Railcar Fleet Management Tips

Valuable information about managing railcar fleets and the details of fleet ownership.

What to do when the railroad track & trace tools aren’t enough

You are feeling pain. Gaining visibility of your growing rail shipments on multiple railroads has become cumbersome. Reports that took 5 minutes to prepare are now taking an hour or more. Management wants more detailed (aka complicated and time consuming) reports because there is more at stake. Issues that once...

Railcar Repair: Save Money By Using This Free Software

In this article, I am going to explain how you can save a significant amount of money and time by using a recently updated, free software tool that you can download and install right now. Several years ago, I reviewed a piece of software named Invoice21 developed by RailTech Software...

How To Install Invoice21 To View / Print Railcar Repair Invoices For Free

In a previous article, I review and explain the benefit of Invoice21, show sample reports and how to use it. Basically it is a free software that enables you to view / print easy to read, detailed copies of railcar repair invoices. In this article, you will learn how to...

Demurrage and detention from a carload perspective

The terms Demurrage and Detention are used quite a bit in the rail industry. Sometimes they seem to be used interchangeably or used differently depending on the type of rail shipping (i.e. intermodal vs. carload). If you have ever wondered about the meaning and usage of these terms particularly within...

Railcar Tracking Blog has a new name and new location

Railcar Tracking Blog (http://railcartracking.wordpress.com) , established in 2011, is a place where rail shippers, receivers, and railcar fleet owners can find helpful information related to tracking rail shipments and managing railcar fleets. The blog is sponsored by Railcar Tracking Company (RTC) and the articles were written by RTC with occasional input from other industry experts. The...

AAR Car Type Codes Explained & Resources

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) developed the car code. The first letter of the code identifies the major category of the railcar. The following three numbers identify more specific characteristics about the railcar such as dimension, roof type, door type, capacity (gallons or cubit feet), load limit, floor type, coupler...

What features are commonly included in a rail shipment tracking and fleet management system?

Rail shipment tracking and fleet management systems are offered by several vendors, which offer many similar features. These systems lower administrative costs, improve supply chain performance and increase utilization of railcar fleets. This article summarizes those most common features and then also points out some less common features. Overall, I hope...

How much does a railcar tracking software system cost (Part II)?

In February of last year, I wrote the first part of this series that focused on the cost of data, which is the core cost of any railcar tracking system. I promised that the first part would be followed up with more information about the total cost of this type...

Railcar Repair: Save $600 Or More Annually By Reading This Article

Starting January 1, 2012, Railinc will begin charging $600 annually for the PDF print out of [rail]car repair billing charges (CRBX Data Exchange) to billed parties. The charge is actually per each profile ID, so if your company has multiple IDs, you will see multiple $600 charges. Plus, third party...

Simple Railcar Fleet Sizing

There are more complex and more accurate ways to size your railcar fleet, but here is a simple way that even the most modest thinker (me) can understand. Before you use this, be sure to test it in a small situation to be sure that it works for your particular...

Rail Users’ Manual

The Rail User’ Manual available from The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL)  contains some basic, important, timeless, and valuable information relating to railroad railcar tracking that you may not be able to find consolidated anywhere else. The information in the manual could be more timely since the latest version that...

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Railcar Fleet Management

Reduce Demurrage Bills

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Expanded Reporting Features