Austrian solar-power tracking for DB Cargo

A Vienna-based telematics specialist has won a contract with DB Cargo AG to provide self-powered monitoring telematics hardware for freight rolling stock. CargoMon Systems GmbH will provide the freight operator with solar-powered tracking devices and a suite of sensor solutions.

CargoMon, the Austrian specialists in energy self-sufficient, wireless monitoring systems in the transport and logistics sector, say their collaboration with DB Cargo will allow the rail freight operator to monitor around the clock all rolling stock fitted with their hardware. The discreet units are designed with the company’s own advanced “pico-power” technology, which enables maintenance-free operation of all systems for more than six years.

Digitalisation in rail freight transport

The contract award for CargoMon is a significant undertaking for the company. They will be deploying their technology as required on DB Cargo rolling stock. DB Cargo has been deploying monitoring technology for some years, across their vast fleet of around 78,000 freight wagons in daily operations in 18 countries. Despite the company’s well-publicised challenges, including a huge round of redundancies announced in October, DB Cargo still operates the most widespread freight network.

With the current climate of tight financial constraints, the need to keep technical tracking on its fleet could not be more prescient. “With DB Cargo, we are expanding our opportunities to use innovative telematics and sensor solutions on a large scale,” said Dr Stefan Mahlknecht, Managing Director of CargoMon. “[We can] thus make a valuable contribution to the further progress of digitalisation in rail freight transport.”

Optimise production and reduce costs

Technically, the Austrian manufactured CargoMon devices are bolt-on devices with a solar panel, which generates enough energy for the telematics data collation and transmission on the move. In the medium term, CargoMon Systems will not only provide solar-powered tracking devices, but also offer various sensor solutions that cover a wide range of applications. The company says these will include the precise weighing of freight wagons, the detection of flexible containers on pocket wagons, as well as track-accurate GPS localisation.

“Thanks to the possibility of real-time weighing on the wagon using sensors, overloading, for example, can be recognised during loading and made transparent to the shipper via smartphone,” says the company’s statement. With such a large contract under its belt, CargoMon expects to develop its hardware further. These future developments, they say, will make it possible to optimise internal production processes and reduce costs in the future, as well as to offer new services demanded by the market. CargoMon says the units – which are less than a kilo in weight and just over 300mm in length can be screwed or magnetically mounted. They also say the units can be hidden from view – but RailFreight.com ‘experts’ suspect that might comprise the solar-powered element of the design…