Changes in the overall freight industry are also significantly affecting the rail industry. The international shift of many goods production and manufacturing operations has resulted in increased cross-border freight, subject to new regulations regarding security. A rise in intermodal freight has made rail’s lack of asset visibility compared to sea or road transport particularly apparent.

While Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) has served the rail industry well, it is not comprehensive enough to meet advancing requirements. AEI employs a milestone-based tracking strategy that reports train position every 25 to 30 miles at best. While it can identify that a railcar is in a particular yard, pinpointing the exact location of that car often requires a costly yard check. Also, AEI has no ability to report real-time events relative to railcar or cargo status.

SkyBitz complements AEI with satellite-based asset management services delivering continuous railcar location and status information. SkyBitz gives rail customers real-time online access to tracking information for monitoring and securing railcar fleets, equipment and cargo wherever they travel.

• In-Transit Visibility

  By enabling visibility of assets and cargo while on the move, SkyBitz helps improve customer satisfaction, helps rail carriers better support just-in-time logistics, and increases customer trust by demonstrating continuous control of goods.

• Fleet Dispatch Optimization

  By improving dispatching operations, SkyBitz reduces capital expenses for rolling stock and increases efficiency in rail yard management operations.

• Remote Monitoring & Control

  By monitoring on-board equipment and cargo, SkyBitz helps customers reduce equipment and maintenance costs, limits liabilities by reducing cargo damage and loss, and helps improve food safety and compliance with other regulations.

• Safety & Security

  By constantly monitoring the location and status of trailer assets, SkyBitz provides enhanced security protection for high-value assets and cargo, improves detection of terrorism and improves stolen asset recovery.

Remote asset management provides a wide variety of benefits for the trucking industry. These benefits quickly add up in dollars saved due to reduction in capital expenditures and operating expenses, and dollars added due to improved competitiveness. Trucking industry customers typically achieve full payback of a SkyBitz in investment within one year of installation.