Telematics: Slow, But Steady

RAILWAY AGE, JUNE 2025 ISSUE: Telematics providers are upbeat, despite sluggish adoption.

Although rail telematics providers and users would like a speedier and more widespread integration of telematics technology in North America, vendors are still pleased with the progress made thus far and are upbeat about telematics’ future, sources told Railway Age.

“The opportunity for rail telematics is massive. As the industry modernizes, visibility and accountability are becoming non-negotiable,” Geoforce CEO James S. MacLean III said. “Operators who embrace connected asset tracking now are positioning themselves to lead in efficiency, safety, and service. We’re here to make that transition not only possible, but practical.”

“It’s great growth, but in terms of market share, it’s very small, and we need to go faster in order to deliver the benefits to the industry,” David Shannon, General Manager of RailPulse™, told Railway Age.

Costs an Ongoing Concern

For the rail industry to fully adopt telematics technology for locomotives and railcars, telematics providers need data to prove the technology’s worth. But getting all that data also warrants a wider pool of participants to draw that data from, and this is the Catch-22 that telematics providers are encountering, according to sources.

“To deliver the big value to the industry, you need a critical mass of railcars,” Shannon said. Of the 1.6 million cars in rail service in North America, “some significant percentage needs to be equipped to get some of the large-scale benefits. Right now, the primary benefits are being delivered to the individual fleet owners who have a small subset of cars instrumented in RailPulse. We’re getting benefit today. But the bigger industry-wide benefits will come as we get to scale.”

TrinityRail® noted that it “has demonstrated a commitment to mitigating modal shift within the rail industry through the collaborative effort of RailPulse™. “As a founding member, TrinityRail has joined other leading companies in the rail industry to pursue a neutral, open-architecture, industry-wide railcar telematics infrastructure. Through RailPulse, we aim to create a platform allowing users to see the location, condition and health of railcars across the North American fleet.”

One of the most visible factors hindering a fuller adoption of telematics is costs: Shippers may be hesitant to invest in telematics equipment for their fleet, particularly if the shipper leases railcars.

“I think that’s part of the challenge right now,” said Brad Myers, EVP and COO of Amsted Digital Solutions, an offering of Amsted Rail. “If you don’t own the asset, and you’re going to make, let’s just say, rough numbers of a $700 investment for five years of service, plus the hardware times a 1,000- or 10,000-car fleet, it starts to get really expensive. And you don’t own the railcar. So, you might lease the cars for three to five years, and you give them back again. What do you do with
the equipment?”

If not as many shippers have a lot of interest in footing ancillary expenses and costs, then the onus may be on the lessors to figure out how to help their customer base to monetize these investments,
Myers said.

“This idea of experimentation to get to innovation is the theme that people need to embrace. And, you know, it’s still very limited,” Myers said. “What’s interesting is, you look at rail carloads, for example, where you might have a product load of $150,000 worth of goods or bulk product, and people are worried about spending $350 to outfit onboard technology and spend $3 or $4 a month. That’s understandable if you have 5,000, 10,000 and so on cars, but when you look at the aggregate of the spend in the rail transportation side, the benefits, the ROIs, are tremendous. But people are probably struggling with just the idea of change.

“When I get on and I order from Amazon, I never talk to anybody, right? From the moment I push go and I place the order, it keeps me updated. It tells me, it’s being packaged, it’s being delivered. And then it tells me it’s eight stops out, and then it gets there. In our rail space, you place the waybill, basically, a 417, on a railroad, you must follow that thing every step of the way. What a nightmare. And people are on the phone every day, multiple times a day, trying to follow their railcars. Amazon would implode if that were the business.” 

“That’s the environment that we’re in, and it’s hard to get people to think about it in that context when you’ve got a different level of service expectation,” Myers noted. “The way they do that is through technology, and it’s not terribly expensive. So, how do we bridge that?”

But beyond costs, there are other factors at play, according to Myers. Companies also seem to choose to settle with the status quo whatever works, however imperfect. “You’ve got people that actively manage railcars, and I think their attitude is, is the data we have today good enough?” Myers said. “Well, they don’t know what that experience looks like if it were enhanced and optimized, so that people who spend a lot of their time extracting data could instead spend more effort on value-added opportunities. I think there’s still a little bit of that experimentation kind of attitude right now across the industry, other than a few pockets of people who are the leaders, from a customer perspective.”

