Train car repairs. How offten are freight cars inspected?
Trains and equipment are inspected as said above. In addition each piece of rolling stock has emblazoned on the side the “COTS” date. You’ll see it there in the “black” field along with other data. “COTS” stands for Cleaned, Oiled, Tested and Stenciled and is mandated by the FRA to be done no less than every ten years for the life of the car, which is currently 50 years, also by FRA mandate. A word of advice for my Brothers: If you’re in the ditch, check the COTS date on the cars involved ASAP. I’ve had at least three major problems arise where the culprit has been a car with out of date COTS maintenance. Best to CYA or risk accusations of a “man failure” accident if the carrier can hang it on ya…
