VTG AG to digitalize its entire European wagon fleet
VTG Aktiengesellschaft (VTG AG), leading wagon hire and rail logistics company in Europe, has unveiled a comprehensive digitalization strategy as the cornerstone of digital services in the industry. Over the next three to four years, the company will equip its whole European wagon fleet with a telematics system. Digitalizing every single freight car will lay the foundation for its new VTG Connect service, one aspect of which will involve supplying the operator with location and event data from all wagons. This will facilitate faster, smoother and more efficient maintenance and logistical processes in the future.
“A system that covers the entire European rail market is needed if rail freight transportation is to stay competitive in the long term. For this reason, we are equipping all VTG wagons in Europe with digital technology. This up-front investment marks a huge step forward for VTG and the whole industry,” says Dr. Heiko Fischer, CEO of VTG AG, underscoring the importance of the project. The solar-powered VTG Connector – a small box fitted to each wagon – is at the center of the new digital technology. The current position of each and every wagon is thus permanently available based on its GPS coordinates. Exact itineraries, arrival times and actual mileage can be calculated as a result.
Equipping its entire European fleet will not only enhance VTG’s service portfolio for wagon hire customers in the long term. Digitalization also opens up an array of benefits to customers of VTG’s logistical services, as the data captured for each wagon can be used to optimize transportation routes and processes. Moreover, the VTG Connector is ready to be fitted to VTG’s tank containers.
VTG Aktiengesellschaft is by its own account Europe’s leading wagon hire and rail logistics companies, with a fleet consisting of more than 80,000 railcars. In addition to the hiring of wagons, the group offers comprehensive multi-modal logistics services, and global tank container transports. The group’s customers include numerous well-known companies from almost every industrial sector, for example the chemical, petroleum, automotive, paper and agricultural industries. In the financial year 2015, VTG, which has its head office in Hamburg and 1,445 employees worldwide, generated revenue of EUR 1,027.5.