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Association of American Railroads

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Association of American Railroads

  • Login
  • Publications
  • Join AAR
  • Data Center
  • News & Events
  • Blog

Association of American Railroads

  • Railroad 101
    • Industry 101
      • Industry Overview
      • Supply Chain
      • Railroad Technology
      • Safety Inspections
      • Economic Regulation
      • Forced Switching
      • Climate Change
      • Types of Railroads
    • Resources
      • Facts & Figures
      • PDF Fact Sheets
      • State Data
      • Railroad Chronology
      • Reports
      • Videos
      • Charts
      • Infographics
      • Podcasts & Interviews
      • Carbon Calculator
  • Impact
    • Investments
    • Supply Chain
    • Economic Impact
    • States
    • Railroad Jobs
    • Consumers
    • Amtrak
    • CREATE
  • Policy
    • Collective Bargaining
    • Crew Size
    • Economic Regulation
      • STB Reauthorization
      • Forced Switching
      • Final Offer Rate Review
      • Revenue Adequacy
      • Competition
      • The Staggers Act
    • Operational Regulation
      • Automated Track Inspections
      • Highly Automated Vehicles
      • Performance-based Regulations
      • Hazmat/Tank Cars
      • Mexican Crew Interchange
    • Cybersecurity Legislation
    • Climate Change Policies
    • Trade
    • Infrastructure Priorities
      • Highway Trust Fund
      • Truck Size & Weight
      • Section 130
      • Environmental Permitting
      • Passenger Rail
      • Right of Way Access
  • Climate Change
    • Climate Change Policies
    • Emissions Reduction Technologies
    • Carbon Calculator
    • Temperature Shifts
  • Safety
    • Employee Safety
    • Inspections
    • Safety Record
    • Hazmat Safety
    • Network Safety
      • Train Length
    • Pedestrian & Drivers
      • Occupied Crossings
    • Preparedness & Response
      • Community Planning
      • Hazmat Remediation
      • First Responder Training
      • AskRail
      • Network Security
      • Cybersecurity
    • Extreme Weather
      • Natural Disasters
      • Temperature Shifts
      • Winter
      • Flooding
  • Technology
    • Technology 101
    • Safety
      • Workforce
      • Inspections
      • Positive Train Control
      • AskRail
    • Emissions Reduction
    • Customer Service
    • Industry Progress
  • Industries We Support
    • Agriculture
      • Grain
      • Food Products
      • Fertilizers
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals
    • Construction
      • Lumber
      • Steel
      • Stone, Sand & Gravel
    • Energy
      • Coal
      • Ethanol
      • Crude Oil
    • Intermodal
    • Forest Products
      • Lumber
      • Pulp & Paper

Concentration Areas

To provide our associates and railroad affiliates with up-to-date, business-critical information, AAR offers special services in various concentration areas.

Car Service & Care Hire

  • Agendas and minutes for the Equipment Assets Committee to keep equipment owners informed of discussion areas impacting car utilization and compensation.

Communications, Signals & Train Control

  • Information relating to radio frequency spectrum, including frequency coordination, petitions to the FCC, response to petitions to the FCC, and the development and management of wireless communications standards.
  • Complimentary copy of railway electronic standards and specifications-related publications:
    • AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices Section K Series – These documents provide a compendium for the development of the system architecture, identifies the hardware and software components for Positive Train Control (PTC) communications, their functions and the nature of the interfaces between them.
    • AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices Section M – Standards and recommended practices covering design of locomotives and their components.
  • One complimentary e-mail subscription to the AAR Circular Letters service (one per member).
  • Information on FRA activity in the signal, communications and train control area.

