Year in Review|Railinc 2018 Annual Report

Hear from Allen West, President & CEO of Railinc

A Message From Our President

“Our goal every year is to help the rail industry continue to improve the safety and efficiency of their operations.”

We Are Railinc

About Railinc

Railinc creates innovative and cutting-edge technology solutions for the rail industry.

These solutions are helping to make transportation infrastructure safer and are helping railroads and companies deliver resources and consumer products more efficiently and at a lower cost. Railinc is the largest single source of real-time accurate interline rail data for the North American railroad system.

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2018 Railinc Highlights

2018 Railinc Highlights

In 2018, Railinc achieved success through PTC projects, expanded its capabilities in advanced analytics, and increased terminal visibility in Chicago through Clear Path™.

Positive Train Control, Tank Car Projects Complete Phase 1


In 2018, Railinc completed production deployment of a new user interface that allows Class I, short line and regional railroads to manually exchange Positive Train Control (PTC) system event log files with each other. This capability to share data allows Railinc to help railroads achieve interoperability regarding PTC. Railinc’s Tank Car Integrated Database (TCID), also released this year, created a new method for helping tank car owners track data about tank cars for government body reports and to improve tracking of valuable tank car component and inspection information.

What’s Next?
The work planned for 2019 will improve non-Class I railroads’ ability to receive, handle, and interpret PTC-related messages from Class I railroads’ networks, as well as provide enhancements to the user interface to increase operability. Railinc will also begin development on a configuration management tool that will allow the industry to centrally track and manage PTC component configuration changes and tests to support interoperability. As for Tank Car, we plan to make improvements to the base system to integrate with other Railinc systems, such as Umler and Component Registry.

New Advanced Analytics Capabilities


Building on last year’s accomplishment of migrating all data platform capabilities into a modern technology stack, Railinc launched the Advanced Analytics project to better enable the company to serve the industry across all domains and business analytics needs. This advancement would not have been possible without the collaboration of several departments across Railinc, including the Commercial Development, Infrastructure and Data Solutions teams.

Accomplishments for 2018 include implementing new technologies on top of the existing data platform infrastructure to enable real-time analytics and machine learning techniques; re-training a subset of employees to acquire data science and big data engineering technical expertise; leveraging historical movement event information to make real-time inferences about the new received events; and utilizing sensor readings as part of a new asset health study. These successes help maintain Railinc’s position at the forefront of the industry in analytics research and allow the company to gather better results from algorithms already in place.

What’s Next?
Advanced analytics will take on six more business use cases in 2019, while also focusing on maturing the infrastructure and growing the technology stack.

Chicago Clear Path™ System Expands Terminal Visibility with Enhanced Map Combining GIS and Dispatch Data


Railinc’s Clear Path™ technology provides visibility to rail activity across the Chicago Terminal, supporting train planning activities and enabling stakeholders to work together more efficiently through proactive, coordinated decision-making to keep rail traffic moving. It includes a multi-layered geographic map of the entire terminal, featuring train locations, tracks, yards, corridors, control points and other critical reference information about the Chicago Terminal.

In 2018, Railinc worked with Chicago stakeholders to deliver enhancements to the Clear Path™ system to increase velocity, reduce cost and maximize asset utilization.

  • Railinc replaced the Common Operating Picture System, which phased out in November 2018, with Clear Path™, and weaved near real-time train dispatching data into both analytics and mapping capabilities.
  • Railinc introduced a new “Dispatch View” view in the Clear Path Map™ that merges the traditional train dispatching “schematic” with GIS technology. The result is the near real-time status of all tracks, switches and signals across Chicago’s 10 railroads, rendered on a on the Clear Path Map™. Train location and status is now available down to the precise position on the track that it is occupying, displaying related track, switch and signal information and train routing authority for each train. This groundbreaking technology gives visual geographic context to train dispatching data, and makes it available in one easy-to-use application.
  • Clear Path™ was expanded to include dispatch and planning data up to one crew change point outside of the Chicago terminal. This additional visibility provides up to a 72-hour window of trains headed to Chicago, enabling greater proactive planning to help prevent oversubscription of the Chicago terminal.
  • Railinc developed contingencies to maintain visibility to Chicago train operations through Clear Path™ for railroads that were not able to complete integration with Railinc in 2018.

