North American freight railcar owners and users now have access to a new technology tool that predicts the optimal time to replace wheelsets, one of the costliest railcar maintenance items.
TransmetriQ—a new unit of rail industry information technology provider Railinc—has launched Wheelset Intelligence reporting for owners, lessors, repair shops, and users of North American freight cars.
Wheelset Intelligence’s ability to accurately predict wheelset failures was developed to support safe and optimized operations of North American rail services. Additional benefits include:
- Maximized equipment mileage between repair cycles
- Minimized disruptions of train operations
- Reduced maintenance spending
“Replacing railcar wheelsets accounts for about half of all railcar maintenance spending,” says Ward Proctor, director—business solutions, TransmetriQ.
“Without visibility into wheelset health, equipment owners and users have little to no information to make informed decisions regarding maintenance scheduling. Wheelset Intelligence helps to reduce maintenance costs by ensuring repairs are done at the optimal time and location for the equipment owner, which also increases railcar availability,” Proctor said.
TransmetriQ’s Wheelset Intelligence report is trained on data from millions of wheelset lifecycles, leveraging the latest Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies. Its predictions identify opportunities to proactively change wheelsets without giving up excessive amounts of component life. Wheelset Intelligence also improves repair cost forecasting and budgeting by controlling repair activity.
“I am proud to work with TransmetriQ’s team of industry transportation experts, UX designers, data scientists, and critical thinkers,” said Proctor. “Their efforts are helping North America’s railroads operate safely while giving shippers more sustainable and efficient options for their supply chain services.”
