Supply Side: Alliance Shippers/Carrier Transicold, Humatics/Hitachi, L.B. Foster, Mi-Jack/Yardeye

Mi-Jack Products has acquired Yardeye GmbH, a German automation, collision avoidance, and work-zone protection supplier for the port and rail container industries.

Alliance Shippers Inc. is outfitting its 53-foot trailers and intermodal containers with Carrier Transicold telematics. Also, Humatics, in partnership with Hitachi Rail STS, is a RailTech Technology & Design Innovation Award finalist for 2022; L.B. Foster has been awarded ISNetworld’s RAVS Plus® designation for safety practices; and Mi-Jack Products and Yardeye GmbH are merging their container handling businesses.

Transcontinental logistics and transportation service provider Alliance Shippers Inc. has selected Carrier Transicold’s telematics system and Vector™ thin-profile refrigeration units. Telematics is being installed on all 1,500 of Alliance Shippers’ 53-foot trailers and intermodal containers. Beyond maintaining perishable cargo temperatures per customer specifications, the Carrier Transicold telematics system will allow Alliance to:
• “Run pre-trip inspections remotely and verify that fuel tanks are topped off so the trailers and containers can quickly get to the next origin point to reload.
• “Monitor fuel consumption within geofenced areas, such as distribution centers, to incentivize customers to more efficiently load and unload assets.
• “Proactively monitor equipment performance remotely, using Carrier Transicold’s unit analytics, which contributes to maintenance efficiencies.
• “Upgrade refrigeration unit software over the air, significantly improving efficiencies compared with manual upgrades by service technicians.”

In addition to the telematics upgrade, Alliance Shippers said it is “modernizing its fleet, converting from the traditional trailer-on-flatcar model to modern, stackable 53-foot domestic intermodal containers that are preferred by railroads. For its latest 200 containers, Alliance Shippers specified Vector models from Carrier Transicold’s portfolio of thin-profile refrigeration units that allow for a larger cargo envelope than possible with traditional intermodal container configurations, resulting in a volume comparable to over-the-road trailers. Each is equipped with Carrier Transicold’s rail-optimized solar charging system, providing 4.2 Amps of current to help maintain battery life for refrigeration unit and telematics system.”

For their work to improve CBTC (communications-based train control) with the Humatics Rail Navigation System (HRNS), Humatics and Hitachi Rail STS have been selected as a 2022 RailTech Innovation Award finalist in the Technology & Design category.

Hitachi challenged rail tech startups to propose solutions for “next-generation positioning and odometry systems” and selected Humatics to prove HRNS on its 0.93-mile (1.5-kilometer) test track in Naples, Italy. According to Humatics, HRNS is “based on sensor fusion algorithms that leverage the optimal sensors to solve challenging navigation problems. Ultra Wideband (UWB) along with sensors such as Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are fused together to provide … precise position, direction, speed and acceleration data to train control systems such as CBTC, Positive Train Control (PTC), and the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).”

The project “proved the value of replacing traditional odometry with our next-generation sensor fusion solution,” said Shawn Henry, CEO of Humatics, which is based in Waltham, Mass. “We’re grateful and humbled to be nominated as a RailTech innovator and we look forward to telling our story and what’s coming next at RailTech 2022 in June.”

The award winners will be announced at RailTech Europe in Utrecht, Netherlands on June 21, 2022.

Pittsburgh, Pa.-based L.B. Foster has been awarded RAVS Plus® recognition by global safety compliance group ISNetworld (ISN), following an audit of its safety policies, procedures, compliance and training. RAVS® is described as “a safety compliance standard that stands for ‘Review and Verification Services’ and is used to verify the effectiveness of health and safety programs.” 

“As on-site contractors installing and maintaining equipment, our customers can have the peace of mind that our rail service technicians are fully trained and knowledgeable in safe practices to avoid incidents,” L.B. Foster Director of Rail Services James Tanner said.

“L.B. Foster is proud to have been awarded ISNetworld’s RAVS Plus® designation for safety practices, and assuring our customers that we are delivering safe on-site services,” L.B. Foster Senior Vice President-Rail Greg Lippard said.

Hazel Crest, Ill.-based Mi-Jack Products has acquired Yardeye GmbH, a German automation, collision avoidance, and work-zone protection supplier for the port and rail container industries.

“Yardeye’s RFID and GNSS-based equipment, personnel Real Time Locating System (RTLS), and Collision Avoidance System (CAS) fit seamlessly into Mi-Jack’s Mi-Star® technology platform, which provides everything from differential GPS automated steering and GPS inventory management to virtualized operations view and centralized fleet management,” reported Mi-Jack, which provides Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes, container handling machinery, and technology for port and intermodal facilities. “With this expanded footprint, Mi-Jack brings its world-class support and service to Yardeye customers in North America and will provide Mi-Star technology solutions to ports and terminals across Europe.”

“The team has been growing Yardeye since 2017 from a concept to a company with a global impact serving the intermodal and container handling industry,” said Christian Augustin, Founder of Yardeye and Managing Director of indurad. “We are very proud with what we have achieved, and we believe that together with Mi-Jack, Yardeye will continue its success story, for our customers as well as our employees. indurad and I will continue to focus our activities on radar technology for bulk material handling.”