Supply Side: IntelliTrans, Hitachi Rail, RugGear/Swift Navigation, Burns Engineering

IntelliTrans

IntelliTrans on Dec. 2 announced that it has launched a new brand identity that reflects the multimodal transportation management solutions company’s “continued evolution and long-term strategy.”

The refreshed brand, the company says, “signals IntelliTrans’ ongoing progression toward a more dynamic, people-centered approach that elevates the expertise of transportation professionals and strengthens the company’s role as a trusted partner in increasingly complex supply chains.”

The rebrand marks a significant milestone in a multi-year transformation of IntelliTrans’ strategy, solutions, and customer experience, noted the company in a release. “The company’s updated visual identity reinforces IntelliTrans’ commitment to simplifying the complexity of global transportation while honoring its 30-year legacy of reliability and innovation.”

“For more than three decades, IntelliTrans has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the transportation professionals managing some of North America’s most complex freight networks,” said IntelliTrans President and CEO Chad Raube. “This rebrand honors that foundation while signaling the bold future we are building. We’re investing in our product, taking our multimodal strength further, and reimagining the customer experience from end to end. Through it all, our focus remains on elevating the insights and expertise of transportation professionals to create competitive advantage for the companies we serve.”

The brand refresh, the company says, coincides with IntelliTrans’ continued expansion of its Transportation Management System (TMS) platform and managed services, which give shippers and carriers greater visibility and control across rail, truck, and other modes. “Recent advancements strengthen the company’s position as a go-to partner for enterprises looking to modernize freight operations and optimize performance.”

“Transportation networks are becoming more complex, and our customers need solutions that can keep pace,” said Matt Everson, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at IntelliTrans. “IntelliTrans is investing in technology that helps them turn that complexity into a competitive advantage. The new brand represents that focus and reflects our commitment to empowering shippers to gain visibility, act faster, and build smarter, more connected supply chains.”

Hitachi Rail

Hitachi Rail has been named one of the Greater Toronto’s Top Employers, in Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition, the definitive annual list of the country’s best workplaces, for the seventh consecutive year.

Hitachi Rail employs more than 1,100 people in the Greater Toronto region and is home to the global engineering excellence center for the Urban Rail Signaling business.

Hitachi Rail’s SelTrac™ Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) solution, helps urban public transport operators to carry three billion passengers every year. This technology, the company says, will be used to power both the Ontario Line and Finch West LRT for the expansion of Toronto’s TTC system. ​Having created this technology in Toronto, this is the first time it will be deployed on a rail project in the city, Hitachi Rail noted.

“For more than 50 years in Canada, Hitachi Rail has been an engineering leader, supporting customers in transportation, having established its first Canada location in Toronto in the 1970s. Since those early beginnings, Hitachi Rail has been a strong partner of local businesses and a positive economic force in the region,” the company stated in a release.

Hitachi Rail is supporting a first-of-its-kind Railway Engineering Specialization at Ontario Tech University through the development of course content, providing student placement opportunities, and exploring joint research and development options. This partnership will also allow Hitachi Rail to provide student learning opportunities through rail-related guest lectures in courses, student capstone projects and recruitment initiatives.

“Being named a top employer in Toronto is a testament to our people and the culture they’ve helped create,” said Hitachi Rail in Canada President Ziad Rizk. “This underscores our ongoing commitment to creating a livable city through our contributions in public transit and infrastructure. But most importantly, this is about supporting our people with a workplace where they can thrive.”

RugGear/Swift Navigation

Swift Navigation, a global leader in precise positioning technology, and RugGear, a leading manufacturer of rugged mobile devices for professional use, on Dec. 2 announced a strategic partnership to embed high-accuracy positioning capabilities into RugGear’s enterprise and mission-critical mobile devices.

For organizations managing complex industrial, logistics, and public safety operations, location accuracy is paramount to safety and compliance, Swift Navigation noted in a release. Errors of just a few meters (common with standard GPS) can lead to missed deliveries, safety hazards, equipment placement errors, and invalid proof-of-service claims. This partnership, the company says, “directly addresses the need for reliable, high-accuracy positioning in the field.”

The partnership integrates Swift Navigation’s Skylark™ Precise Positioning Service directly into RugGear devices built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen Platform. This native integration delivers reliable lane-level accuracy—an order of magnitude improvement over standard GPS—without requiring any external receiver or configuration. Precise positioning is available out-of-the-box, “ensuring seamless performance across rugged mobile form factors,” the company said.

This integration, Swift Navigation say, “is a major step in bringing high-accuracy positioning to industrial mobility.” All location-based applications benefit automatically, meaning developers do not need to modify their existing apps.

Swift’s Skylark is a cloud-based service that improves standard GNSS accuracy from several meters to centimeter level, uniquely architected for reliable, affordable mass-market scale.

