DB Schenker Rail (UK) Limited

As part of its commitment to provide the best possible service to all its customers, DB Schenker Rail identified the need to implement a vehicle tracking system across its fleet of locomotives. There was a requirement to provide real-time data to satisfy both their own and their customers' real-time needs together with the ability to retrieve historical information on demand, for example where its locomotives had been and at what time. INCA from APD Communications was selected as the solution to meet all the DB Schenker Rail vehicle tracking requirements and provide the platform for further development.

With the new INCA system an operator can optimise locomotive allocation to services at any given location in response to a Customer's order and receive real time notification of delivery progress. A practical illustration of this is where INCA data has been linked to ECOS, the Electronic Coal Ordering System, which enables all data associated with Electricity coal delivery, from order placement to actual delivery, to be retained in one system.

In addition to improving response times, operators also have the ability to track exactly where a locomotive conveying a Customer's commodity is at any given time. This information enables DB Schenker Rail to verify and validate delivery times to customers as well as using the data for internal analysis.