What’s Next?
In 2019, Railinc will complete the integration process for railroads that were unable to complete this work in 2018. Clear Path™ will continue to be enhanced throughout the year, including improvements to the dispatch view and integration between Clear Path™ modules. Significant effort will be focused on improving the quality of railroad data feeds, and a solution for linking together train movements across multiple railroads will be developed. All these efforts are focused on improving the quality of information available for operational, analytical and forecasting purposes to help the terminal absorb traffic growth while increasing train velocity and maximizing asset utilization.

2019 Gateway Operations Focus Areas

Increase Velocity
  • Train ID Matching
  • Improve Forecasting
Maximize Asset Utilization
  • Railroad Dispatch Data Integration
  • Lineup Data Quality
Reduced Cost
  • GIS Data Sustainment Framework
  • Clear Path™ System Integration

Projects Review

Projects Review

In 2018, Railinc created innovative and cutting-edge technology solutions for the rail industry.

These solutions are helping to make transportation infrastructure safer and are helping railroads and companies deliver resources and consumer products more efficiently and at a lower cost. Railinc is the largest single source of real-time accurate interline rail data for the North American railroad system.

4.73of 5 stars
Asset Health Strategy Committee

Asset Information Repository (AIR) Value Expansion 2018

This project supported reductions in mechanical service interruptions by expanding the bad-actor identification value and refining the bad-actor scorecard to include repair and automated single-car test data. It also validated Umler® using information from detectors.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Inspection Quality Value Expansion 2018

This project enhanced efficiency of data sharing through standardization through a continued move to condition-based inspections. It built on efforts to standardize characteristics, data quality, rules and data related to detector technology, supporting sharing of detector data in the Asset Health platform.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Equipment Failure Analysis (EFA) Value Expansion 2018

This project supported reductions in mechanical service interruptions by extending and enhancing the methodology and data analysis for identifying causes for component failures and repeated component inspections, replacements or repairs.

Asset Health Strategy and Specially Equipped Freight Car Committees

Automate Multi-Level Pool Billing Phase 2 – Clearinghouse

This project is part of an increased efficiency effort to convert the current paper-based billing process to one modeled on the electronic Car Repair Billing system. The project validated data exchange outputs and leveraged the Railroad Clearinghouse for invoice settlement.

Equipment Assets Committee

Automate End-of-Train Device Settlement

This project reduced the manual effort required to settle charges for EOT device usage and enabled improvements in productivity and accuracy through the automation of the business rules associated with the use and payment for end-of-train devices.

Asset Health Strategy and Locomotive Committees

Locomotive Asset Health Priorities – Phase 2

This project supported increased velocity and utilization of the fleet and enhanced visibility into information such as detector data, location information and inspections by expanding the equipment health information in the Asset Health platform to support basic locomotive data requirements.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

End-of-Train Device Utilization and Management Enhancements

This project enhanced EOT management capabilities to improve interoperability and functionality, as well as yard and shop efficiencies – bringing the process and specifications in line with the increases in equipment velocity and utilization.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Alert Management Modernization

These enhancements to the Early Warning system support easier access to equipment health data and support more informed operating decisions. Additionally, this project included needs assessment for the modernization of industry alerts.

Chicago Planning Group

Clear Path™ Territory Expansion – Phase 2

This project leveraged new PTC-aligned data feeds in the Clear Path™ system to identify train position, train routing and dispatch authority at track level. It also extended visibility into train movement and stopped train identification to one crew change point outside Chicago.

GIS Committee

Location Management – Phase 2

The second phase of a three-phase roadmap supported collaborative efforts to improve safety and increase network efficiency through development of industry processes and systems that will enable GIS data sharing capabilities among railroads.

EDI Working Committee

Forward and Store 7050 EDI Upgrade

This project delivered business process improvements and ensured the Forward and Store system is compliant with current EDI standards and regulatory requirements by updating the EDI 417 and EDI 421 message types.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Detector Quality Monitoring

This project provided detector owners enhanced visibility by introducing new data validation capabilities that enabled the Inspection Quality (IQ) platform to continually monitor detector data and inform detector owners of potential issues such as sensor failures and false reads.

