[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 61377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-29453]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Safety Advisory on RoadRailer Trailers

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of safety advisory.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 99-03 addressing the securement 
of floor beam cross-members on RoadRailer trailers in order 
to prevent the highway tandem wheels on these trailers from falling 
onto the rails on moving trains.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Fairbanks, Mechanical Engineer, 
Motive Power and Equipment Division, Office of Safety Assurance and 
Compliance, FRA, 400 Seventh Street, SW, RRS-14, Mail Stop 25, 
Washington, DC 20590 (Telephone (202) 493-6322/Fax (202) 493-6230).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Over the past several months, FRA has 
discovered that several RoadRailer  trailers operated by 
Triple Crown Services (Triple Crown) have experienced failures of floor 
beam cross-members. These cross beams connect the highway tandem wheel 
set to the body of the trailer via slide rails. The failure of the 
cross beam allows the weight of the tandem wheel set to deflect the 
slide rails to the point where the highway tires contact the rail. The 
reported failures, which to date have been isolated, were discovered 
while the trailer was in train formation, triggered a dragging 
equipment detector on a moving train, or was noticed by the crew of a 
passing train. At this time, there have been no reported instances of 
tandem wheel sets separating from the trailer, which may cause a 
derailment or undesired train stop. The trailers involved have been set 
out of their trains under controlled conditions without injury or loss 
of property.
    FRA notified Wabash National Inc. (Wabash), the manufacturer of 
RoadRailer  equipment, and requested that Wabash randomly 
inspect trailers at the Fort Wayne, Indiana, Triple Crown facility. The 
first inspection was conducted on October 12, 1999, and revealed a high 
percentage of four-to-six-year-old trailers with one or more cross-
member defects. The cross-member defects found during the inspection 
could be classified into four categories:
    1. A weld crack at the slide rail to I-beam cross-member;
    2. A crack in the cross-member I-beam flange (which usually starts 
at the end of a weld);
    3. A crack which has progressed into the web of the I-beam from the 
flange; or
    4. A cross-member broken into two pieces.
    A second inspection was conducted at the Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
facility on October 14, 1999, by representatives of Wabash, Triple 
Crown, and FRA. A third inspection of the facility was conducted on 
October 27, 1999, and included representative of the Federal Highway 
Administration (FHWA). The results of these two inspections were 
consistent with the observations made in the earlier inspection.
    The practice of attaching the tandem wheel set slide rails to the 
trailer body by welding to floor cross-member I-beam flanges has been 
the accepted method of highway trailer fabrication for many years. This 
method is currently being used by nearly all van trailer manufacturers, 
and is considered safe and reliable when properly applied. It should be 
noted that there are some RoadRailer trailers which have 
been in service since January 1988 that have not exhibited signs of 
weld or cross-member cracking in the above noted areas. Currently, the 
entire fleet of Triple Crown RoadRailer trailers are in the 
process of being inspected or repaired. All inbound and outbound 
trailers are being inspected and depending upon the condition of the 
trailer, it may be withheld from service, transloaded, or repaired 
prior to being assembled into a train. At this time, the manufacturer 
is considering one broken floor beam cross-member or four successive 
cross-members with cracks to be sufficient cause to withhold the 
trailer from service or repair the trailer prior to continuing it in 
service.

Recommended Action

    Until the root cause of the floor beam cross-member failures can be 
determined, and the appropriate long-term repairs effectuated, FRA 
recommends that the following action be taken with regard to all 
RoadRailer'' trailers:
     Each trailer should be inspected upon receipt at a 
facility from a highway motor carrier prior to being transferred to the 
rail mode to determine whether it has any of the following conditions:
    1. One broken floor beam cross-member.
    2. Four successive cross-member with cracks.
    If either of the conditions are found, the trailer should be held 
until a repair can be made to correct the deficiency, or if loaded, the 
lading should be transferred to another trailer that has been inspected 
and found not to have any of these conditions.
     Each such inbound trailer should be inspected upon its 
arrival in a train prior to its transfer to the highway mode. If either 
of the conditions noted above are found, the trailer should be held 
until a repair can be made to correct the deficiency, or if loaded, the 
lading should be transferred to another trailer that has been inspected 
and found not to have any of these conditions.
    FRA may modify Safety Advisory 99-03, issue additional safety 
advisories, or take other appropriate action to ensure the highest 
level of safety on the Nation's railroads.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on November 4, 1999.
George Gavalla,
Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 99-29453 Filed 11-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P