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February 2026
Compiled by Michael Popke
The IQ Series™ gateway from Amsted Digital Solutions® is a next-generation, freight-rail onboard telematics device that provides continuous rail-car monitoring through a single, self-contained package, company officials said in an email. The IQ Series gateway leverages an AI-enabled microcontroller and integrated sensors to replace the need for external add-ons, and delivers a low “total telematics adoption cost,” Amsted officials said.
Mounted on one or both of a rail car’s bogies, the IQ Series gateway continuously monitors critical health and status indicators, including wheel condition, braking anomalies, load status and real-time GPS location with geofence entry and exit alerts. The idea: to enable car owners and shippers to detect developing issues early, reduce unplanned downtime and improve maintenance planning and operational decision-making based on actual rail-car usage and condition, company officials said.
Built for harsh freight-rail environments, the device provides six to 10 years of service life and supports instant over-the-air updates, enabling new features to be deployed to existing hardware without costly replacements or site visits, company officials said. Data integrates seamlessly into Amsted Digital’s Supply Chain Visibility™ platform or into existing third-party systems, with support for both European ITSS and North American RailPulse data standards.
Installed in non-signalized (dark territory) networks, BossPac’s BRS (Broken Rail Sensor) units are designed to be an economical option to monitor potential rail breaks without centralized traffic control infrastructure, company officials said. The units are compact, solar-powered and communicate wirelessly, and use DC current to measure rail integrity.
The units operate in groups of one to 10 sensors, each positioned one mile apart, where they transmit and receive low-voltage signals through the rail. When one sensor detects a rail break, its group-member sensors validate the reading, reducing false positives, company officials said.
The sensors feature multiple options to wirelessly communicate data. A self-healing mesh network allows interconnectedness among network devices, ensuring continuous data flow even if some units are offline. Hot box detectors are integrated into the mesh network and serve as gateways to upload data to BossPac’s back-office. All BRS units are equipped with 4G LTE modems for data uploads via LTE networks.
BossPac began installing BRS on Class I rail in 2021 and has detected hundreds of rail breaks, company officials said.
Meanwhile, BossPac Way-Side Temperature Sensing (WTS) technology uses calibrated infrared sensing to measure bearing temperatures for every passing car. When a threshold is exceeded or trends suggest a developing issue, operations are alerted instantly. Built for remote corridors, WTS integrates with the company’s ultra-low-power Dark Network Comms for reliable event delivery, even where conventional connectivity is limited, BossPac officials said.
Censys Technologies designs and manufactures autonomous aerial intelligence systems that deliver continuous monitoring for critical infrastructure networks. The company’s Sentaero 6 long-range VTOL aircraft, paired with the EdgeDock autonomous ground station, forms a scalable inspection network capable of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, company officials said.
Each EdgeDock automates launch, recovery, charging and on-site data processing, enabling persistent aerial patrols along rail lines, power corridors and pipelines without on-site crews. The system’s edge analytics push decision-grade intelligence directly to enterprise dashboards in near real time.
The Sentaero 6 EdgeDock system provides a foundation for the modernization of corridor inspection, asset documentation and network resilience under the FAA’s evolving BVLOS framework, company officials said.
Duos Technologies’ Railcar Inspection Portal (rip®) provides Class I and passenger railroads with real-time, high-resolution, 360-degree images at track speeds up to 125 mph, company officials said. Leveraging artificial intelligence, the rip highlights potential issues for faster, safer and more comprehensive rail-car inspections.
Duos’ rip-as-a-Service™ is a subscription-based offering that allows a wide array of stakeholders — including rail-car owners, operators, manufacturers and shippers — to access critical insights generated by the rip network without investing in portal hardware.
Through a monthly or annual subscription, users gain real-time visibility into rail-car health, enabling proactive maintenance, reduced downtime, predictive analytics and fleet performance optimization, company officials said. The browser-based solution provides a seamless user experience with virtually no learning curve, they added.
In addition, account setup is quick, enabling new customers to inspect their rolling stock the same day.
L.B. Foster’s Rockfall Monitoring is a LiDAR-based track obstruction detection system designed for rail corridors exposed to rockfall and slope failures. Multiple 2D LiDAR scanners are installed along the right of way to create overlapping coverage of the track area. A defined detection zone is monitored continuously, with processing handled locally in a signal house.
