CHICAGO – TTX is beginning to equip its boxcar and auto rack fleets with GPS-based telematics so that railroads and shippers can monitor car location and status in real time.
The car pooling company, which is owned by the Class I railroads, aims to equip 1,700 new and existing boxcars by the end of the year, along with “hundreds” of auto racks.
The car tracing information will supplement AEI-based tracking, which uses wayside readers to report car location, TTX says in a YouTube video posted last week.
The battery-powered GPS equipment reports its location every five minutes via the cellular telephone network. The system also reports when cars start or stop moving.
One thousand cars also will be equipped with sensors that monitor for impact, door position, empty/load status, and hand brake position.
TTX is working with the Association of American Railroads to develop protocols for alert messages, as well as on additional telematic functions.
RailPulse, a joint venture of freight car owners, is conducting similar tests on 1,000 cars as part of an effort to allow shippers to monitor freight cars wherever they are in North America. RailPulse members in Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, Genesee & Wyoming, Railroad Development Corp., Watco, GATX, Greenbrier, and Trinity Rail.
Not the first. I’ve noticed that the latest generation of refrigerated box cars, with units designed for trucks, have been equipped with satellite tracking systems.
The next step should be monitoring the temperature of the axle bearings, vibrations indicating flat or broken wheels, air brake reservoir pressure for leaks, and other equipment defects impacting safety.
The majority of large trucking companies have provided customers with such information for how many years?
And how many more cars are on the rails as compared to trucks and/or trailers? I think some of the hesitance is that this equipment could be sitting on a siding somewhere and could be tampered with or stolen. They’re certainly somewhere long enough for someone to spray paint these intricate pieces of art on the sides. Plus most drivers are careful with their equipment and wouldn’t leave sitting long enough for someone to tamper with. There is also a driver responsible for each piece of equipment, whereas a railroad crew is responsible for 100+ cars in line a mile or longer.
Then there is the responsibility of replacing batteries when they die. Who’s responsible for that? Trucking companies don’t have to worry much about that because a lot of their equipment is hooked to the trucks battery and doesn’t have to be replaced as often.
Trucks are way ahead of the game in that category and a lot of others that’s for sure.
This cold have some unintended bonuses. If they went one step farther by including gravitometers or upright position sensors they could also quickly determine the physical status of the car. A T-Box or auto rack involved in a derail will automatically transmit a message via GPS that it has stopped moving and thus TTX may be alerted to an unplanned stop and can investigate. This may help speed up response when a derailment or collision occurs in an isolated area where perhaps the train crew may not be able to respond due to incapacitation because of a number of reasons.
This sounds like something all rail cars should be equipped with at some point in the future. Interestingly that CSX, CPKC, CN and BNSF have not elected to join Railpulse, something which would also benefit all shippers and customers. With the leaps being made in data collection throughout the world, this could be a game changer for those needing to monitor cars whether they are moving or sitting still…
And imagine that it was promoted by the industry and not an over-reaching congress intent on only blowing up their own opinion of themselves in preparation for the next election and giving lip service to the public by whom they were elected.
I agree whole-heartedly. And actually CSX is investing in this program. I think the reason why other railroads don’t is because of the old adage that they don’t want people or customers to know what is going on with shipments. That’s so the railroad can tell the customer any reason why the shipment hasn’t arrived yet when it was expected days ago. Or that a car hasn’t moved in days because they don’t have the crews to move them. Now a customer only has to pull up the GPS information to know where a car is and any other that they need to know so a railroad has no excuse anymore. Spot on Mr. Saunders.
Fantastic innovation. Should definitely assist with improving O/R.