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Systems built for road traffic do not handle wagons because they assume that a transport unit has a driver and a number plate and arrives on its own. A wagon meets none of these conditions: it has no driver, instead of a number plate it carries a UIC number, the twelve-digit international wagon number, and it arrives as part of a train, a dozen or more at a time. Adding rail to a system built around the truck means rebuilding its data model, which is why plants with a siding usually keep their wagons in a spreadsheet next to the system they paid for. TraxSystem keeps wagons, tracks and wagon lists (the lists of wagons with their UIC numbers) in a separate module, but in the same register as road traffic.
How a wagon differs from a truck in a booking system
A yard management system (YMS), the software that handles vehicle traffic in the yard and at the loading docks, describes the world in terms of vehicles, drivers and docks. The whole flow of a booking system is built around a person: the driver books a slot, gets a text message, checks in at the kiosk, completes the safety induction and signs the documents. A rail delivery has nobody to book in, because what you have is a carrier, a train and a placement time. A person only appears during shunting, and it is someone quite different from a driver.
A truck is identified by its registration number, which a camera can recognise and anyone can type from memory. A wagon has a twelve-digit UIC number that nobody remembers, nobody copies out without a mistake and no number plate recognition camera can read.
In a yard system, an ‘entry’ record describes one vehicle at one moment. A train is a dozen or more wagons that come in together but are unloaded separately, sometimes over several days and on different tracks. A ‘one entry = one unit’ model cannot cope with that, and the workaround of entering each wagon as a separate vehicle breaks every report.
Road terms and their rail equivalents
| Road term | Rail equivalent | Why it is not the same thing |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle | Wagon with a UIC number | A different identifier format, length and validation |
| Single entry | Train: many wagons at once | The unit that arrives ≠ the unit that is unloaded |
| Loading dock | Track | A track takes several wagons at once; a dock takes one vehicle |
| Driver | Rail carrier | A company, not a person; no induction or signature at the entrance |
| Vehicle booking | Train placement | The time refers to a shunting move, not an arrival from the public road |
The differences in the table go beyond names: each row means a different data structure and a different process.
The Rail operations module in TraxSystem
In TraxSystem, rail is handled by a separate Rail operations module with its own concepts:
- tracks as a resource to which placements are assigned,
- trains that group wagons together, with the option of accounting for each wagon separately,
- wagons with UIC numbers and a wagon list editor in which you enter the whole train instead of twelve separate records,
- a rail carrier portal in which the carrier submits the placement and the wagon list itself, just as a road haulier submits a booking.
Wagons and trucks go into the same site register, so the manager sees all traffic on site in one place and does not have to reconcile the system with a spreadsheet. The Rail operations module is added to the base system and priced by the number of tracks, and the track limit grows with the size of the base package.
What the Rail operations module does not do
The Rail operations module does not exchange data automatically with rail carriers’ systems. Wagon lists reach the system through the portal or are entered by hand; there is no integration with carrier systems or with network timetables.
UIC numbers are not read automatically. Number plate recognition works on road vehicles, and wagons are identified through the wagon list.
Nor does TraxSystem manage rail traffic in the sense of railway regulations, and it does not replace the siding’s operating regulations or its technical and operating documentation. It handles the logistics layer: who, what, when and on which track.
Questions and answers
We have one track and a few placements a month. Is it worth it?
That depends on what keeping these records in a spreadsheet costs you today. Count not only the typing but also the time spent hunting for information when someone asks about a wagon from three weeks ago. One track fits within the module limit on the smallest base package, and the pricing configurator will show you the amount.
Does the carrier have to log in to our system?
No. The carrier logs in to the carrier portal, a separate browser-based access limited to its own submissions.
Can we buy the rail module on its own?
No. Modules are added to the base system, which handles entries, alerts and reports, and the Rail operations module extends the same traffic register; it is not sold as a separate product.
See also: UIC wagon numbers: what they mean and how to keep a wagon list · Rail delivery booking: a portal for the rail carrier