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Dwell Time Reduction
Why Reducing Railcar Dwell Time is Key to Network Efficiency
Every hour a railcar sits idle is an hour of lost productivity. Dwell time, whether at terminals, interchange points, or customer facilities, directly impacts railcar availability, asset utilization, and service performance.
To reduce dwell, railroads and shippers need real-time insight into where their railcars are and how long they’ve been there.
The challenge?
Most operators don’t know exactly when a railcar arrived, how long it’s been sitting, or what’s causing the delay. Common dwell-related issues include:
1
Lack of real-time visibility
Railcars are often off the radar once delivered, especially on customer sidings.
2
Manual tracking
Paper logs and inconsistent updates make it hard to identify dwell bottlenecks.
3
No alerts or analytics
Opportunities to act are missed because data is delayed or unavailable.
4
Poor rotation of assets
Without insight, some cars are overused while others sit unused.
This leads to:
- Longer cycle times
- Reduced asset availability
- Inventory pile-ups at terminals or plants
- Poor on-time performance and missed SLAs
The ZTR Solution
A railcar is delivered to a customer site. Hours pass. Then days. And no one knows it’s still there, until the customer complains or another delivery backs up.
Pivot is ZTR’s railcar telematics solution, designed to deliver real-time data from every railcar in your fleet. Using a rugged, battery-powered Gateway device and integrated sensors, Pivot enables precise tracking of location, movement, and status, so you always know:
- Where your railcars are
- How long they’ve been stationary
- Whether they’ve been unloaded
- When they’re ready to move again
This data empowers operations teams to proactively manage dwell times, optimize fleet rotation, and improve service reliability.
How it works
The Pivot Gateway captures GPS and motion data every time a railcar stops or moves. Combined with load status and door activity (via Pivot Load Sensor and Pivot Flex Sensor), the system builds a complete timeline of dwell events.
And because the system is designed for rail, it works reliably in remote areas, on customer sidings, and across interchange points, no trackside infrastructure required.
Beyond visibility—actionable insights.
Data from Pivot flows into Vision, ZTR’s analytics platform, where you can:
- Set custom dwell time alerts by location or customer
- Identify high-dwell lanes, yards, or partners
- View movement history and turnaround performance
- Benchmark across your fleet to spot inefficiencies
Operators and shippers can act before delays accumulate—rerouting cars, triggering pickups, or reallocating assets to where they’re most needed.
The result?
Faster turnaround. Better car utilization. Fewer surprises. And a more responsive, data-driven rail operation. With Pivot, dwell isn’t just measured—it’s managed.
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