Date extended to January 1st, 2011 for AAR Rule 5 covering loading of carload shipments of commodities in closed cars

May 21 2010 - We wanted to let you know that the AAR has announced a change to one of the rules for the safe loading of closed boxcars. Right now, the maximum allowable space crosswise in a loaded closed railcar is 18 inches. On January 1st 2011, the maximum allowable space will be reduced to 6 inches, significantly reducing the chances of load shifts that might cause a derailment.

Below are the links to the CN customer letter, the AAR letter and Rule 5 of AAR Circular No. 42-J outlining the details of this change.

• CN Customer Letter (pdf)
• AAR Letter (pdf)
• Rule 5 of AAR Circular No. 42-J (pdf)