Closed Car Loading Guide Part 1 (formerly Pamphlet No. 14) Minimum Loading Standards for Freight in General Purpose Boxcars Approved 1/6/14 by the Damage Prevention and Freight Claim Committee Copyright © 2014 by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) 425 Third Street SW Washington, DC 20024 All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book in any form. It is the AAR’s intention that this publication be used to promote the objectives of the AAR and its members for the safe, efficient, and uniform interchange of rail equipment in North America. To this end, only excerpts of a rule or specification may be reproduced by the purchaser for their own use in promoting this objective. No portion of this publication may be displayed or otherwise made available to multiple users through any electronic distribution media including but not limited to a local area network or the Internet. No portion may be sold or used for advertisement or gain by any entity other than the AAR and its authorized distributor(s) without written permission from the AAR. Minimum Loading Standards for FREIGHT IN GENERAL PURPOSE BOXCARS (Supersedes Pamphlet No. 14, Published December 1984; Cancels G.I.S. Nos. 583, 701, 709, and 715 Issued: January 2014 Published by Transportation Technology Center, Inc. 55500 DOT Road Pueblo, CO 81001 (Printed in U.S.A.) © 2014 (This Page Left Blank Intentionally) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction . 1–1 1.1 Overview . .1–1 1.2 Reference Documents . .1–1 1.3 Rail Transportation Environment . .1–2 2.0 Selection and Preparation of Car. 2–1 2.1 Overview . .2–1 2.2 Bulkhead Doors . .2–2 3.0 General Loading Information . 3–1 3.1 Overview . .3–1 3.2 Concentrated Loads . .3–1 3.3 Clearance at Side Bearing—Loaded Cars . .3–2 3.4 Maximum Load Weight. .3–2 3.5 Distribution of Weight Lengthwise in Cars. .3–2 3.6 Distribution of Weight Crosswise in Cars . .3–3 3.7 Center of Gravity. .3–4 4.0 Load Planning . 4–1 5.0 Unitizing . 5–1 5.1 On Wooden Pallets . .5–1 5.2 Slip-Sheeted Units . .5–3 5.3 Clamped Units. .5–3 5.4 Stretch Wrap and Shrink Net Characteristics and Application. .5–3 6.0 Blocking and Bracing Materials . 6–1 6.1 Steel Strapping . .6–1 6.2 Nonmetallic Strapping . .6–4 6.3 Web Strap Assemblies. .6–9 6.4 Cargo Nets . .6–10 6.5 Lumber. .6–11 6.6 Nails and Nailing . .6–13 6.7 Pneumatic Dunnage . .6–14 6.8 Friction Mats . .6–16 7.0 Gates, Fillers, Separators, and Dividers . 7–1 7.1 Gates . .7–1 7.2 Fillers . .7–2 7.3 Separators . .7–8 7.4 Dividers . .7–9 7.5 Risers . .7–10 8.0 Load Securement . 8–1 8.1 Floor Blocking . .8–1 8.2 Anchored Loads . .8–2 8.3 Incomplete Layer Bracing. .8–3 9.0 Doorway Protection . 9–1 Closed Car Loading Guide—Minimum Loading Standards for Freight in General Purpose Boxcars TOC–i (This Page Left Blank Intentionally) TOC–ii Closed Car Loading Guide—Minimum Loading Standards for Freight in General Purpose Boxcars LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Bulkhead doors . 2–2 Figure 3.1 Concentrated floor loading card . 3–2 Figure 3.2 Distribution of weight full length of car . 3–2 Figure 4.1 Placing lifts in cars with staggered doors . 4–1 Figure 4.2 Placing lifts in cars with staggered doors using pneumatic dunnage . 4–2 Figure 4.3 Key sack method of loading bags . 4–2 Figure 4.4 Brick wall method of loading bags . 4–3 Figure 4.5 Use of lengthwise fillers . 4–3 Figure 5.1 Using lengthwise filler to fill pallet underhang . 5–1 Figure 5.2 Examples of maintaining vertical alignment of unitized containers . 5–2 Figure 5.3 Method of preparing a two-way pallet for placement crosswise in the doorway . 5–2 Figure 5.4 Taping slip sheet lips . 5–3 Figure 6.1 Crimp-type joint . 6–1 Figure 6.2 Notch-type joint . 6–1 Figure 6.3 Triple die-cut sealless joint . 6–3 Figure 6.4 Sealless joint with reverse die-cut . 6–3 Figure 6.5 Threading a wire buckle . 6–6 Figure 6.6 Threading a cordstrap CB buckle . 6–7 Figure 6.7 Threading a ladder-type buckle . ..