July/August 2020
Asset Management
IMT’s smart solar moves
BULKDISTRIBUTOR
3
Intermodal Telematics (IMT) has in a short
period of time established itself as a world
leading independent telematics solution
partner for the tank container industry.
Offering smart sensor technology and a web
application with which operators, container
manufacturers, lessors and shippers can obtain
the insights they need to improve their delivery
performance, operational efficiency and safety,
Netherlands-based IMT is 100 percent
independent, with only private Dutch investors.
Speaking to Bulk Distributor, the company’s
managing director, founder and largest
shareholder Dethmer Drenth says the IMT team
based in the Netherlands and Spain is backed by
entrepreneurial management with significant
industry experience.
IMT’s latest innovation is the new solar-powered
Communication and Location Terminal (CLT20-
Ex).
Drenth is emphatic: “This is a game-changer,”
he says. Such a claim is often made for new
technologies, but in the case of the CLT20-Ex it
looks justified.
The key is in the solar power for tank containers,
wagons and other assets that do not have their
own power source. When a sensor’s power is
limited by the durability of the battery before
recharging is needed the number and frequency
of data grabs becomes a balancing act, explains
Drenth.
However, with solar power the CLT20-Ex offers
near real-time, unlimited data. Data can now be
sent every five minutes when a tank container is
loaded and in transport, and every eight hours
when unloaded and in situ.
“Our CLT20-Ex monitors a tank container’s
geographical location, its motion (shock and
normal movement) and the temperature of the
device,” Drenth continues.
On top of that, it also serves as a central hub for
all IMT sensors installed on a tank container. The
measured values from these sensors are sent
wirelessly to the CLT20-Ex. An overview of the
collected data, like
Using solar power the CLT20-Ex offers
near real-time, unlimited data
location, temperature, pressure, liquid level, liquid
residue, and heating temperature can easily be
accessed remotely by using IMT’s web application.
This includes data such as an exact timestamp
when the tank enters or exits the customer’s
premises or indeed a cleaning & repair depot
allowing for more accurate estimated time of
arrival (ETA).
The terminal switches on at configurable
intervals, allowing for maximum insight. “Because
the data is sent via a built-in quadruple modem,
you get a nearly real-time and worldwide
overview of your fleet and its cargo,” he adds.
The CLT20-Ex also provides worldwide
connectivity because of its two modems – a
Pentaband 2G/3G modem and a 4G/5G (LTE-M,
CAT M1and NB-IoT) modem. This is important,
because wireless protocols currently sit in a
halfway house. 2G availability is rapidly declining
and 3G will no longer be available after 2025.
However, 4G and 5G are not yet global, only
scheduled to become so from 2023. That is why
IMT decided to connect all four
systems in order to
maximise the
sensor’s
connectivity.
A further
improvement
is a more
powerful
battery to
store the solar
energy, such
that instead
of replacing
Data can be sent every five minutes when a tank container is loaded
and in transport, and every eight hours when unloaded and in situ
the battery every two to three years, the battery is
now guaranteed for at least 10 years.
“Customers want to know the sensor data and
any changes straight away for quality and safety
reasons,” explains Drenth. “In addition, they want
precise entry/exit times at customer facilities or
depots to allow for correct invoicing of waiting
time periods. And by installing a longer lasting
battery, our customers can also reduce
significantly their environmental footprint.”
Thanks to ATEX IIC and IECEx certifications, the
CLT20-Ex can be used to transport both nondangerous
and dangerous goods.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns in various
countries IMT says it saw significant growth in
interest in its solutions, possibly because
customers had the time to think more seriously
about digitalisation.
Drenth speculates that users could see the
benefits of telematics as they could read cargo
and sensor data on their computers instead of
being physically present alongside the tank
container.
Smart co-operation
The launch of the CLT20-Ex followed an
announcement that IMT is to work with NTtank,
the world’s second largest ISO tank manufacturer,
to promote ‘smart’ co-operation
Currently, the co-operation takes the form of
choosing IMT’s so-called ‘Pre-Kit’ to install on all
NTtank tank containers, and at no extra cost for
newbuilds. In addition, NTtank will become the
exclusive sales agent in China (excluding tank
container manufacturers) for the complete
telematics solution of IMT.
