Rail supplier news from ZTR, GATX, RR Mergers, OptiFuel and McLaren (Jan. 16)

ZTR announced the signing of a strategic agreement with GATX Corp. to install ZTR's new rail-car remote monitoring solution PIVOT^™ on GATX's North American rail-car fleet that will be equipped with telematics solutions. The PIVOT telematics solution will collect, monitor and distribute data — through the ZTR platform as well as the RailPulse platform from GPS gateways and wireless sensors mounted on railcars — to drive improved service levels, visibility, and productivity into rail-based supply chains.

S&K Steel Products Inc. has been acquired by Irwin Transportation Products. S&K manufactures rail bars, plates and wheel stops for the rail industry, according to a press release issued by RR Mergers & Acquisitions, the company advising S&K on the sale. S&K will remain in Madison Heights, Michigan, and key leadership personnel will continue in their current roles, according to a press release. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OptiFuel Systems LLC has signed a collaboration agreement with the Argentina Ministry of Transportation through Ferrocarriles Argentinos Sociedad del Estado. The agreement calls for a project to repower and put into service 400 switcher and line-haul freight locomotives, all 100% powered by compressed natural gas or renewable natural gas with low or zero emissions, which is in line with the Argentina’s decarbonization goals, according to an OptiFuel press release.

McLaren Applied has installed its F1-derived Fleet Connect software and 5G Edge Active Antenna hardware on 14 of Network Rail’s infrastructure-monitoring trains in the United Kingdom. The combined tech solution is designed to deliver greater connectivity and performance, with Network Rail registering upload data improvements of up to 1,000 times faster than previous systems, according to a McLaren press release.