When will my wagons arrive?

March 8, 2024

Everything you need to know about ETA and why accurate ETA is important.

What is ETA?

ETA, or Expected Arrival Time, refers to the time when your train or wagon is supposed to arrive at its destination. ETA is very important in freight transport, as unexpected delays can snowball and cause further delays along the supply chain. The consequences include additional costs (including penalties), a negative impact on service quality, additional delays, and an impact on production.

Why is Everysens' ETA so accurate?

Imprecise ETAs have a direct negative impact on several actors in the supply chain. For the shipper, unexpected delays deteriorate its relationships with its customers and result in financial penalties. For the customer, receiving their goods late or being unable to predict when the goods will arrive can lead to logistical problems on their side: delays in the delivery of their own customer, places for unavailable stock, impact on production... For some industries, it is crucial to have a precise arrival time. In the automotive industry, the delivery of car parts to assembly lines is sensitive to the minute. A minute of delay can result in up to 1 million euros in penalties for the sender.

In addition, accurate ETAs guarantee to any shipper that connections between transport A and B will be possible. Often, some connections between one station and another can only take place at a specific time. If they are not respected, they will cause additional delays.

How does Everysens provide such an accurate ETA?

Our method for calculating the ETA is based on the use of a theoretical itinerary. A theoretical itinerary is an itinerary determined by the departure and arrival sites, which includes the intermediate locations through which the transport will pass. These intermediate places are mainly train stations. An ETD (estimated time of departure) and an ETA are applied at each end of the itinerary, as well as an expected arrival time at intermediate points. Once the train leaves its starting point, the GPS sensors on the cars let us know what time it reaches the intermediate points. If the transport arrives late, Everysens is notified and our algorithm recalculates the expected arrival time based on the delay recorded at the intermediate point. At each point, the ETA is recalculated, which makes it possible to obtain an accurate and updated ETA until arrival at the site.

What are ETD and ETL?

ETD refers to the estimated time of departure of the transport. ETL refers to the estimated time the cargo was loaded into the car. These estimated two hours are useful for calculating the final estimated time of arrival, as any delay in departure or loading will affect the estimated time of arrival.

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