About AAR Circular Letters
Circular letter summaries are produced monthly by Greenbrier Management Services Group.
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
C-14419
Implementation of Revisions to Office Manual, Rule 107, Exhibits II and IV
Issued: September 12, 2024
Effective: October 1, 2024
On July 1, 2024, Circular Letter C-14394 was issued to solicit comments on proposed changes to Office Manual Rule 107, Exhibits II and IV to address the change in AAR Mandatory Retirement Age from 40 to 50 years. No comments were received, therefore the revisions to Rule 107, Exhibits II and IV as indicated in C-14394, will become effective October 1, 2024.
Call for Comment
C-14415
Proposed Revisions to MSRP, Section M – LOCOMOTIVES AND LOCOMOTIVE INTERCHANGE EQUIPMENT: Recommended Practice, RP-509 –BRAKING RATIOS FOR LOCOMOTIVES
Issued: September 4, 2024
Effective: 30 days for comment.
Based on the requested input and recommendations of the Brake Systems Committee (BSC), the Locomotive Committee has approved the BSC proposed revisions to MSRP, Section M, Recommended Practice, RP-509 Braking Ratios FOR LOCOMOTIVES and is submitting the revised document for industry review and comment.
The revised RP-509 is attached to this circular letter. Comments from interested parties are herewith solicited under the provisions of AAR Standard S-050.
C-14416
Revisions to Office Manual Rule 107.E, Additions and Betterments
Issued: September 5, 2024
Effective: 30 days for comment.
At the April 2024 meeting of the Arbitration and Rules Committee, a proposal was advanced to revise Office Manual Rule 107, was reviewed and approved. Primary revisions include:
- Changing GNRL Additions and Betterments to depreciate based on date of installation instead of the built date of the car
- Clarifications, clean-up and expanded examples
The entire text of the revision is attached to the circular. In accordance with Rule 123, comments are herein solicited.
CPC-1425
Proposed Service Trial Requirements
Issued: September 13, 2024
Effective: 30 days for comment.
At the request of the Tank Car Committee, the following proposed changes to the process of service trials are to serve as interim while the service trial taskforce completes its restructuring of the service trial requirements. These changes are to allow proper time to the industry to reach out to customers and provide a proper teardowns and reports.
The proposed revision included in this circular and comments will be accepted within 30 days of the publication date. This proposal would be effective for all service trail approved after the publication of the final action.
Notice of Circulars
C-14418
Canadian Car Repair Facility Labor Rate
Issued: September 6, 2024
Effective: October 1, 2024
The Canadian Car Repair Billing Labor Rate calculation for October 1, 2024 is $249.45 CAD (Two hundred and forty-nine Canadian dollars and forty-five cents), a increase of six dollars and eighty-five cents from the calculation for July 1. For comparison purposes, this converts to about $181.66 in U.S. dollars. The currency conversion factor used to calculate the Health & Welfare portions of the July 1 Canadian Labor Rate was 1.3679. The currency conversion factor used to calculate the Health & Welfare portions of the October 1 Canadian Labor Rate is 1.3732. Wages were re-benchmarked from 2022 to 2023 wage statistics the replacement of 2023 estimates with actual wage data was the primary driver of the increase. The change will be reflected in the October 1, 2024 release of the Canadian Price Master.
C-14417
Car Repair Facility Labor Rate
Issued: September 6, 2024
Effective: October 1, 2024
The Car Repair Facility Labor Rate effective October 1, 2024 is $171.97, an increase of $5.45 (or 3.3%) from the labor rate estimated on July 1, 2024. Wages were re‐benchmarked from 2022 to 2023 wage statistics for the U.S. Class I Railroads, Non‐Class Is and Running Repair Agents. In addition, the wage calculation incorporated $1,000 lump sum payments from labor negotiations where applicable. The replacement of 2023 estimates with actual wage data was the primary driver of the increase. This will be reflected in the October 1, 2024 release of the AAR Office Manual.
CPC-1426
Interchange rules and Umler System Registration
Issued: September 12, 2024
Effective: September 12, 2024
At the request of the Tank Car Committee, all members and tank car owners are reminded of the need to provide accurate and complete Umler information for all rail equipment. For tank cars the following is the requirement published in AAR MSRP C-III (M-1002) Chapter 1.
1.3.5.3 in M-1002, “Be registered in Umler® to the current approved tank design specification and tank stenciled specification for each applicable data element. Refer to AAR Interchange Rule 93 for Train II® and Umler® Reporting Procedures. Additionally, the Field Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules, Rule 90.A.1, prohibits the use of freight cars (including tank cars) in interchange over 40 years from date built except as otherwise provided for in the Office Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules, Rule 88″.
Entries in the Umler system need to be accurately updated to the current approved design specification to maintain AAR Interchange status. This also includes the current owner in the Umler field Ref 180.503.
Upcoming Event
Registration is Now Open for The February 2025 AAR Quality Assurance Industry Conference
The 37th Annual AAR Quality Assurance Industry Conference is an annual event for anyone interested in learning more about the AAR Quality Program and AAR Auditor training process. The AAR Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) seeks to improve the conference based on recommendations from QAC members, AAR Auditors, and previous conference attendees. The QAC’s mission includes ensuring that AAR auditors are well-trained, with the goal of improving audit consistency, auditing practices, and knowledge of the M-1003 standard. Further, the conference is a great opportunity to meet and network with quality professionals in the railway industry.
See circular C-14420 for full details and links to registration.
AAR Tank Car Committee
October 15–17, 2024
Renaissance Dallas Addison Hotel
15201 Dallas Parkway, Addison, TX
Need to register?
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For inquiries about these summaries or any of our services, please reach out to: regulatoryservices@gbrx.com
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