReadingShow less
solar panels in a field

J.B. Hunt launches solar farm to power its three HQ buildings

Supply chain solution provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has launched a large-scale solar facility that will generate enough electricity to offset up to 80% of the power used by its three main corporate campus buildings in Lowell, Arkansas.

The 40-acre solar facility in Gentry, Arkansas, includes nearly 18,000 solar panels and 10,000-plus bi-facial solar modules to capture sunlight, which is then converted to electricity and transmitted to a nearby electric grid for Carroll County Electric. The facility will produce approximately 9.3M kWh annually and utilize net metering, which helps transfer surplus power onto the power grid.

Keep ReadingShow less
a drone flying in a warehouse

Geodis goes airborne to speed cycle counts

As a contract provider of warehousing, logistics, and supply chain solutions, Geodis often has to provide customized services for clients.

That was the case recently when one of its customers asked Geodis to up its inventory monitoring game—specifically, to begin conducting quarterly cycle counts of the goods it stored at a Geodis site. Trouble was, performing more frequent counts would be something of a burden for the facility, which still conducted inventory counts manually—a process that was tedious and, depending on what else the team needed to accomplish, sometimes required overtime.

Keep ReadingShow less
Copyright ©2025.