Recent advancements in technology have created avenues for railroads to leverage mobile applications to improve performance and overall organizational efficiency. TekTracking’s Signal/Crossing Inspection & Testing Efficiency (SITE) is one such innovation. SITE is a mobile/desktop application developed to help signal departments effectively plan, schedule, and prioritize system-wide signal/crossing testing activities. SITE ensures testing of all signal assets occurs per the frequency prescribed by the railroad and FRA Part 234 & Part 236 requirements, and optimizes the process by providing Executive Management, Signal Management, Administrators, and signal maintainers with real time inspection information.
Join us as we show you how SITE is revolutionizing the work of people responsible for Signal inspection & maintenance, making it better and easier than ever.
Day in the Life: Signal Maintainer
Meet Jim, a Signal Maintainer working for a railroad that has chosen to use SITE to improve efficiency at work. Jim’s day starts with logging into the SITE mobile application. The app provides him with a full inspection work plan pre-loaded with a set of fixed assets, a historical view of past tests and results, and any additional test/inspection instructions provided by the railroad. These work plans are color-coded according to the task priority with the top of the list showing the highest priority inspections.
Jim selects the highest priority inspection from the top of the list and travels to the signal/crossing location to start his testing. Prior to beginning the required tests, SITE has the optional ability to provide Jim with a safety briefing that he then must digitally sign – this process can be customized to mimic current railroad practices.
Jim can pull up general instructions on how to perform each test and is able to fill out any railroad specific forms with data or acknowledgement that the test is complete. SITE even provides pre-filled data capture forms, eliminating duplicate data entry and speeding the testing process.
SITE provides Jim with robust methods for documenting test results. Through the app, he may submit photographs, and document test results with voice and text recorded notes – all while SITE automatically records time, date, and location. For railroads converting to big data schemes, SITE digitizes narrative information that otherwise would not be captured.
Day in the Life: Signal Supervisor
Meet Jim’s colleague, Dan, a Signal Supervisor. Throughout the day, while Jim is working in the field, Dan uses SITE to view which signal assets have upcoming tests due, which signal maintainers are assigned to that inspection, and when those inspections will be carried out. SITE fully automates the task of tracking upcoming test due dates and creates inspection plans that are accessible to signal maintainers on their mobile device. Dan can rest easy knowing all this is done automatically by SITE without any manual intervention.
Dan and the upper management at his department are also able to instantly access any new or historical FRA inspection reports existing within SITE. A fully digital and centralized form/report library allows for easy access to completed test information for any signal asset or technician performing the test. This is especially helpful for quickly and efficiently fulfilling FRA/Transport Canada requests for specific inspection reports.
SITE also offers a method of managing 3rd party source code found in microprocessor-based interlocking and crossing locations. Source code and update versions can be stored and managed within the SITE infrastructure allowing Dan to quickly verify and examine current and past software/firmware versions of source code.
