Follow these steps to add or update criteria used to calculate railroad demurrage/detention on various reports. Demurrage/detention measurement and charges will not display on a report unless criteria has been entered for the particular raillroad on which the railcar is unloaded/loaded. You may also make the criteria Station and Commodity code (STCC) specific. RMS has criteria for the major Class I railroads as of 2008: Burlington Northern Sante Fe, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. However, railroad demurrage policies change often, you will want to review these policies and make updates as required. Some railroads may have criteria that cannot be entered into RMS, but as of 2008, the majority of railroad demurrage policies could be entered into RMS.
It is recommended to enter at least two criteria records for each railroad - one for Loading and another for Unloading.
1. From the Home window, expand the Data Management branch; expand the Demurrage/Detention branch and double-click on the Railroad branch.
2. Select the Railroad | Activity that you want to enter demurrage criteria for by using the QuickFind: click on the drop-down button on the right side of this text box and select the Railroad | Activity from the list.
If no demurrage criteria exists for this particular Railroad | Activity, click the New command button.
3. Choose the Railroad for which this criteria will apply. Tab to the Activity and select whether this criteria will be associated with Loading or Unloading.
4. Enter the daily charge for private railcars sitting on railroad-owned tracks between constructive placement and actual placement and the daily charge for railroad-owned railcars held between placement (constructive or actual) and release.
5. Next, select whether the order in date/time is considered by the railroad for reducing your demurrage charges.
Note: Some railroads will reduce your charges by the time that elapsed between when you ordered a constructively placed railcar into your industry and when the railroad actually placed the railcar at your industry. The order in date/time is entered on the RMS Shipping Instruction window on the Other tab.
6. Enter the days allowed for a private railcar stored on railroad property before charges begin to accrue. Indicate whether these days are free or credited.
Note: Credit days are different than Free days. Credit days, if not used in full for a particular railcar shipment, may be used to offset accrued demurrage charges for another railcar shipment. Most railroads restrict the use of credits to the particular industry location, one billing period, and activity (i.e. loading or unloading).
7. Enter the days allowed for a railroad-owned railcar held between placement (constructive or actual) and release. Some railroads also allow extra days if the railcar is unloaded and then reloaded before released back to the railroad. Indicate whether these days are free or credited.
8. Select the time that the demurrage clock begins in the Clock start time text box.
9. Click on the Allowed Calendar Days tab. If there are any days of the week or holidays that are allowed, select or enter them here. Indicate whether they are free or credited.
10. Click on the Other Optional tab if you need to make this criteria Station or STCC (commodity code) specific.