Spring 2018 Arbitration & Rules Committee Meeting

The Spring 2018 Arbitration & Rules Committee Meeting was held last month at CF Rail Services in Schaumburg, Illinois. Below, AllTranstek provides brief meeting highlights.

• Total Car Repair Billing decreased 3.5% to $1.97 billion
• Per Railinc, wheelsets continue to account for the greatest amount of repair dollars and total billing
• The AAR is moving forward with electronic Field Manuals; paper will not be available (date TBD)
• AAR MID indicates the biggest exceptions taken are on outbound track, railroad or private shop
• Railinc reported over 6,000 Rule 95 incidents in 2017
• The word "knowledge" in Rule 95 A is now defined as "this section applies when handling line has documented knowledge of damage or loss to any car"; approved for publication in July 2018
• Pressure Relief Valves will require Component ID Number starting in 2018
• There will be no NARMO in 2018

The single greatest approved rule change this year is regarding Replacement Treaded Wheel Sets (Purchased Core Wheelset). A purchased core wheel set is a turned wheel set that is added to the supply of wheel sets via the purchase from an outside source to fulfill turned wheel set demand. These new wheel sets will reduce the number of new plate mounts and car owners will receive a better mix of repair and return treaded sets, replacement treaded sets, and new mount sets at repair locations. New replacement treaded wheel sets will save car owners $15-$23 million annually. 

• Current AAR Billing reflects only the cost for "tread and return"; material cost not included
• It is cost prohibitive for railroads to buy turnable wheel sets as there is no way to bill for extra cost of purchase
• AAR estimates 31.6% of all sets are treadable; about 550,000 wheel sets are removed for all causes in North America
• Scrapped cars per year averages 40,000-50,000 cars, generating 160,000-200,000 in wheel sets, 75% of which are reusable as replacement sets
• The addition of new "Purchased Core Wheel Set" scrap cars will be worth $500-$800 more
• The CID (Component Identification) for these mounts will be that only one piece of the purchased core wheel set can be used for the new CID number
• New turned wheel set is going out for comment in a circular and is being planned for a July 2018 publication