AAR Circular Letter Summary – July 2018

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About AAR Circular Letters

Circular letter summaries are produced monthly by Greenbrier’s Regulatory Management team, a division of Greenbrier Management Services Group.

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AAR circular letters provide information of general applicability to the railroad industry, including proposed and final rules, revisions, standards and recommended practices, and calls for comments. These summaries provide the main points of circular letters issued in the prior month, as well as important implementation deadlines.

For access to the complete circular letter, please go to my.aar.org/circulars. Circular letters are a fee-based service provided by the AAR’s Transportation Technology Center Incorporated (TTCI). You may subscribe online at publications@aar.com or call 719.584.0538.

Implementation Circulars

CPC-1335
Midland Manufacturing 720 Series Valve Modification and Replacement
Issued:
July 11, 2018
Effective:
July 11, 2018

The Association of American Railroads Tank Car Committee has determined that all Midland Manufacturing 720 series valves (A-720, A-721, A-721B and A-724) should modified or replaced with valves manufactured or rebuilt to current approved valve configurations. All valves of this design series must be modified in accordance with this CPC. All valves must be modified at the next scheduled requalification or July 1, 2024, whichever is sooner. All newly installed valves must conform to current approvals. After July 1, 2024, tank cars with valves not conforming to the current approvals will be considered out of compliance with the AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices and will not be accepted in North American Interchange.

Valves must be configured to one of the following current AAR TCC approvals:

E182102 for A-720 and A-724 Valves

E182103 for A-721B Valves

E182104 for A-721 Valves

The manufacturer’s technical bulletins are attached to the circular.

 

C-13170
IMPLEMENTED. AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices (MSRP), Section K-II Loco Electronics & Train Consist System Architecture, Locomotive Data Acquisition and Recording System (LDARS) – Event Data Acquisition

Processor, Standard S-9101C.V1.0
Issued:
July 13, 2018
Effective:
July 13, 2018

Standard S-9101C.V1.0 specifies the Event Data Acquisition Processor (EDAP) that wires up to the sensors and older control systems and forwards data to the LDARS Crashworthy Memory Module (CMM). Standard S-9101C.V1.0 is attached to the circular in PDF format. It will be incorporated in the next issue of the MSRP, Section K-II Locomotive Electronics & Train Consist System Architecture. In the interim, please insert this Circular in your copy of the MSRP Section K-II and be governed accordingly.

 

C-13171
IMPLEMENTED AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices (MSRP), Section K-II Locomotive Electronics & Train Consist System Architecture, Locomotive Data Acquisition and Recording System (LDARS) – Common File Format Standard, Standard S-9101G.V1.0
Issued:
July 13, 2018
Effective:
July 13, 2018

Standard S-9101G.V1.0 specifies Common File Format Standard for the industry event file (IEF). Standard S-9101G.V1.0 is attached to the circular in PDF format. It will be incorporated in the next issue of the MSRP, Section K-II Locomotive Electronics & Train Consist System Architecture. In the interim, please insert this Circular in your copy of the MSRP Section K-II and be governed accordingly.

 

C-13173
Subject
Issued:
July 17, 2018
Effective:
July 17, 2018

The revised Standard S-400, attached to the circular, is now implemented and effective immediately. This modification will be incorporated in the next issue of the Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, Section E. Please update your library and be governed accordingly.

 

C-13174
IMPLEMENTED. AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices (MSRP), Section K-IV Railroad Electronics Messaging Standards, Centralized Train C
Issued: July 23, 2018
Effective: July 23, 2018

Standard S-9375.V1.0 is attached to this circular in PDF format. It will be incorporated in the next issue of the MSRP, Section K-IV Railroad Electronics Messaging Standards. In the interim, please insert the Circular in your copy of the MSRP Section K-IV and be governed accordingly.

 

C-13177
Implementation of Editorial Revisions to MSRP Section S, CASTING DETAILS, Specification M-213, Truck Frames Fabricated Steel, Regarding Updates to the Governing Committee and Material Specification
Issued: July 24, 2018
Effective: July 24, 2018x

References to the Brake Systems Committee have been updated throughout the document to correctly show Coupling System and Truck Castings Committee (CSTCC) as the governing committee. One reference to ASTM A-441 has been updated to ASTM A-572 which superseded A-441. The revised Specification M-213 is now implemented and effective immediately. This modification will be incorporated in the next issue of the Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, Section S. Please update your library and be governed accordingly.

 

CPC-1336
Final Action, Update to revision to MSRP Section C Part III, M-1002, Specifications for Tank Cars, Chapter 2
Issued: July 27, 2018
Effective: July 27, 2018

These revisions address requirements for free interchange tank cars used for the transportation of materials toxic-by-inhalation (“TIH”) products. This is an update to CPC-1325 changing the implementation date of paragraph 2.8.1 from July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2027.

2.8 Tank Cars Transporting TIH

2.8.1 After December 31, 2027, all tank cars used to transport products classified as TIH must comply with the requirements for tank cars built on or after March 16, 2009 (see 49 CFR 173.244 (a)(2), 173.314 (c) Note (12), 179.16 (c)(1), and 179.102-3 for cars marked DOT, or TP-14877 paragraph 10.5.1.2 for cars marked TC).

2.8.2 After July 1, 2019, all tank cars used to transport products classified as TIH, manufactured from carbon steel plate, must have tank heads and shells constructed of normalized material.