When an obstruction enters the detection zone, the system changes and can provide relay outputs to support railroad operation and response through signal interfaces, maintainer alerts and dispatcher notifications.
The system is designed to filter brief, non-hazard activations such as wildlife and other transient movement. When paired with a camera, event images are captured alongside alarm messaging to support faster assessment and response.
In locations where slide fences have traditionally been used, Rockfall Monitoring offers a different approach to managing risk and maintaining fluid operations, company officials said. Detecting real track obstructions rather than relying on fence contact alone reduces unnecessary interruptions and limits repeated callouts tied to nuisance activations, they said.
Logged events and system health reporting also support maintenance planning and focused inspection activity.
In service, Rockfall Monitoring has identified multiple valid rockfall events and enabled railroads to stop trains before encountering debris on or near the rail, company officials said. That capability helps reduce exposure to derailment risk, avoids secondary damage, and supports safer and more consistent operations, they added.
The LMU4 from 3C Telemetry is a next-generation locomotive monitoring unit engineered specifically for short lines. It combines rugged hardware with cutting-edge 4G LTE, GPS and a suite of sensors (fuel probes, temperature, oil level, battery voltage, impact detection and more) to provide comprehensive condition monitoring.
Railroads can track critical locomotive systems in real time to reduce maintenance costs, prevent downtime and pinpoint efficiency issues, company officials said. The system also minimizes fuel consumption, detects theft, verifies purchases and offers detailed insights into crew movements and locomotive usage in the field.
The intuitive, no-install web platform features interactive maps, satellite views, standard and custom reports, and export options, which can be integrated with existing software.
Other features include real-time alarms, customizable geo-fences, over-the-air updates and mobile notifications. Designed for harsh environments, the LMU4 is installable within hours and backed by lifetime support, company officials said.
Powered by Railinc®, the TransmetriQ platform provides real-time location, health and status data covering virtually every rail asset operating in North America, company officials said.
TransmetriQ automatically displays key rail-car health and location data flowing from detectors covering the entire North American rail network. Users can customize dashboards, set up real-time alerts and address critical scenarios before they become disruptions.
With direct access to real-time Railinc data and AI-generated predictions, TransmetriQ also provides component-life estimates to help schedule safe and cost-effective replacements and maintenance at preferred repair locations, company officials said.
Additionally, TransmetriQ dashboards leverage direct access to comprehensive rail industry fleet data using Railinc’s Equipment Health Management System, Equipment Advisory System, Damaged and Defective Car Tracking, movement systems and other systems.
VisioStack’s RailLinks® provides a centralized platform that brings various data types together for use by railroad decision-makers at various levels within the organization.
RailLinks integrates data from inspection systems, images and operational datasets into a single environment, reducing the need for teams to move between disconnected tools.
By consolidating information that traditionally has been siloed, engineering, maintenance and operations teams can gain a clearer picture of asset condition and system performance, company officials said. The integrated view supports trend analysis, anomaly detection and a better understanding of asset health, they added.
Monitoring within RailLinks is designed to support proactive decision-making. Instead of relying solely on reactive responses to failures or threshold-based alerts, teams can identify emerging issues earlier and prioritize maintenance accordingly, company officials said.
Monitoring insights are linked to planning and budgeting workflows, enabling railroads to align observed field conditions with longer-term maintenance and capital planning efforts.
Pivot by ZTR provides rail shippers, lessors and railroads with real-time data. Developed in collaboration with BlackBerry as a RailPulse-certified solution, the Pivot system uses an IoT gateway and telematics sensors to provide a comprehensive view of rail-car health and status.
Users can leverage the insights to enhance safety by monitoring critical impact detection and handbrake status, streamline logistics with precise location tracking for data-driven supply chain planning, and protect assets by monitoring door, hatch and load status in real time, company officials said.
Featuring a “set-it-and-forget-it” design, Pivot is engineered for extreme durability; the gateway is C1D1 certified. Units are equipped with a replaceable battery that lasts up to eight years, company officials said.
The Pivot gateway can be installed on any rail car in under 10 minutes using a dedicated mobile app and provided kits, they added. n
Michael Popke is a Madison, Wisconsin-based freelance writer.
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