How pre-departure checks can be digitalised.

Freight cars are inherently dumb assets, which are maintained and checked pre-departure manually.  Yet derailment occurs and many freight trains are simply not safe in today’s world.  Yet, the freight train provides huge scope for some degree of digitalisation. Some are out of the box solutions that we can set up quite quickly, while other solutions require ingenious thought and a little more creative application.

Applications 

The technology is there to digitalise, for example, park and brake release, rake configuration, air leaks and overall condition.  This data can now be centralised to gain insight into previously disparate freight car assets, and form part of pre-departure safety checks.

Technology out of the box

We’re proud to have part of our package as a reliable out of the box solution, meaning speed of installation and a fast forward to data insights.

For freight specifically, the On/Off Sensor lends itself to park and brake release, which is a highly critical area for freight.  Working alongside this is the Pressure Transducer sensor, to provide air leakage data. Level count sensors, Meter count sensors and Temperature and Vibration sensors all combine to monitor overall condition of the Freight Engine.  This data can now present on a centralised dashboard, so that status of the overall condition of the Freight Train can be monitored, with alerts acted upon.

Creative thinking around time old problems

Some solutions cannot be presented out of the box and this is where industry knowledge combined with an engineering mindset comes to the fore.  Part of future space, but Dynamic Rake Configuration, in addition to exciting plans to repurpose passenger trains to freight are in the pipeline, to be reported in the news section soon.