OpenTug, Telegraph Partner To Link Barge, Rail Visibility

OpenTug and Telegraph announced a strategic partnership May 26 designed to give terminal operators, traders and logistics teams a more unified view of freight moving by barge and rail.

The partnership combines OpenTug’s artificial intelligence-native barge voyage management platform with Telegraph’s rail intelligence platform. The companies said the integration will help terminals better track freight moving across North American inland waterways and rail networks.

Many inland river import and export terminals rely on both barges and railcars to move bulk commodities. However, barge and rail traffic are often managed in separate systems, creating challenges involving arrival timing, storage capacity, berth scheduling, rail availability and inventory management.

By combining OpenTug’s real-time barge positioning with Telegraph’s predictive rail estimated times of arrival, the companies said terminals handling grain, fertilizer, steel, coal and petroleum products will be able to view converging arrivals on a single timeline. The goal is to help operators anticipate scheduling conflicts, coordinate crews and equipment, reduce idle time for barges and railcars, limit demurrage exposure and improve operational control where rail and water transportation intersect.

“Two of America’s most important freight networks already converge physically at terminals across the country. What has been missing is the technology to connect them digitally,” said Harris Ligon, co-founder and CEO of Telegraph. “Together, the companies are providing a more connected operational view spanning both rail and barge activity.”

The companies said the partnership will provide improved visibility into inbound rail and barge arrivals, better coordination for facilities managing shared storage capacity and more informed scheduling decisions.

“Connecting BargeOS with Telegraph’s rail intelligence gives terminal operators the tools to make that handoff reliable, and that benefits every shipper who is considering barge as a mode,” said Jason Aristides, co-founder and CEO of OpenTug.

OpenTug and Telegraph said the collaboration reflects a shared effort to improve coordination across rail and marine logistics while providing greater visibility into freight moving across both modes.