In the military garrison town of Catterick in the North of England, WorldCargo News visited The Vehicle Group, known primarily as a British technology innovator in specialist vehicle systems.
Fully a third of The Vehicle Group’s (TVG) workforce has armed-service experience and training. The company is increasingly positioning its solutions for applications beyond municipal and urban fleets, including cargo-handling and port operations.
TVG’s portfolio combines advanced vision systems, vehicle intervention technology and intelligent power management. In port environments, these technologies can help improve both safety and operational efficiency.
Vision systems
At the core of TVG’s offering is Oculux, the company’s high-resolution automotive camera system. Designed for extreme durability and very low-light conditions, Oculux has already seen extensive deployment in commercial applications, including terminal tractors in port applications. Ports are challenging environments where variable lighting, night working, poor weather, container stacks and restricted sightlines all contribute to risk. According to TVG, Oculux is engineered to deliver consistent image clarity in precisely these scenarios, enabling both human operators and AI-assisted systems to maintain situational awareness.
When combined with the company’s Fleet AI platform, Oculux can be used to detect pedestrians entering predefined high-risk zones around vehicles or trailers. “One of the challenges in any busy terminal is managing human interaction with vehicles,” said Kevin Hennelly, commercial director at The Vehicle Group. “If you can reliably detect when someone is in a danger zone and intervene early, you dramatically reduce the risk of serious incidents.”
Automatic intervention
One use case for Oculux is TVG’s SafeDrop system, which is designed to provide automated intervention during swap body handling where a swap body may be put at risk due to erroneous deployment of standing legs in the parking process. SafeDrop automatically activates as soon as the swap body is resting on its rear legs and the suspension is lowered. From this point, it monitors the vehicle’s movement and, at the exact moment action is needed, delivers a clear verbal warning to the driver to stop and deploy the front legs.
Controlled driving with EcoLimit
One of the most adaptable systems in TVG’s portfolio is EcoLimit, a technology originally developed to control vehicle speed and behaviour in specialist fleets. EcoLimit can impose different speed thresholds depending on direction of travel, driver identification or vehicle mode.
In port applications, EcoLimit can also integrate with telematics systems to create geofenced speed zones. Vehicles entering work zones, such as the quayside or under a gantry crane, can be automatically restricted to very low speeds without relying solely on driver compliance.
In practice, this creates semi-autonomous behaviour tailored to specific operational contexts. “The system can force a vehicle to operate at five miles an hour in a sensitive zone, automatically,” Hennelly explained. “The driver doesn’t have to remember or react—it just happens.”
Managing energy
Electric terminal tractors and yard equipment offer clear benefits in reduced emissions and maintenance, but create challenges in managing charging time and charging infrastructure. EcoLimit has been adapted to optimise EV operations. Rather than simply restricting speed, the system can manage power delivery to mirror the performance of equivalent internal combustion vehicles, including limiting torque in the lower power band. This reduces aggressive driving behaviour that can dramatically increase energy consumption and charging time.
“Drive a diesel badly, and it’s a few extra pounds in fuel,” Hennelly said. “Drive an electric vehicle badly, and it can mean an extra hour on charge every day. In a port operation, that downtime really adds up.”
By smoothing power demand and compelling more efficient driving patterns, EcoLimit can reduce peak electrical loads and improve vehicle availability. This is particularly relevant in ports where grid capacity upgrades may lag behind the pace of fleet electrification.
Audible alerts and mixed-traffic
TVG also offers audible warning systems for industrial applications. These include audible warning systems that activate below defined speed thresholds. The system generates an external sound when vehicles are travelling at low speeds. “Ports are mixed environments,” Hennelly said. “You’ve got people on foot, vehicles, cranes and automated systems all operating together. Anything that helps people instinctively know a vehicle is approaching improves safety.”
A practical pathway
For industrial applications, where infrastructure has very long operational lifespans, incremental technological upgrades can deliver tangible benefits in port and cargo-handling operations. Rather than requiring full automation or wholesale fleet replacement, Kevin Hennelly says TVG’s approach focuses on enhancing existing vehicles with intelligence, intervention and energy management.
“You don’t have to reinvent the port overnight,” Hennelly said. “You can make vehicles safer, more efficient and better suited to electrification with the right systems in place. That is particularly relevant in a mature market like the UK, where much of our maritime infrastructure carries decades-long legacy installations. As terminals modernise, the convergence of vision, control and power management technologies is likely to play an increasingly central role in shaping the next generation of cargo-handling operations, not just here, but worldwide.”
*This story first appeared in the February print issue of WorldCargo News.