Shippers may also be concerned that proprietary company data would become more available to more actors, Myers added. “However, most shippers forget that when you book a railcar to be moved from A to B, the railroad knows where the car is going. If it’s a leased asset, the lessor knows where the car is going because they all get the same data. The railroads obviously have the greatest level of detail. So, there’s other parties that already know the direction and location of the assets.” 

Shannon agreed that one of the biggest hindrances to widespread telematics adoption is the perception of how much it might cost. If five years of owning a telematics device will cost $800 to $1,000 per railcar, “you’re going to have buyers that say, for me to spend that much money on a railcar, I need a hard, fast, quantitative ROI that I can step up to. And if you want me to move faster, give me some help on the cost,” Shannon said. While the early adopters have been willing to take on some risk, “the majority of buyers are going to wait until they see that we’ve solved that value equation in a proven way, and the market is getting the energy on its own.” That’s why working with the early adopters to document and demonstrate the benefits is so key, Shannon stressed. 

Since Shannon came on board with RailPulse three years ago, he has seen RailPulse grow from “essentially an idea to a successful trial,” proving the concept that “there can be a competitive ecosystem where multiple telemetry vendors are serving the needs of the rail market, and they’re innovating and competing for the rail industry in North America.”

Jared DeVries, regional director for railcar telematics at ZTR, also sees the newness of telematics as giving the industry pause, even though telematics has been adopted to some degree in other forms of freight transportation.

“While telematics has been widely adopted in over-the-road and off-road industries for decades, it remains relatively new territory for the rail sector,” DeVries said. “A key challenge is that many rail stakeholders are still unfamiliar with how telematics technologies apply specifically to railcar operations—how the data is collected, interpreted and turned into actionable insights. However, at the same time, expectations keep shifting, with many buyers focused on the ‘next big thing’ instead of proven solutions that work today.”

Still another factor is market uncertainties, DeVries noted. “There’s also the added complexity of market uncertainties and tariff pressures, which can affect long-term planning, along with the evolving landscape around potential AAR regulation of railcar telematics. Despite these hurdles, the value of telematics is increasingly recognized, and adoption continues to grow as the industry gains clarity
and confidence.”

Said Geoforce’s MacLean, “Many rail operators view telematics as a high-cost investment, often sidelined due to tight budgets and competing priorities. Integrating new systems with legacy infrastructure can also feel overwhelming, especially when data consistency and compatibility are in question. Uncertainty around standardization and future regulations adds to the hesitation, and concerns about data security, particularly around cyber threats and operational privacy, remain top of mind. But these challenges also point to the industry’s biggest areas for growth. As operators see the proven ROI through better asset utilization, reduced dwell time and streamlined reporting, momentum is building. Geoforce helps accelerate this shift with solutions that are easy to deploy, cost-effective and purpose-built for the complexity of rail operations.” 

Said Shannon, “There are tech challenges, but the biggest challenge is not technical. It’s accelerating the pace of adoption so that we can accelerate the delivery of the benefits that this technology can provide to the industry and the public.”

One tech challenge is power. “Telematics and the growing demand for on-board railcar devices and equipment all need an electric power source,” according to Railway Equipment Company (RECO). “Solar, the primary source thus far, is quite limited in the power it can produce as well as when and where it is effective.” RECO has developed a generator that can be attached to the end of a railcar axle and a power converter that will produce “significant” electrical energy for on-board devices as well as for charging a battery. The company’s Gen™ axle generator converts the mechanical energy obtained from a rotating wheel into electrical energy. “This generator will provide a significant level of watts that can power on-board devices and charge a storage battery,” RECO explains. “With the railcar moving at 10 mph, the generator will produce at least 5 watts of electricity. At 50 mph, it will produce 75 watts. Generator output is 3-phase alternating current, which feeds to the power converter. The converter takes the raw 3-phase AC current and converts it to a regulated nominal 12 volts direct current, which can be used to charge an external battery as well as power on-board devices and equipment. If the railcar is stationary for extended periods of time, the power converter will take the battery off-line and go into a sleep mode, preserving charge. Small and compact, the EX-Gen™ generator and power converter have been designed for extreme high and low temperatures, and to withstand the severe mechanical shock and abuse in a railcar environment. With the level of electrical power available, the opportunities for on-board devices and equipment have been greatly expanded.”