Skylark’s differentiated capabilities, the company says, “ensure superior performance in mission-critical environments: Swift’s proprietary atmospheric model delivers accuracy everywhere. The service is highly reliable thanks to a carrier-operated network and AWS-based cloud architecture, which provides unparalleled scalability, supporting the rapid deployment of RugGear devices globally. Finally, the ecosystem-based design simplifies integration, making high-accuracy positioning affordable and reducing total cost of ownership.”

The first featured device to integrate the technology is the RG940, a high-performance, rugged 10.1-inch tablet, specifically designed for the most demanding industrial uses.

This high accuracy, the company says, is essential for improving operational efficiency and accountability across enterprise segments:

• “Rail: Enhances safety and efficiency for trains and prevents freight car loading errors.
• “Logistics & Waste Management: Optimizes routes, reduces fuel costs, and provides indisputable proof of service records for liability claims.
• “Construction: Provides a value-engineered approach for GIS mapping assets and enhances worker safety through geo-fenced ‘no-go’ zones.”

“Rugged mobility demands two things: reliability in the harshest conditions and the precision required for critical tasks,” said Holger Ippach, EVP of Product and Marketing at Swift Navigation. “By integrating Skylark directly onto RugGear’s Snapdragon-based devices, we are transforming the capabilities of mobile enterprise solutions. Professionals can now have lane-level accurate data in their hands, instantly improving safety, efficiency, and compliance.”

“Our customers operate where device failure or location error is simply not an option,” said Jeff Liu, Vice President of RugGear. “The integration of Swift Navigation’s Skylark into our rugged portfolio, starting with the RG940, moves high-accuracy GNSS from a specialty tool to a standard, native capability, unlocking next-generation enterprise applications for our industrial and public safety users.”

Burns Engineering

Burns Engineering on Dec. 2 announced that it has received a strategic investment from private equity firm OceanSound Partners. Burns Engineering’s existing leadership, management, and employees, led by President and CEO Matthew Burns and SVP and COO John Burns, have retained a significant ownership interest in the company and will continue in their roles, according to a release. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1960, Burns is a leading provider of specialized engineering, technical design and consulting services to the aviation, rail, power, utility, higher education, mission-critical, and healthcare end markets. The company’s capabilities span electrical, mechanical, and technology systems engineering—core disciplines that support the existing modernization and buildout of next-generation infrastructure. With more than 360 employees in 13 offices, “Burns is a trusted partner for leading agencies, asset owners, and infrastructure operators with a proven ability to deliver complex, mission-critical projects that enhance reliability and efficiency of essential systems,” said the company, which is recognized as one of the top 20 electrical design firms in the U.S. by Electrical Construction & Maintenance Magazine and ranked #30 on the MEP Giants list of top MEP firms in North America.

“For more than six decades, Burns has built trusted, long-term relationships by solving our clients’ most complex engineering challenges,” said Matthew Burns. “The pace of change across our end markets—from electrification and grid modernization to the expansion of digital and transportation infrastructure—is creating unprecedented opportunities for firms with deep technical expertise and trusted client relationships. OceanSound’s experience in critical infrastructure and engineering services makes them an ideal partner as we enter this next chapter of growth.”

“Our success is driven by deep technical expertise, a commitment to client service, and a culture that empowers our people to innovate on behalf of our customers. Together with OceanSound, we will strengthen the capabilities and resources that have earned Burns its reputation for reliability, collaboration, and project excellence—creating even greater value for our clients and new tools to attract and retain the best talent,” added John Burns.

“Investment in the modernization and resilience of U.S. infrastructure continues to accelerate, creating strong, long-term demand for specialized engineering and technology services,” said OceanSound CEO and Founder Joe Benavides. “At the same time, the U.S. faces a significant shortage of mechanical and electrical engineering expertise required to support this transformation. Burns plays a vital role in bridging that gap—designing the electrical, power, and technology systems that enable electrification, grid modernization, and the rapid buildout of AI-driven infrastructure. We’re excited to partner with the Burns team to scale their capabilities and expand their impact across these mission-critical markets.”

“Burns’ deep technical expertise and longstanding customer relationships have made it a trusted name in critical infrastructure engineering,” said Ocean Sound Principal Addison Nordin. “We look forward to helping Burns accelerate growth through targeted initiatives and highly strategic acquisitions that deepen its presence in complex, fast-growing end markets and expand its geographic reach. By pairing Burns’ strong momentum with disciplined M&A execution, we can build an even more differentiated industry leader and create meaningful long-term value for clients, employees, and shareholders.”

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor to OceanSound. Venable LLP served as legal advisor and Chesapeake Corporate Advisors (CCA) served as financial advisor to Burns.