Delivering the XML message; CSX Lines' Horizon Services unit adopts Microsoft's .NET technology. (Logistics/Technology).(Brief Article)

Extensible markup language, or XML, has undeniable advantages--software using the technology permits seamless translation of data between otherwise incompatible computer programs. But XML has been slow to catch on in the logistics field. Few shippers or carriers use it.

Horizon Services Group hopes to change that, with help from the information technology industry's 800-pound gorilla, Microsoft Corp. Horizon, the logistics technology subsidiary of CSX Lines, is adopting .NET, a Microsoft initiative that uses XML technology for use in its transportation-management software. Horizon said it is the first logistics technology company to use .NET, which it says will make …