Turning Challenges into Opportunities

Although the adoption of rail telematics has been at a slower pace than what telematics providers would like, that hasn’t stopped these providers from continuing to enhance and bolster existing offerings.

“We’re turning these challenges into opportunities by applying the lessons and measurable success we’ve had in other industries—particularly in reducing leasing and maintenance costs—and adapting those solutions to the rail sector,” DeVries said.

Nor has it stopped railcar owners from being willing to install telematics devices on their fleets. “As a pure play manufacture, we don’t have a lease fleet and therefore not part of the RailPulse consortium,” said FreightCar America Chief Commercial Officer Matt Tonn. However, “during the past two years, we have applied various telematic devices per customer request. In short, we are very familiar with the installation and commissioning of this valuable technology. All our railcar designs are ‘telematics ready,’ so installation is straightforward.”

TrinityRail® said the company “is taking a broader view of resolving shipper supply chain challenges through innovative shipment management products and services. Whether its telematics, yard management, shipment tracking, or rail-rate and traffic analysis software, TrinityRail’s suite of solutions are designed with the needs of customers in mind.”

In 2019, TrinityRail introduced Trinsight®, described as “a next generation digital platform that utilizes secure, cloud-based GPS and telematics data to track the location of railcars from origin to destination, and report on cargo status and railcar health. Trinsight also employed a powerful yard management tool that allowed shippers to monitor any railcar from the time they entered the yard to departure.”

With the 2023 acquisition of RSI Logistics, a provider of rail shipment management software solutions for more than 40 years, TrinityRail “added a portfolio of advanced logistics solutions to improve the end-to-end rail transportation experience of its customers. Now, with all our digital and telematics solutions under the RSI Logistics brand name, we deliver a broad roster of digital products, terminal services and expertise that addresses every phase of a rail-centric supply chain. Through RSI Logistics’ specialized services, customers can more effectively manage their rail shipping while enabling internal logistics personnel to concentrate on core business needs. Many of these companies utilize this level of expertise to improve the effectiveness and reduce the administrative cost of their rail transportation program.”  

TrinityRail points to RSI’s Rail Command® and Rail Impact® products. Rail Command “helps shippers control demurrage charges by making it easy to see how long railcars have been at a location through advanced track and trace capabilities. The product provides an all-in-one shipment tracking, comprehensive railcar fleet control, streamlined freight processing, and reporting automation experience. Rail Impact is a rail rate analysis tool designed to help shippers efficiently negotiate freight rates. It offers access to a vast database of serving carriers, cost models and railroad financial data updated via the Uniform Rail Costing System (URCS). The tool allows shippers to analyze rates as if they were railroad pricing managers, track market trends and access critical information, such as routing options and fuel surcharge miles, all in one place.”

ZTR “has been working with industry stakeholders and regulatory bodies to support the development of telematics standards and future regulations, and it maintains an open feedback loop with customers and partners so that ZTR can use the feedback to enhance current sensors and develop new solutions, DeVries said. “For years, ZTR has helped customers in the maintenance-of-way equipment and construction markets improve visibility, streamline operations and drive down costs through telematics. We’re now showing how similar benefits—optimizing fleet size, improving asset utilization and avoiding unnecessary maintenance—can be achieved with railcars. A key part of our approach is the use of demonstration pilots that allow rail customers to see the technology in action within their own operations. These pilots help translate unfamiliar technology into real-world results and build the foundation for broader adoption.”

Amsted Digital Solutions last year divested its transportation management software to focus solely on the onboard hardware telematics and related machine learning aspects, according to Myers. The company describes its IQ Series gateway as a “maintenance-free, low-power telematics device that uses advanced machine learning technology and eliminates the need for specialized external sensors.”

“Our approach basically is, think of it like a router in your home. You might have multiple laptops in your home. And in our case, all we want to be is that modem. We don’t want to be all the laptops. We want to be the thing that feeds and generates the data,” Myers said.