Tank Car Committee

Component Tracking – Tank Car Valves

This project supported more effective recalls and enhanced asset management by creating the capability to register tank car valve components and associate them to individual pieces of equipment.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Asset Information Repository (AIR) Value Expansion 2019

This project increases industry efficiency by supporting Class I railroads with updated Asset Health industry data to address repairs across repair locations. Additional efforts will also improve bad actor identification, and advance the collection and analysis of single car air brake test data to further understanding of specific brake system issues over time.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

E-Train – Air Slip Priorities

This project will supplement a move to a more modernized inspection regimen that increases equipment velocity and service levels for shippers through support for the collection and mileage tracking of Class I inspections on freight equipment.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Inspection Quality Value Expansion 2019

This project completes originally envisioned work to fully standardize and share wayside detector data, data summaries, and equipment alerts. The platform will continue to support future wayside detector requirements.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Detector Quality Monitoring (2018-2019)

This project enables the IQ platform to continually monitor detector data and inform detector owners of potential issues such as sensor failures and false reads, by expanding the information feedback to detector owners through new data validation capabilities.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Technology Driven Train Inspection (Machine Vision)

This project will design for industry technology-driven train inspection standards to be applied to existing and planned vision systems. It will develop standards to define applicable automation levels and processes to manage network coverage.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Equipment Failure Analysis (EFA) Value Expansion 2019 (2019-2020)

This project supports reductions in derailments and mechanical service interruptions by acquiring new component defect data, and enhancing methodologies and data analysis for identifying causes for component failures.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Automate Multi-Level Pool Billing – Phase 3

This project will increase efficiency by converting the current paper-based billing process to one modeled on the electronic Car Repair Billing system. Phase 3 work will implement additional edits and enhancements, provide an exception-handling workflow, and provide a method to manage proprietary material and labor rates.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

Alert Management Modernization – Phase 2 (2019-2020)

This project will initiate enhancements to the Early Warning System to support easier access to equipment health data and support more informed operating decisions. The priorities identified in the 2018 assessment include modernizing alerts in the Railinc system and planning for the integration of those changes in customer systems through 2020.

Asset Health Strategy Committee

End-of-Train Device (EOTD) Utilization and Management Enhancements – Phase 2

This project extends EOT device owner visibility by enabling sharing of EOT device location for foreign devices on a handling railroad. Additional efforts will progress next-generation standards development for communications, hardware, inspection and repair, and asset management.

Chicago Planning Group

Clear Path™ Value Expansion

The 2019 Clear Path™ Value Expansion continues to increase velocity and efficiency in the corridor through complete integration of railroad dispatch data in the new message format, delivering enhancements to several components of the Clear Path™ System, and advancing improvements in lineup data quality.

AAR GIS Committee

Location Management – Phase 3

The third phase of Railinc’s location management work supports collaborative efforts to improve safety and increase network efficiency through industry-wide GIS data sharing capabilities, including the rollout of the GIS change management solution, providing version updates to Clear Path™, and other industry applications.

Equipment Assets Committee

Automated EOT Settlement through Railroad Clearinghouse – Phase 2 – EOT Hire Decision System (2019-2020)

Phase 2 of this effort to automate the settlement of EOT liability will provide an interface for handling any exceptions remaining after the completion of Phase 1. Completion of all three phases will result in a fully automated and centralized settlement process.

Train Control Communications and Operations Committee (TCCOC)

Monitoring and Analysis of the Integrated Network – Core Data Exchange (MAIN-CDX)

This accelerated RPSWC project will support a more efficient diagnostic process by providing a technology platform for railroads to request and receive the necessary data from other railroads to assist in PTC interoperability. This project will improve railroad operations, reduce support costs, and reduce train delay. A peer-to-peer data flow solution was designed in 2018 and will be developed in 2019 for all railroads that choose to integrate.

Train Control Communications and Operations Committee (TCCOC)

PTC – Interoperable Lifecycle Management – Phase 1

The 2019 ILM project centralizes the PTC system release and documentation process to create efficiency and cost savings. The master workflow platform being developed enables the industry to trace PTC standards requirements, and manage interoperable configuration items (CI) release dependencies and standards to eliminate non-functional system conditions – eliminating the need for every railroad to analyze every configurable item and requirement change in every release of the system.

Revenue Pipeline Task Force

Accelerate Funding by Shortening URRWIN Settlement

This project will shorten Unique Railroad Revenue Waybill Identification Numbers (URRWIN) settlement to 20 days (currently 30 days), creating a higher likelihood of settling before the month is out and supporting the receiving of funds more quickly.

