VTG adds more sensors

LINKING THE 9,000

INTERMODAL • VTG’S DIGITISATION PROCESS HIGHLIGHTS THE PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS OF THE TANK CONTAINER SECTOR WHEN IT COMES TO KEEPING TRACK OF MOVEMENTS

HAMBURG-BASED RAIL specialist VTG has been using its ‘VTG Connector’ system on its European rail wagon fleet for some time now. The system uses sensors attached to wagons to display their location and other data. But when the company looked to extend VTG Connector to its VTG Tanktainer tank container fleet, it realised that the requirements were going to be very different.

A pilot project began in mid-2019 and is now moving towards equipping the entire tank container fleet – numbering around 9,000 units – with smart GPS sensor technology and the VTG Connector. This will, it is hoped, improve safety and efficiency and provide greater transparency throughout the transport chain.

“In addition to ensuring transparency regarding our equipment’s location data, our goal was to achieve a significant reduction in the manual effort involved in maintaining our transport management system using the VTG Connector. This, of course, required extensive preparation,” explains Christian Herbon, project manager at VTG Tanktainer.

“At the same time, our position on the global market presented us with more challenges, such as obtaining additional certification and issues related to roaming. Among other things, we also developed a straightforward installation process, tested battery performance and battery life, checked the VTG Tanktainer interfaces and verified data availability in the VTG Connect portal,” Herbon adds. “We’ve been working closely with our customers throughout the entire process to ensure that their needs are also addressed directly.”

MORE TO COME The project is proceeding rapidly. “Despite the current challenges associated with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we’re currently installing up to 60 telematics modules per week and we’re confident that most of the European fleet will be equipped with the VTG Connector by the end of the year,” Herbon says.

“We will then turn our attention to tank containers overseas,” he continues. “It should, however, be noted that the latest generation of connectors must be used there – in addition to possessing the ATEX certificate, they are also certified for the international market. Where the test cycle for tank containers is concerned, worldwide installation will be completed within two and a half years.”

That is, though, not the end of the story. New ideas are being trialled, as Herbon reports: “We’re already testing a number of new applications, as our long-term goal is to run more sensors, such as the latest valve, fill level or heating sensors, using the VTG Connector. In collaboration with our colleagues from Wagon Hire, we’re already conducting the next pilot phase for testing new types of temperature sensors.

“We’re also working intensively on optimising customer connectivity and, in this regard, are continuing to press ahead with the use of the traigo digital platform,” he adds. The traigo platform was introduced at the start of this year with the aim of bundling all of VTG’s digital applications and products for smart rail freight transport.

VTG reports that traigo has been especially useful during the Covid-19 crisis, helping to provide instant visibility of restrictions on transport movements and on the availability of repair and maintenance capacity. “Particularly in the current situation, rail freight transport plays a decisive role in securing transport flows, and the repair and maintenance plants throughout Europe are an elementary component of the rail system - nothing works without them,” says Sven Wellbrock, COO Europe of VTG and also chief safety officer. “Our aim is to share the information we have with the sector. Because a situation such as the one we are currently in can only be mastered by joining forces.” www.vtg.com

VTG TANKTAINER HAS AN AMBITIOUS TARGET TO