Quarterhill [TSX:QTRH]
Keeping Freight Intelligence Intact Across Every Handoff

The difficult part of multimodal freight is not always moving goods within one mode; it is maintaining enough information when the shipment leaves one operating environment and enters another. A truck approaching a terminal, a container moving through a port or a railcar leaving an interchange may belong to the same journey, yet each is measured and managed differently.

Quarterhill [TSX:QTRH] focuses on those transition points. Its multimodal freight technologies combine roadway sensing, AI-based identification, terminal access systems and rail monitoring to establish what is moving and carry useful information further through the transportation network. The objective is not simply to observe freight in more places. It is to make each handoff less of an information reset.

That approach builds on the company’s intelligent transportation systems expertise. Quarterhill applies measurement and analytics developed for high-volume transportation environments to freight corridors, intermodal connection points and asset-management workflows where decisions depend on recognizing what is arriving before it becomes another anonymous movement in the system.

Identify the Freight Before It Reaches the Gate

Useful freight intelligence can begin while the vehicle is still moving.

Quarterhill’s weigh-in-motion technology measures commercial vehicles under traffic conditions, providing weight and classification data without requiring every truck to stop for a static measurement. Its portfolio includes systems designed for highway-speed monitoring, enforcement and statistical analysis.

The company extends that measurement with AI and machine vision. Its freight systems can identify trailer types, commodity types, containers and other vehicle characteristics, allowing movement patterns to be understood with greater precision than a basic traffic count provides.

That changes what an approaching vehicle represents operationally. Instead of arriving at a terminal, border point or screening facility as an unidentified truck that must be assessed from the beginning, it can already be associated with characteristics useful to the next decision.

Quarterhill’s current work demonstrates the scale at which that model operates. In 2026, the company secured an Oklahoma Department of Transportation contract to expand commercial-vehicle screening along Interstate 35, combining roadway monitoring with technology intended to improve freight mobility and screening efficiency.

The value lies in creating actionable information before congestion forms around a physical checkpoint.

Turn the Terminal Gate into a Data Handoff

An intermodal terminal is where several operational systems meet. The vehicle arrives from one network, the freight enters another and equipment condition may become the responsibility of a different operator.

Quarterhill’s freight-mobility systems address that point with RFID-based access control, license-plate recognition and analytics. The technology is designed to establish who or what is entering while supporting security and access decisions without separating those activities from the broader freight flow.

Quarterhill also monitors chassis assets and can inspect trailer tires as vehicles leave a terminal. The system looks for conditions such as flat, mismatched or underinflated tires, allowing maintenance issues to be recorded before the equipment returns to service. Its broader freight offering provides fleet managers with real-time information on operating condition, repair status and equipment characteristics.

That gives the handoff a second dimension. The next operator does not only need to know that an asset has arrived. It may also need to know whether the equipment carrying the freight is fit to continue.

Quarterhill therefore treats the terminal as a point where identity, condition and movement data can be established together, not just a gate that merely opens and closes.

Make Screening More Selective

Border and port environments add another requirement. Freight has to keep moving while authorities maintain compliance and security.

Quarterhill’s port-of-entry technologies collect, process and analyze vehicle information in real time while retaining historical data for operational review. At border crossings, automated traffic monitoring can identify equipment issues and surface alerts to personnel when attention is required.

The operational advantage comes from selectivity.

A screening process becomes more efficient when the system can distinguish routine movement from a vehicle or asset that requires intervention. Information generated earlier in the freight journey can contribute to that distinction instead of every crossing beginning with the same level of uncertainty.

That logic is particularly relevant to Canada, where long-distance highway corridors and international trade routes place significant pressure on the points where freight enters a different jurisdiction or mode.

Quarterhill’s contribution is the measurement layer around that movement. Roadside systems establish characteristics before arrival. Port and border technologies add access, security and operational information when the freight reaches the checkpoint. The result is a more informed decision about what should continue moving and what deserves closer attention.

Continue Measuring After the Mode Changes

Quarterhill’s rail portfolio demonstrates that its multimodal approach does not end when freight leaves the roadway.

Using Sensor Line’s SL FORPS fiber-optic technology, the company supports train weigh-in-motion, flat-wheel detection, speed measurement and vibration analysis. The sensors collect vertical impact data from the rail environment and can be applied across several monitoring functions without relying solely on labeled assets.

For rail weigh-in-motion, Quarterhill states that approximately ±3 percent measurement accuracy can be achieved through the sensing technology and partner algorithms. The same infrastructure can contribute information about speed or vibration while identifying wheel conditions that may affect rolling stock or the track.

The technology changes between highway and rail because the physical environment changes. The information objective remains consistent.

Quarterhill is still trying to determine what is moving and how that movement affects the equipment or infrastructure around it. Freight remains observable after the modal handoff instead of disappearing from view because the sensing method has changed.

That continuity is what makes the rail capability relevant to the wider multimodal story.

Turn Separate Measurements into Freight Intelligence

Collecting more transportation data is useful only when it improves a decision.

Quarterhill positions its freight technology around mobility data and planning across road, rail, ports and border crossings. Its freight segment combines movement analysis with asset information so transportation agencies or private operators can use observations from the network for planning, maintenance and operating decisions.

This is where the company’s AI capabilities become meaningful. Machine vision can characterize freight more precisely, but the larger value comes from connecting those observations to patterns across corridors and intermodal connection points. A vehicle classification can contribute to infrastructure planning. Equipment-condition data can influence maintenance. Repeated movements can reveal how freight actually uses the network.

Quarterhill’s recognition as a Top Multimodal Freight Solutions provider in Canada reflects this ability to connect information across environments that traditionally operate separately.

A truck approaching a terminal does not stop being part of the freight journey once it passes the gate. A container entering a port remains connected to the roadway that brought it there, and rail movement becomes another stage of the same logistics chain.

Quarterhill makes those transitions more visible, giving each operating point a clearer understanding of what is arriving and leaving the next stage with more information than the previous one started with.