The IMT Pre-Kit includes a digital thermometer
(Type WT17-Ex) and a bracket for easy installation
the Communication and Location Terminal (CLT).
Installing the Pre-Kit effectively converts a tank
container into a smart tank in five minutes, at any
given moment. With the installed Pre-Kit,
including the digital thermometer, the
temperature can be checked in ºC and ºF with an
accuracy of 0.3°C and no calibration is ever
needed. IMT holds a patent on this noncalibration
technology.
At the same time, a customer can upgrade its
tank container at any time by installing the CLT17-
Ex on the CLT-bracket and paying an activation fee
for the WT17-Ex digital thermometer. Drenth says
the installation of the CLT is straightforward;
simply screwing it with two bolts onto the CLT
bracket which will be pre-installed by NTtank on
every new unit.
“NT-Tank clients are very happy as the Pre-Kit
prepares their tank easily for the future
deployment of telematics,” he says. “We are also
seeing more interest from customers for other
sensors than the thermometer, including fullempty,
pressure, residue, etc.”
While NTtank has no exclusivity for installing the
Pre-Kit on a newbuild tank – IMT sells its products
to all manufacturers, such as CIMC, Singamas,
Welfit-Oddy, CXIC, etc – the tank builder is
exclusively responsible for IMT sales in China.
More to come
Looking to the future, Drenth makes the point
that currently 46 out of IMT’s 70 staff are on the
engineering side of the company - 11 hardware
engineers and 35 web application engineers.
Therefore, it is devoting lots energy and resources
to new developments.
“Currently, we have 15 sensors of which the
Full-Empty sensor, the Residue sensor and the
Cryo sensor (measuring upper pressure and exact
load) are seeing lots of interest from the market,”
he says. “We are now working on six new
sensors, including one for leakage, a Rochester
Magnetel sensor (to monitor an industry-leading
liquid level gauge), a bursting disc sensor, a sensor
for loaded and unloaded chassis, and a heating
bay sensor.”
IMT is also looking at a solution for IBCs. This
will likely be for metal containers first, before
developing a solution for plastic IBCs.
The next focus is on the rail sector for which IMT
already builds a load-unload sensor that measures
the load/overload of a rail wagon, and the gas
sector where the company has already started
with its cryo sensor.
Finally, Drenth says the firm’s ‘IMT Rental’ service
is now getting a lot of attention as this SAAS
(solution as a service) has no upfront payment for
hardware. All products and services (hardware,
web application, communication, updates) are
bundled in one monthly fee. This means that
moving into telematics is no longer a Capex
decision, with its associated high investment that
might have to be agreed by company boards, but
becomes an Opex/M&R cost with a monthly fixed
fee.
www.intermodaltelematics.com
Nexxiot, Cargo Wagon join forces
Nexxiot and Slovakian lessor Cargo
Wagon are teaming up for digital rail
cargo transformation.
As of May, Nexxiot started equipping Cargo
Wagon fleet with its IoT sensors that enable
digital monitoring. The first upgraded 1,200
digital wagons out of a total fleet of 9,000 will be
provided to customers in Poland and Austria.
Cargo Wagon’s COO Pavel Holomek said: “The
digitalisation of rail freight became daily reality for
most of our customers and thus a priority on our
marketing agenda. We will work closely with
Nexxiot on improving maintenance of our railcars,
fleet management and delivering value added
services to the end-customers.”
The IoT sensors developed by Nexxiot, called
Globehopper, provide a large amount of data. In
addition to this gateway device, the company has
developed a software solution to analyse the
information generated. It offers the complete
infrastructure with a cloud-based platform for
processing the data collected. For Cargo Wagon,
this means an optimised service by bringing
transparency into critical supply chain events.
Nexxiot’s CEO Stefan Kalmund commented:
“Cargo Wagon is a key player in the freight
wagon market in central and eastern Europe. The
introduction of our Globehopper solution and the
Nexxiot Connect Cloud will create added value for
the lessor. In addition, we will support the
company as a partner with our expertise in the
digitalisation of the rail sector. Our knowledge in
making use of data from connectivity devices will
also be of great benefit for Cargo Wagon.”
The service initially includes features like
location-based services, shock detection
monitoring and maintenance service packages.
The project will also include metadata libraries so
that customers can store important wagon details
in the Nexxiot Connect Cloud.
www.nexxiot.com