DeVries says ZTR’s advancements in its railcar telematics offerings include a focus on improving ease of deployment and data quality. ZTR introduced a mobile application designed specifically to support field installations by validating the communication status of all devices during setup. ZTR also focused on bolstering hardware capabilities and enhancing sensor configurations to improve battery life and offer better-quality data.

“We’ve expanded our hardware capabilities by making our sensors Intrinsically Safe to complement our gateway device,” DeVries said. “These sensors are certified to C1D1 (Class I, Division 1) standards, the highest safety rating for hazardous environments. This certification ensures our devices can operate safely around flammable gases or vapors—making them ideal for railcars carrying chemicals, fuels or other hazardous materials.”

Meanwhile, at RailPulse, there are now four certified vendors, up from three in 2024: Amsted Digital Solutions, Nexxiot, Wabtec and ZTR. Since last September, RailPulse also emerged from trial pilot mode, and the entity now has more than 40 companies using the platform, according to Shannon. In April 2024, RailPulse had 2,000 to 3,000 railcars, and now it’s approaching 17,000. 

“Every vendor that wants to work with the North American rail industry and bring telematics into the rail industry and be part of RailPulse introduces more to that innovation pipeline. Competition is always a good thing in terms of driving innovation, driving efficiency, etc.,” Shannon said. “And we are seeing innovative and creative developments coming from the telematics companies. We started with a finite set of things that we wanted to be able to track, to demonstrate, and we continue to track those things.”

RailPulse’s telematics offerings are also increasing in variety, Shannon said, with technologies ranging from those for monitoring wheels, bearings, tank temperature and pressure, to those for doors, hatches and valves. “Through innovations of the telemetry vendors, through the desires of the railcar owners, we’re seeing the introduction of new technologies. Many are still being evaluated for their efficacy and value, while others are a little further along in the process. RailPulse strongly encourages this type of experimentation as it will lead to even greater benefits for the industry.”

Over the past year, RailPulse has also added more railcar lessors, because more shippers “are saying they want this kind of data to be able to either have better visibility of their freight or other driving requirements,” Shannon said. Participation in RailPulse “means that stakeholders will have greater insight into equipment health and enable the industry to move from a reactive to a predictive maintenance strategy.”

“A key focus right now is on making sure the technology delivers what it needs to deliver at scale in order to actually change behavior,” Shannon said. “So, we have very active mechanical committees within RailPulse made up of car owners looking at the performance of certain sensors, for example, those for monitoring hand brakes, to make sure that they have high confidence in the data coming off those sensors. With very high confidence in the data and as we get to scale, the industry will be willing then to change their operating and maintenance behavior based on what the data is saying. That’ll deliver the huge benefits to the industry through a healthier fleet that’s predictively maintained.”

Although rail telematics still appears to be in the early stages of adoption, dozens of telematics providers are eager to enter a rail market that they see will only grow.

Geoforce’s MacLean says his company’s offerings steer away from traditional automated equipment identification systems and help shippers and railcar owners track railcars, maintenance-of-way equipment and rail construction assets. “We meet these challenges [toward telematics adoption] head-on by focusing on simplicity, reliability, and long-term value,” he said. “Our devices are easy to install, even on aging fleets, and built rugged enough to withstand harsh rail environments. We design our platform to integrate cleanly with existing systems, making it easier for operators to get actionable data without overhauling their entire tech stack. We also work closely with customers to map out ROI from day one, whether it’s improving asset utilization, reducing demurrage fees or enhancing safety and compliance reporting. By making the business case clear, we help operators secure buy-in from both the field and the front office.” 

Hoping to gain a greater foothold in the U.S. market is Israel-based Tri-Logical Technologies, which provides AI-powered, vibration-based railcar health monitoring, according to International Business Development Director Tatiana Voloshin. “At Trilogical, we are committed to transforming railcar operations and health management, delivering meaningful value to stakeholders across the railway industry. Our breakthrough technologies,  including AI-driven Health Monitoring Algorithms, help railroads, fleet owners and shippers enhance safety, minimize downtime and unlock greater revenue potential.”

Voloshin described Tri-Logical’s offering as “a proprietary AI-driven solution that leverages advanced vibration analysis to detect wheel flats in real time, by using a RailBlazer telematics device mounted on the railcar body. The car-mounted design eliminates the need for costly trackside or truck-specific systems, offering a smarter, real-time approach to railcar health management.”