Identification of Railroad Cars

The I.D. cards/tags are used to identify any freight equipment moved in accordance with 49 CFR 232.3(d) (Formerly Order 13528). The card sets forth the restrictions to be complied with for legal movement and indicates the proper destination. Note: This collection of information is mandatory All 755 railroads on the general system of transportation (Class I, Class II, Class III, and Passenger railroads) must comply with this provision and tag specified equipment that they find necessary to move. This tagging of equipment serves as a record and occurs on occasion. It affects approximately 400 cars per year which are moved under this regulation. The information collected is used by railroad employees to ensure that cars moved under this provision arrive at the correct destination. The purpose of this information collection is to promote and maintain rail safety by ensuring that rolling stock being moved is properly tagged so that it may be readily observed and identified. If this tagging process were not complied with, freight cars/equipment without power brakes could possibly be put in service, causing injury to railroad workers and perhaps members of the public as well. Also, if this tagging process were not complied with, the affected equipment might be removed from the train during subsequent en route inspections. Thus, the tags serve the purpose of both enhancing railroad employees' safety and ensuring that rolling stock arrives at the correct designated locations, thereby reducing shippers' expenses.

The latest form for Identification of Railroad Cars expires 2021-03-31 and can be found here.