Proactive maintenance is fast becoming a standard for railroads and private car owners alike. And the Association of American Railroads' Advanced Technology Safety Initiative (ATSI) is bolstering their rolling stock inspection, maintenance, repair, and overhaul practices to ultimately reduce infrastructure stress.

ATSI was developed to "detect and report potential safety problems and poorly performing equipment before the), result in accident or undue rail damage," according to the AAR.

The first phase, implemented last October, monitors railcar wheels from WILDs (Wheel Impact Load Detectors) network-wide. Wheels that reach a peak impact load of 90 kips or more are considered "on the path to failure," spurring replacement. (While ATSI only affects railcars, most railroads address high-impact wheels when detected on locomotives, as well.)

AAR subsidiary Transportation Technology Center, Inc., is currently integrating information from Class I wayside detectors--which include 75 WILD, 19 Truck Performance Detectors (TPD), and seven Trackside Acoustic Detectors (TAD)--into its database, InteRRIS[TM], for analyzation and notification purposes.