The Power of Fuel Efficiency

October 30, 2020

Fuel is the number one expense for railroads. We all know that fuel is a necessity of rail operations. However, there are many individual decisions that can cause us to spend millions more than we need to.

A significant amount of fuel is burned while locomotives are idle. There are numerous technologies such as Auto-Engine-Stop-Start (AESS) Systems and Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) designed to address excess idle use, but they come with their share of issues and require frequent maintenance to work properly. Excess idle can also be monitored by rail professionals responsible for operating and inspecting locomotive diesel power.

The aforementioned solutions are powerful and their effectiveness is extended when used in combination with our Wi-Tronix, LLC solutions. Our systems harness data to monitor excess idle and send real-time alerts to users of idle status. Wi-Tronix users have saved up to $50M in fuel costs by using our technology.

The excess idle fuel burn is wasteful for railroads, communities, and the environment. With properly maintained AESS Systems or APUs, trained yard personnel, and Wi-Tronix systems, a 2-3% fuel efficiency improvement is well within reach.

Originally posted by Larry Jordan on LinkedIn – 10/27/2020