This action addresses the timeframe for requiring the transportation of TIH material in the package specified in 49 CFR 179.102-3 for cars marked “DOT” and in TP-14877, paragraph 10.5.1.2, for cars marked “TC.” This activity will supersede CPC-1325 dated April 7, 2017.

 

Call for Comment

C-13175
Solicitation of Comments for Revisions to MSRP Section G-II, WHEEL AND AXLE MANUAL, S-659, Wheel Storage, Mounting Entry Spike and Minor Anomaly Definitions
Issued: July 24, 2018
Effective: 30 days for comments

Proposed revisions to MSRP Section G-II, WHEEL AND AXLE MANUAL, S-659, include defining minor anomalies and entry spike as well as removing duplicate information found in Section s1.7.10 and 1.4.11. The proposed revisions do not have costs associated with implementation and are attached to the circular.

 

Notice Circulars

C-13172
Version 18.2 of the Car Repair Billing Procedures Manual is Available
Issued: July 17, 2018
Effective: July 17, 2018

The Car Repair Billing Committee has accepted revisions to the Car Repair Billing Procedures Manual to become effective following the July 2018 CRB Data Exchange run process. The latest manual is Version 18.2, and is available at https://www.railinc.com/rportal/car-repairbilling- data-exchange. It is recommended that this information be shared with all Car Repair Billing and IT personnel in your company that work with or are responsible for Car Repair Invoices submitted to and/or received from Railinc’s Data Exchange.

 

C-13169
Subject
Issued: July 18, 2018
Planned: August 9, 2018

The Association of American Railroads, Equipment Health Monitoring Committee (EHMC), will deploy and implement changes to the two acoustic bearing data summaries, ACOUSTIC_RBAM and ACOUSTIC_TADS. The draft copy of each standard are attached and an implementation circular will follow.

 

C-13178
Announcement – Town Hall Meeting Car Repair Rates
Issued: July 27, 2018
Effective: July 27, 2018

There will be a Town Hall meeting in St. Louis, MO for questions and comments concerning car repair rates. Members of the AAR’s Arbitration and Rules Committee will be in attendance

DATE: September 5, 2018
TIME: 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
LOCATION: Marriott St. Louis Airport https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/stlap-marriott-st-louis-airport/
10700 Pear Tree Lane
St. Louis, MO 63134

 

Helpful Resources

CPC-1325
Final Action, Revision to MSRP Section C Part III, M-1002, Specifications for Tank Cars, Chapter 2
Issued: April 07, 2017
Effective: April 07, 2017

The revision to MSRP Section C Part III, M-1002, Specifications for Tank Cars, Chapter 2; Section 2.8 “Tank Cars Transporting TIH” makes reference to several CFR documents and tables contained therein.
The information contained in the tables of these documents (49 CFR 173.244 “Bulk packaging for certain pyrophoric liquids (Division 4.2), dangerous when wet (Division 4.3) materials, and poisonous liquids with inhalation hazards (Division 6.1)” and 49 CFR 173.314 “Compressed gases in tank cars and multi-unit tank cars”) has been consolidated in this table.

The resource table is intended for reference only and does not replace the information contained in the Specification and Codes.

 

Upcoming Event

Federal Railroad Administration’s Hazardous Materials Training Seminar

Houston, TX from August 21-23, 2018.

Greenbrier Management Services is excited to participate in this training seminar hosted by the FRA:

Paul Connor and Brian McCraken, Performance Assurance Engineers from our Regulatory Services group, will present the workshop “Leak Testing for Loaders.”

The expert team from Greenbrier Leasing Company (GLC) Asset Management, will also be on hand to visit and answer questions at Table #17 in the Exhibition Hall. We all look forward to seeing you!

Program details can be found at https://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L19557.

Greenbrier’s Regulatory Services Group

Peace of mind for your business.

The Regulatory Management Group, led by James Rader, provides regulatory, engineering, process consulting and advocacy support to the railcar repair industry and the petrochemical rail shipper community.

  • ASNT Level III Subscription Services
  • DOT Compliance Assessments (Corporate and Plant)
  • DOT Hazardous Materials Training (Corporate and Plant)
  • Expert Witness Services in Rail-Related Litigation
  • Federal Government Claims Mitigation (e.g. FRA and PHMSA)
  • Nondestructive Testing Programs
  • Quality Assurance Program Development
  • Regulatory Counsel and Policy Advocacy
  • Railcar Repair Management (Design Review, Drawings, Engineering and AAR Approval Administration)
  • Tank Car Reliability and Maintenance Programs (49 CFR Subpart F of Part 180)
  • Tank Car Maintenance Data Collection and Reliability Performance Analysis
  • Welding Program Development

For inquiries about these summaries or any of our services, please reach out to: regulatoryservices@gbrx.com

About Greenbrier Management Services (GMS)

Greenbrier Management Services (GMS) is North America’s most comprehensive railcar management solutions provider. GMS manages nearly 400,000 railcars and has invested over 20 years in developing technology, processes, and people to provide the best railcar management products and services in the industry. GMS is powered by proprietary software and the best subject matter experts in the railcar business.

 

COMPREHENSIVE. INTEGRATED. VALUE.

Combined, these two vitally important capabilities are able to deliver world-class solutions to every type of customer, from Class I railroads, lessors and industrial shippers to financial investors. GMS brings broad expertise to cover nearly any railcar management need that customers may have and its integrated solutions and reporting can be customized for any customer function or management need.