Calgary-based TransRail Innovation Group’s (TRIG) XLoad digital sensor has been certified by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to begin pilot trials on rail tank cars transporting hazardous commodities like crude oil and refined fuels. The XLoad sensor has been certified to measure and track hazardous commodities inside of moving tank cars.
The poor visibility of the commodity levels inside of tank cars causes the industry to chronically under fill cars by an average of 5%. Shippers can now safely increase those fill levels by leveraging the accuracy of the sensor’s measurements inside of a closed tank car. Eliminating the unused capacity inside of the tank car reduces transportation costs and eliminates the danger of under filled and unbalanced rail tank cars. Unbalanced rail tank cars have a greater risk of derailment.
The battery-operated XLoad’s patented measurement and monitoring technology and wireless data communications allow to automatically detect, measure, and report on the specific levels and volumes that are loaded into and unloaded out of tank cars. Also, the sensor’s modern GPS technology pin points the real time location of where the tank car and its hazardous commodity is. Shippers benefit by being automatically alerted to the location of their hazardous commodities when close to sensitive areas like cities. And the sensor automatically alerts them to hazardous commodity leaks and thefts, as well as other issues.
TRIG has begun pilot trials with four refineries and shippers located in Canada and the US. “Two of our primary pilot trial objectives are to determine, consistently and with accuracy, the additional volume of oil that can be loaded into our customers’ tank cars, and to prove that our smart tank cars are the safest in the industry.” said Rob Tasker, TRIG CEO.
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