IntelliTrans, a specialist in helping businesses track their rail freight, took over the software, employees and customer contracts of Cary-based BridgePoint's rail division. In exchange, BridgePoint received a minority equity interest in IntelliTrans, a private company. 

"I think they are acknowledging that this was as far as they could go in rail; that's why you see a lot of the rail-tracking capability move on to IntelliTrans," said John Fontanella, vice president of supply chain services for the technology research firm AMR. 

Five-year-old BridgePoint sells a Web-based service to companies. including Apple Computer, Proctor & Gamble and Xerox, to allow them to track international shipment of parts and products on journeys that include planes, boats, trucks and trains. BridgePoint, which has 69 employees after the transfer of five positions to IntelliTrans, started its rail division last year. One position was eliminated as a result of the transaction. 

"We're consolidating the rail information in a central place," explained Ken Pikulik, business development strategist for BridgePoint. IntelliTrans and BridgePoint had agreements with different national rail companies. The combined efforts will cover most of the continent. 

Pikulik said that although BridgePoint is giving its rail-tracking expertise to 11-year-old IntelliTrans, it will still have access to that tracking information for its customers that need it. But, with all due respect for its rail-operating parent company, Pikulik said few of BridgePoint's customers transport their goods via rail. 

"It makes sense to separate this into two groups," Pikulik said. "It allows us to focus on those other modes of transportation because they are more valuable to us." 

AMR's Fontanella said many of BridgePoint's competitors have merged or shut down, leaving the company, which was spun out of CSX in 1998 after about 10 years of system development, as one of just a few that offer a stand-alone shipment tracking service. 

BridgePoint pulls together data from disparate transportation systems and presents a report about a particular shipment to the customer. "BridgePoint has always done a good job of collecting the data and cleaning the data," Fontanella said. "It's like cleaning the chimney; nobody wants to do it themselves." 

BridgePoint charges customers depending on their use of the system and frequency of shipments, with a range of customer charges between $15,000 and $3 million annually. Pikulik declined to state annual revenue figures, citing CSX company policy. CSX, which had a net income of $424 million in 2002, does not break out its subsidiary earnings.