Proper handling of railcars negates expensive damage and the implementation of a through railcar loading and unloading plan that will save you railcar maintenance and/or replacement costs in the future.
Darell Luther
A Railcar Performance Manager has just uploaded to the central database an inspection report for a group of railcars hauling a very basic consumer generated commodity. He completed the inspection today so the information is current and reflects the current condition of the railcars. The railcars have been under lease to Company A for a period of five years and had an extensive railcar shopping program completed prior to entering service some five years ago. To say the least they went into service in pristine condition. Today, they reflect a service of hard usage and abusive service. Some six months ago, the Railcar Performance manager generated an inspection report for sister railcars of similar build specifications following a five year lease to Company B. The inspection report for the cars leased to Company B reflects the complete opposite result.听 The inspection report showed that while the railcars leased to Company B were not in pristine condition when the lease begun, the condition following five years in service only reflected normal wear and tear. Poor railcar handling practices at loading and unloading facilities almost always result in expensive railcar repairs and more importantly often are not safe operating environments.
Facility Setup
Many loading and unloading facilities and the tools used to support them in the waste, construction debris and scrap industries are secondary to the overall business at hand. They are simply a cost center and, often, the approach is to expend less capital or operating costs on the near term with the anticipation of better overall results. This approach expanded over a longer term view is generally more costly.
Railcar handling begins with safe and efficient rail facility setup.听 If you鈥檙e fortunate enough to design a Greenfield facility (a facility from the ground up), make sure your plan includes sufficient clearances to allow an ATV to pass safely between the tracks and build in sufficient clearance to run a pickup truck alongside the tracks. Grades or slopes should be as flat as possible to minimize braking requirements, optimize the ability to move railcars (whether it鈥檚 with a front end loader, railcar mover or locomotive) and to provide a safety margin negating railcar rolling impact damage to other railcars. A flat(ter) grade also results in less human injury.
If you鈥檙e not as fortunate to start from a Greenfield approach then formulation of an operating plan around the physical layout and impediments is necessary.听 Conduct a conditional assessment of your track layout noting slope or gradient, track condition, track lengths and railcar capacity of each track. Note also locomotive or railcar mover clearance requirements and blind spots that impede ability to switch your rail yard.听 A non-inclusive list should include answers to questions such as:
- What length of railcars do I have, are they consistent and how many will fit in each track and still allow a safe clearance?
- Do I have any blind spots in my switching operation and can they be overcome with the use of two-way radios or other like-type communication devices?
- Are there sufficient walkways to provide a safe environment for switch personnel on the ground?
- Are all switches free of debris and easily worked by ground personnel?
- Are there any potential railcar sideswipe areas that need special operating instructions developed to insure safe movement?
- Are there approved bumpers or berms in place to keep railcars from rolling off the track and/or into the path of other railcars?
- Do I have a service plan that is reliable and consistent to reduce human error?
- Am I using the right type (locomotive, railcar mover, front end loader) of method to push and pull railcars?
Railcar Handling
Railcars are long, big and laborious to move around.听 They generally weigh empty between 30 and 35 tons each and 130 to 143 tons when loaded.听 They can be as short as 40鈥� (approximate) and as long as 92鈥� (approximate) in length. They take up a lot of room and require substantial horsepower to efficiently move around.听 Moving them without a plan is a recipe for disaster either causing damage to the railcar or to human life. Assuming that you鈥檝e done a conditional assessment of your rail yard and have devised a switching plan you鈥檙e now ready for execution of that plan. So, where do you start?
- First, do a plan overview with your personnel. It鈥檚 important to do this whether you have two or ten people on the switch crew. A plan overview creates a path that is time sensitive so all employees have a clear understanding of expectations.
- Second, do a safety briefing. Point out areas that are hazardous and ensure that operators expend caution when switching these areas. Include operating methods such as use of radios, timing of switching, clearance and riding on train requirements, etc.
- Third, implement checkpoints. As you progress in your switch operations, implement crew checkpoints to regroup your crew on where you鈥檙e at in the plan.听 It may seem tedious but even simple communications via radio that result in a crew consensus are important.听 If everyone isn鈥檛 on the same page then regroup and assess the situation before moving forward.
- Fourth, review your operating tools and equipment. It goes without saying that you need to use operational radios or other methods (in some case hand signals still work fine) of communication but don鈥檛 forget about the physical requirements on the ground as well.听 Switches should be clear and easily operable by ground personnel, clearances in each track should be marked and easily identifiable, locomotives and railcar movers should match the number of loaded or empty railcars to be switched and be able move them efficiently and end of track stops should be in place and sufficiently designed to handle the tonnage of the railcars being switched.
- Fifth, review your 鈥渄on鈥檛 do鈥� list.听 Don鈥檛 put yourself in an unsafe situation, don鈥檛 forget to communicate clearly, don鈥檛 forget to work at the pace required to be safe and efficient and don鈥檛 use the wrong tools for the job. Despite the overriding requirement to be safe, miscommunications can lead to side swipes from not adequately marking clearances, derailments from not tying down brakes when uncoupling, pushing railcars off the end of a track, etc. Side swiping due to either poor judgment or laziness and using the wrong tools for the job, for instance using front end loaders to move railcars, can create damage to the structure of a railcar including damage to top chords and side posts.
Plan and Execute
Most railcar and railcar-human incidences happen at railcar loading and unloading facilities.听 How you plan and execute that plan is important to a safe and efficient operation.听 Notwithstanding the concern of human safety, railcar safe and proper handling also negates expensive damage to railcars and the implementation of a through railcar loading and unloading plan will save you railcar maintenance and/or replacement costs in the future.
Darell Luther is president of Forsyth, MT-based Tealinc Ltd., a rail transportation solutions and railcar leasing company. Darell鈥檚 career includes positions as President of DTE Rail and DTE Transportation Services Inc., Fieldston Transportation Services LLC, managing director of coal and unit trains for Southern Pacific Railroad and directors positions in marketing, fleet management and integrated network management at Burlington Northern Railroad. Darell has more than 24 years of rail, truck, barge and vessel transportation experience concentrated in bulk commodity and containerized shipments. He can be reached at (406) 347-5237, via e-mail at [email protected] or visit .
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