RTMS Provides HUGE Cost Savings for Rail Facilities.

If you manage a rail terminal, you know how important it is to keep track of all operations-related details. From train arrival and departure times to managing inventory and interacting with customers, there is a lot to juggle daily. An effective rail management software solution can benefit a rail company by increasing efficiency and reducing costs. Below are a few of a rail facility's cost savings by implementing an RTMS application like Railroad Software 's RTMS.

1. Accurately tracking railcar locations within a rail yard?– An RTMS (Rail Terminal Management Software) application is designed to increase efficiencies and reduce costs by providing a real-time view of all rail terminals, their locations, and the status of each railcar. This enables the terminal operators to see potential problems and make decisions to improve operations. When managing a rail yard manually (paper, spreadsheet, or whiteboard), it is easy to suffer railcar misplacement as so many railcars come in and out of the facility daily. The primary function of an RTMS is to manage the placement of those railcars and their inventory as they enter, move within, and exit the rail terminal.?By letting the RTMS keep track of railcar placement, rail yard managers can locate which path a railcar has been placed upon and where its intended destination should be.
2. Real-time data capture and monitoring?– Another benefit of using an RTMS is that it can help to optimize the rail network. Having a real-time view of all terminals makes it possible to see where there are capacity issues and adjust the network accordingly. This can lead to cost savings by reducing railcars' time sitting idle. An RTMS application should allow train crews, transloaders, and yardmasters to update railcar status and other vital data when changes occur. These changes should be done either by a mobile device, tablet, or desktop computer.?Making changes to the railcars in real time eliminates the possibility of updates not being recorded promptly, resulting in the potential to allow for mistakes when making operational decisions.?Using the RTMS to make live status updates, manage railcar placement, and document railcar movement throughout the yard simplifies and streamlines the entire process.?In addition, this provided the backbone for identifying key strategies that can improve overall railcar velocity and yard capacity.
3. Historical data storage and management?– A RTMS application stores all pertinent information, reducing unnecessary paperwork that can be easily lost or misfiled.?Using an RTMS allows one to have all the needed information at their fingertips.?Whether it be railcar history information, railcar placement records, or railcar inspections, everything is available in one place through the application.?Not only does this save time, but it also allows for documents to be available from any terminal by any authorized user, making client interaction much more accessible and reducing the chance of human error.?Human error, even slight, can cost rail yards a significant amount of money.?The likeliness of human error increases the more manual the process of recording and tracking is.?Currently, large spreadsheets or whiteboards house critical information for railcar processing.?Though this method may be effective, it creates an open door for possible mistakes.?Add to that the hectic day-to-day productions of a busy rail yard, and the possibility only continues to increase.
4. Reduction in demurrage costs?– One of the most significant avoidable expenses for rail facilities is demurrage. Demurrage charges often occur due to unprocessed railcars that have been misplaced in the yard or are unaccounted railcars due to inadequate organization.?As frustrating as this can be for rail yards, it is a common problem encountered far more often than needed.?An RTMS allows one to track all status changes of a railcar and creates reports based on this data that upper management can analyze to determine through railcar history where more efficient procedures could be beneficial in reducing and eliminating demurrage charges.

Efficient and simple user experience?– Not all RTMS applications are created similarly. A functional and simple-to-use application can increase overall process efficiency, while a cumbersome and difficult-to-use application takes focus away from task completion.

When it comes to finding the right terminal management software solution for your organization’s needs, consider a few key features that each application should offer:

• Easy-to-use interfaces – The top Rail Yard Management Systems will provide a user-friendly interface that helps users feel at ease while completing tasks. An intuitive interface reduces training time and frustration because operators quickly feel comfortable using the system. The best systems have easy navigation between float routes so you can preserve transit time and fleet operations.
• Simplified views of complex facilities – Does the proposed terminal management display information in ways that allow you to safely articulate locations, conditions, configurations, and inventory? If not, consider another alternative solution.
• Integrated paperwork – Can yard supervisors accurately track work with paper tickets? Or does the process require too many sheets of paper shuffling throughout the day? A good Rail Yard Management System will integrate required documentation into your workflow seamlessly; enhancing tracking and compliance; this will decrease the time it takes to track changes, update statuses, conduct railcar inspections, and pull reports.??The RTMS application should be simple to create and extract critical information such as departure summaries, rail terminal velocity, and historical yard capacity reports.?The reports can increase productivity within the rail yard, ultimately increasing revenue while saving money.

The advantages of using an RTMS in a rail terminal are endless. Consider every element of running a successful rail operation; you will find that productivity will increase by using this application in every aspect.?As the RTMS application can handle many functions once required by hand, it allows rail yardmasters to delegate their time where it can be more effectively used rather than performing yard checks and verifying data integrity.?They can now focus on more cost-saving applications by determining where they can reduce labor costs, equipment costs, and other accessorial charges.?Rail Terminal Management Software applications are the future of rail yard management.?It would be too costly not to implement an application such as this in the day-to-day operations of every working rail yard.

To schedule a demo or learn more contact us.