At first glance Parameter Trace and Event Notification reports look very much the same but they supply you with different ways of being notified of trace information.

Parameter Trace

• Allows you to set specific parameters (filters) to capture a specific set of trace information


• It is truly a daily report that will show you all the cars that match your parameters


• Cars collected will remain on the report until the cars no longer meet your parameters


• You can schedule Parameter Trace reports to run up to 6 times a day (4 hours apart)


• The most common Parameter Trace report is an Enroute report.

Event Notifications

• Allows you to build an event notification report just like you would in Parameter Trace, except you must choose specific events


• Is an event triggerred notifcation, which notifies you after a specific event has been reported


• Each event notification will report only new cars, so once notified of an event, it will not be seen on the next notification report


• Notification can be delivered to you hourly and will only notify you on the traffic that meets your event notification criteria


• The most common Event Notification report is a Bad Order report.

Original vs. Current ETA Comparative and Elapsed Time Reporting
Did you know that you can use the Shipment Status filter in Parameter Trace or Event Notification to see an ETA comparative (original vs. current) and/or Elapsed Time reportings?

Original vs. Current ETA: Allows you to set early and/or late ETA thresholds that compare the original ETA against the current ETA. Trace results will display an ETA difference (ahead or behind in hours) for the original versus current ETA.

Elapsed Time: Show cars that have not reported an event within a specified amount of time by using Elapsed Time since Last Event. Based on the elapsed time threshold, trace results will display a total time that a car has remained idle since its last reported event.

At any time that you are viewing trace results on-screen within ShipCSX, you can drill down into schedule information for multiple cars. Next Scheduled will give you the next scheduled event for selected car. Remaining Schedule will show you all the remaining events for the selected car.

Here's how: From the trace results screen, click the checkbox next to each car you want to view a schedule for. Next, use the Select Options drop-down menu located in the upper left corner of the results page. Choose Next or Remaining Schedule. Click Go.

Effective January 30th, 2011, CSX made enhancements to our ShipCSX rail Car Order tool in an effort to improve your car order fulfillment experience. The changes are designed to provide a more predictable and reliable service that helps us deliver the desired number of cars on the days you want them.

To help CSX meet your expectations and fill your daily car order needs, there are a number of things that you can do to ensure the highest level of order fufillment:

• Order cars only on days that you are served by CSX. The days you are served will be highlighted within the new tool


• Ensure that you are ordering the proper type of equipment. Your salesperson can help you with the various equipment types CSX can provide


• Ensure the quantity of cars ordered can fit at your facility. Your plant capacity is visible in the Plant Switch tool


• Place car orders up to six weeks in advance. This helps CSX plan car supply more effectively

When you place an order for railcars via ShipCSX, our system works around the clock to search for suitable equipment to fill your car order. The changes we will make to our system are designed to increase our ability to have your cars delivered on the days you request.
Because car movements require lead time, we are making the following key changes to our car ordering policies:

• To increase or decrease a car order within a 7 day window of an order, you will need to submit a change request to Car Management via the enhanced Car Order screen.


• We will evaluate your request based on car availability and will respond with a realistic expectation of our ability to meet your needs.


• Please be aware that you will not be able to make any changes on the day of your order or for the following day.

These enhancements are designed to help us better communicate our ability to meet your equipment needs when changes occur. For more information on this new policy and process or if you have any questions, please contact your sales representative and they will be able to assist you. We appreciate your business and look forward to successfully meeting your car supply needs.

The ShipCSX Pricing Document tool now accepts e-Signatures. An e-Signature, also known as a digital signature, is the electronic equivalent of a written signature. It provides digital verification of key data about you. This means you can approve pricing documents electronically and instantly. This feature will be enabled for all CSXT contract formats.

Learn more (PDF)

Our new Fleet Management tool is available in the Unit Train Management suite of tools. This new area is meant for our Coal customers who use their own private cars on our network. There will be 2 views:

1. One for everyone now using Track Car Sets where you can see the status of your cars and where they are. If you have Track Car Sets now, you'll automatically see this new tool in the task bar.
   
2. A special section in the tool that allows Fleet Managers to keep an accurate inventory of the cars you plan to use on CSX. Cars can be added to a CSX pool, moved them between pools, or deleted from pools. If you are a fleet manager and you don't see a way to manage your cars, you'll need to contact us for access.

You get a new way to view your cars that includes where we last saw them, what they were doing, and how long it has been since that last reporting. We've even calculated a status for each car so you won't have to:

• Assigned - Part of a set of cars, loaded or empty



• Available - Empty car that is not part of a set or at a 'spare' location
  
  
• Bad Ordered - Last known car event put it in bad order status or it moved to a repair track
  
  
• Maintenance - Last known car event was an interchange to a shop
  
  
• Offline - Last known car event was an interchange to another rail carrier
  
  
• Other - Loaded or empty car in a set other than your own
  
  
• Spare - Empty car that is at a location where it can be used to fill out a set
  
  
  • A spare location defined by the pool that the cars is in
    
    
  • A spare location yard on CSX where your mechanical inspections occur
  
  
  
• Stored - Last known car event was putting it in storage on CSX
  
  
• Trip Lease - Short term sub-lease to another consignee
  
  
• Unknown - No last car event or one where a status cannot be defined

Within this new tool there are sections (tabs) to show you your CSX pool(s) information, a 'Fleet Reports' section where you can look for and download information about your cars, a section showing where your spare cars are located, and, if you are a fleet manager for your company, a way to add new cars to your fleet on CSX and move cars between your CSX pools.

A great place to start with this new tool will be to check out our Help section. From here, you'll learn most of what you need to take advantage of the Fleet Management tool. As always, the Help links are at the top right corner of every information element.

CSX de Mexico in conjunction with eBusiness successfully conducted the Mexican ShipCSX Forum in Mexico City on December 8th, 2010. Class topics included My ShipCSX, Account Invoices, Railcar Tracking, Car Order, Shipment Problem Resolution and more. Among the customers trained were Trinity Industries Mexico, Kimberly Clark, ANCAF and Sucden Americas.

"It is a really good tool, as you can always have visibility of your shipments and have your account up-to-date" said Alejandro Gamboa, Traffic Coordinator for Kimberly Clark de Mexico.

This training will promote the usage of the on-line tools, as well as provide not only Mexican, but Latin-American users with the step-by-step instructions in the usage of the tools in their own language. Manuals in Spanish are now available on the web at CSX.com. Please use the following link ShipCSX (Spanish) to download the manuals.