DB Cargo: More transparency thanks to intelligent IT systems

Until a few years ago, cross-border transport was still a bit of a black box: it was known when freight trains crossed the border, for example to France, and when they left the country again - but in many cases it was difficult to track exactly where they were at certain times in between. The reasons for this included manual data entry, language barriers and different systems. As a result, supply chains and loading times were often difficult for customers to plan. The "Wagon Intelligence" project was launched at DB Cargo to offer a better service for tracking consignments.

Intelligent freight wagons thanks to self-sufficient GPS boxes
As part of this project, more than 63,000 DB Cargo freight wagons have been successfully equipped with telematics and sensors, or more precisely: GPS boxes. These devices are self-powered by solar panels and send location data every ten minutes while the wagon is travelling - and every 24 hours when stationary. But this data alone is not much use. The longitude and latitude data sent by the box must be referenced to something in order to be meaningful. And this is where geofencing comes into play.

Geofencing for orientation on the route
To find out exactly where the wagon is on the route, geofences have been created for the whole of Europe. With the help of algorithms that include position, movement status, speed and relative distance to important railway stations, an assignment to en route stations is recognised and made available to both customers and DB Cargo employees in real time.




Real-time data through VABEs
The next step is to link this telematics data with business data, for example, order information. This is done by means of so-called VABEs. Value Added Business Events (VABEs) are automatically generated real-time status messages that enrich the pure information on the wagon location with real "events" such as departure, transit or arrival at a station. These can be processed by Track & Trace in the link2rail portal or via API directly in the customer's own IT system. This leaves more time for important activities such as transport control and customer service. This is a great advantage in view of the demographic-related staff shortage. VABEs can be used to generate around 13,500,000 arrivals, departures or passages per month, which were previously entered manually or were less closely meshed.

More efficient processes thanks to smart applications
Geofencing has numerous other use cases. Customers can also use the Geofence Control eService to manually draw geofences in order to monitor individual zones, track wagon idle times, and avoid demurrage charges. Another app also makes work in operations easier: the Wagon Tracker for DB Cargo employees. It works in a similar way to an Apple Tag for freight wagons on a railway yard. Even if the track on which a wagon to be repaired is located is known, it can be kilometres long. Where employees previously had to walk or drive along the tracks, they can now find out exactly where the respective wagon is located with a click - and also determine the optimal route to distant locations by connecting to Google Maps.

Transparency for international success
At DB Cargo, around 60 per cent of all transport operations are cross-border. These smart technologies have now created greater transparency and international capacity to act. Customers benefit from valuable data, giving them greater control, which plays a major role in just-in-time and just-in-sequence transport - and thus ensures a high level of customer satisfaction.