Damage Prevention & Loading Services

(Topics Include: Closed Car and Intermodal; Open Top Loading Rules; & Automobile Damage Prevention)

  • Notification of new and revised publications for rules and standards.
  • Notification and registration information for the annual DP & FC Conference and other on-line events.
  • Notification of newsletters or industry updates on damage prevention.
  • Testing information available (non-proprietary), completed by Damage Prevention & Loading Services.
  • Information on automobile training and inspection services.
  • Access to statistics on railroad industry freight loss and damage trends.
  • Access to informational resources through AAR/MxV Rail (formerly TTCI) – DP&LS staff.

Engineering & Track Maintenance

  • Dockets and updates from the Engineering Policy Committee.
  • Quarterly newsletter on engineering and track issues, including updates from FRA.
  • News clips on the track and maintenance area.
  • Liaison with federal agencies on engineering and track issues.

Environment & Tank Car

  • News clips with the latest developments in the areas of tank cars, environment, nuclear waste and hazmat issues.
  • AAR comments on environmental and hazardous materials issues of significant impact on the rail industry.
  • Information and updates from AAR Tank Car Committee meetings.
  • Invitation to the Railroad Environmental Conference.

Hazmat

  • News clips with the latest developments in the areas of hazmat issues.
  • AAR comments on environmental and hazardous materials issues of significant impact on the rail industry.
  • Updates on federal activity affecting hazmat issues.

Passenger Rail Service

  • Updates on coordination and implementation of PTC Systems between freight and passenger railroads.
  • Invitations to special events hosted by MxV Rail (formerly TTCI).

Safety

Railroad Affiliate Benefits

  • Liaison with federal agencies on rail safety matters.
  • Participation in periodic teleconferences on benchmarking industry safety practices.
  • Participation in regular teleconferences and meetings to shape industry positions on FRA rulemakings.

Railroad Affiliate & Associate Benefits

  • Notice of regulatory activity via daily summaries of the Federal Register.
  • Notice of pertinent Canadian regulatory activity.
  • Notice of NTSB accident reports and summaries.
  • Periodic summaries of industry safety performance.
  • Work with international partners and maintain currency in operational issues.

Security

 Railroad Affiliate Benefits (United States & Canada-Based railroads only)

  • Receive all editions of the Rail Awareness Daily Analytic Report (RADAR) via the Railway Alert Network (RAN).
  • Receive the focused security awareness messages and advisories produced and disseminated by the RAN.
  • Receive communications relating to the priorities for the rail industry security program and the efforts undertaken to achieve them as derived from interaction amongst the members of the Rail Security Working Committee and the Rail Information Security Committee and between the Committees and interested US Federal government departments and agencies.
  • Invitation to participate in the periodic informational teleconferences held for affiliates.
  • Invitation to participate in the monthly teleconferences of the Rail Security Working Committee.
  • Invitation to participate in the annual Joint Rail Sector Security Exercise, typically held each Fall.

 Railroad Affiliate & Associate Benefits

  • Overview presentations on the rail industry security program as part of the railroad affiliate or associate meetings.
  • Associates in the security concentration area receive all editions of the Rail Awareness Daily Analytic Report (RADAR) via the Railway Alert Network (RAN).

Technical Services

  •  Waivers for a change from time-based regulations (such as renewing reflector panels after 10 years) to a performance-based requirement that is based on effectiveness.
  • Monthly summaries of Technical Services news and updates in the Rail News newsletter.
  •  One complimentary e-mail subscription to the AAR Circular Letters service (one per company).
  •  One complimentary copy of the AAR Field Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules and the AAR Office Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules.

Interested in Becoming a Member?

Get in Touch

Kristin Smith
SVP Communications
202-639-23431
[email protected]

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Association of American Railroads

America’s freight railroads operate the safest, most efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sound freight transportation system in the world — and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) is committed to keeping it that way. Founded in 1934, AAR is the world’s leading railroad policy, research, standard setting, and technology organization that focuses on the safety and productivity of the U.S. freight rail industry. AAR Full members include the major freight railroads in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as Amtrak. Affiliates and Associates  include non-Class I and commuter railroads, rail supply companies, engineering firms, signal and communications firms, and rail car owners.

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