RailSight™

RailSight™

RailSight services leverage more than nine million daily events provided by
570+ rail carriers across North America

  • On-demand and historical tracing options
  • Exception management, mapping and reporting
  • Standard and customized operating/historical analytics
  • Flexible connectivity, from EDI and FTP to MQ and APIs
  • An easy-to-use, single-source solution with no IT setup or capital investment required
RailSight Track & Trace Comprehensive tracking and tracing solution with the most accurate view of traffic on the North American rail network
RailSight Monitor Monitoring of shipments and equipment allowing business to act on issues before they impact operations
RailSight Demand Trace On-demand equipment queries for more informed decisions and better planning
RailSight Reports Customized reports, sourced from the Umler system, that include up-to-date data and analysis of rail equipment

Continuous Improvements and Advanced Analytics

Continuous Improvements and Advanced Analytics

Continuing investments in machine learning and advanced analytics will be applied to improving ETAs. Additionally, we made upgrades across our RailSight applications to improve the user experience. These include integrating new data sources to provide more granular visibility of shipments and equipment, and enhancements to RailSight Monitor to provide visualization and mapping capabilities so customers can be proactively notified of shipment exceptions. Railinc’s commercial team worked with key customers to develop customized, detailed analyses of company operations and marketplaces in 2018, in response to a growing, industry-wide demand for predictive and prescriptive data.

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

2018 saw the continuation of Railinc’s partnership with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority for the Port of Vancouver Supply Chain Visibility Pilot Project. For Phase 1, we provided critical rail data as the VFPA developed a new dashboard for authorized stakeholders to monitor port traffic trends, traffic patterns, traffic capacity and performance. The goal of the project remains to enhance visibility and collaboration across all modes of transport and improve the fluidity of traffic moving into and out of the port. In 2019, the project will continue to expand, and the VFPA hopes to move the system into production by the end of the year.

RailSight, An Established Visibility Market Leader

RailSight, An Established Visibility Market Leader

In 2018, RailSight solutions’ customer base expanded at record levels; our customers now include all the top five global 3PLs, as well as 80 percent of the top 10 U.S. 3PLs and all top 10 U.S. private railcar owners. Customer retention has surpassed 99.5 percent – a testament to the return on investment. As demand from commercial stakeholders for information on their respective supply chains continues to spike, RailSight continues to grow its status as the go-to source for supplying data to customers, enabling them to make better decisions, which leads to better performance across the board.

By the Numbers

Railinc: By the Numbers

5,200

Line-of-Road Failures Prevented with Help From New Bad-Actor Algorithms

12,000,000

Updates in Umler® during 2018

600

Thin rim/high impact conditions repaired due to new inspections quality capabilities

2,106,114

Rail Equipment Registered in Umler

10,000,000

Daily Railcar Movement Events Received from Railroads

3700000000

Messages Processed Through Railinc Messaging Service in 2018

30

Net Promoter
Score

50%

Customer Loyalty Rating

Work with a purpose

Work with a purpose

Hear from Railinc Employees

Railinc’s significant role in helping to keep the North American freight rail fleet moving means that Railinc employees come in every day to work with a purpose. Watch the video below to hear what that means to them and why they love working at Railinc.

Our Leadership

Our Leadership

Executive Team

E. Allen West

President and Chief Executive Officer

Yates Parker

Vice President, Operations

Treadwell Davison

Vice President, Strategy and Central Services

Steve Hinkson

Director, Corporate Communications

Cathelene Thomas

Chief of Staff

Joan Smemoe

CIO, Vice President of Information Technology

Chip Summey

Director, Asset Services

Patricia Sumrell

Director of Finance

Jerry Vaughn

Director, Interline Services

Our Leadership

Board of Directors

Fred Ehlers, Chair

Norfolk Southern Corp.

Vice President, Information Technology, & CIO

Kathleen Brandt

CSX Corp.

Senior Vice President & CIO

Michael Foster

Canadian National Railway

Senior Vice President, Chief Information and Technology Officer

Edward R. Hamberger

Association of American Railroads

President & CEO

Muru Murugappan

BNSF Railway

Vice President, Technology Services & CIO

Mike Naatz

Kansas City Southern

Senior Vice President, Operations Support, & CIO

Mike Redeker

Canadian Pacific

Vice President & CIO

Lynden Tennison

Union Pacific Corp.

Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

E. Allen West

Railinc Corp.

President & CEO