The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a directive on non-conforming welding practices on certain DOT-111 general purpose tank cars. The tank cars were built by American Railcar Industries, Inc. (ARI) and ACF Industries, LLC (ACF) between 2009 and 2015.
The sill design, which is equipped with a two piece cast sump and bottom outlet valve (BOV) skid, may have substantial weld defects at the sump and BOV skid groove attachment welds and could result in the release of hazardous materials. The use of these cars with the weld defects violates the requirements of the Federal Hazardous Materials regulations.
FRA is issuing this Directive to ensure public safety, ensure compliance with Federal regulations governing the safe movement of hazardous materials by rail, and ensure the railworthiness of the tank cars.
This Directive requires owners to identify tank cars in their fleet covered by this Directive and ensure appropriate inspection and testing of each tank car's sump and BOV skid groove attachment welds to ensure no flaw exists that could result in the loss of tank integrity.
All inspection and test results must be documented, including reinspections of repairs.