Instructions for STB 54 Cars Loaded and Terminated

Surface Transportation Board
Annual Report of Cars Loaded and Cars Terminated
General instructions

All Class I railroads are required to submit an Annual Report of Cars Loaded and Cars Terminated (Form
STB-54). 49 C.F.R. § 1247.1. Form STB-54 requires Class I railroads to report the number of cars loaded
and terminated, by car type, during each calendar year and is due 90 days after the end of the reporting
year (March 31). The data are required to support the STB’s Uniform Railroad Costing System (URCS).
The template provided includes this instruction form, a signature form, and a separate comma separated
(CSV) file. The signature form must be filled out by appropriate parties and submitted electronically with
the CSV file. Please do not leave remarks in the CSV.
Railroads are required to report the number of revenue cars loaded and/or terminated-on-line,
disaggregated by car type and ownership. Additional information on car types can be found on page 3 of
this document.
For cars loaded:
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Include cars received under load from dependent short lines.
Include company material of your railroad.
Include cars loaded with empty trailers or containers, twenty feet or more in length.
For cars loaded in switching service for initial road haul movement via connections, include these
cars if your railroad is the billing road haul carrier.

For cars terminated:
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Include cars delivered to dependent short lines for unloading.
Include company material of your railroad.
Include cars from which empty piggyback trailers or containers, 20 feet or over in length, are
unloaded.
Include loaded cars delivered to a connection for switch delivery that received final road haul on
your railroad.
Exclude loaded cars which you receive from a connection for switch delivery.
Include loads that your railroad originates in switch service for intra- or inter-terminal switch
delivery.

Additional reporting information:
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Maintenance-of-way cars used as revenue equipment shall be included with revenue cars of
corresponding class.
Skeleton log flats used permanently in local log service shall be included with “All Others,” but
general service flat cars equipped for temporary log service shall be included with general service
flat cars.
Do not include caboose cars, ballast or other cars permanently assigned to non-revenue service.

CSV Instructions
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Do not change the values in the cells for columns A through N.
The data corresponding to the appropriate line must be inserted into fact_value column W.
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Data in column W must be in the format specified by three columns: columns M,
measure_scale; N, measure_units; and O, measure_data_type. The number of cars must be
entered as whole numbers. Do not use comma separators for thousands. Please check the CSV to
ensure that your software has not translated any figures to scientific notation on export.
Except in unusual circumstances which must be explained in the filings, totals must equal the sum
of the corresponding data lines.

Column instructions
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P, railroad_aar_reporting_mark: The alpha railroad ID used by the AAR.
Q, railroad_name: The legal name of the railroad
R, railroad_signatory_employee_name: The name/s of the signatory/ies
S, railroad_signatory_employee_phone_number: The contact information of the signatory/ies
T, railroad_signatory_employee_email_address: The contact information of the
signatory/ies
U, report_year: The year (e.g., 2024) for which the report is responsive.
V, report_amended_boolean: a boolean marker, denoted as either (a) TRUE if this data is a
revision to data previously submitted to the Board, or (b) FALSE if otherwise. Use capital letters.
W, fact_value: the number of cars associated with the row.

CSVs should not include additional rows or columns, and data should be in the same cells that are
provided in the templates. Failure to follow specific instructions will result in a need to refile.
Submissions are electronically checked for numeric consistency. If you have any questions, please contact
the Office of Economics.

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Car Category Information
Railroads must report the total number of cars for 30 different car categories. (this includes some subtotals totals). The chart below shows the
represented car reporting mark pattern, how the description appears in the CSV, and a long description of the car type.
Reporting Mark

Description in CSV

Long Description

COVERED HOPPERS
C**1, C**2
C**3, C**4

COVERED HOPPERS UNDR 4000CU
COVERED HOPPERS 4000CU PLUS

Under 4,000 Cubic Feet LO, HTR (With UMLER Fitting Code FC) - Under 4,000 Cubic Feet
4,000 Cubic Feet and Over LO, HTR (With UMLER Fitting Code FC) - 4,000 Cubic Feet and Over

REFRIGERATED CARS
A*1*, A*4*
R*O*, R*1*
R*(5-9)*

INSULATED EQUIPPED BOX
REFRIGERATORS NON-MECHANICAL
REFRIGERATORS MECHANICAL

Insulated Box - XLI, XPI
Non-Mechanical - RB, RBL
Mechanical - RC, RP, RPB, RPC, RPL

GONDOLAS
G(1-5)**
G6**, G7**
J**(1-4)
E***

PLAIN GONDOLAS UNDER 61FT
PLAIN GONDOLAS 61FT PLUS
J GONDOLAS GT 36FT PLUS
EQUIPPED GONDOLAS

Under 61' - GA, GB, GD, GH, GS Under 61' Inside Length
61' or Longer - GA, GB, GD, GH, GS 61' or Longer Inside Length
Gondolas GT 36' or Longer Inside Length
Equipped - GBR, GBS, GBSR, GDS, GSS, GTR, GTS, GWS, GWSR

HOPPERS
H***
J**0, K***

HOPPERS GENERAL SERVICE
HOPPERS SPECIAL SERVICE

Special Service - GT - Less Than 36' Inside Length (Ore Jenny Cars), HKR, HKS, HMA, HMR, HMS; HMSR, HTR, HTS, HTSR

FLATBED CARS
F10*, F20*, F30*
FLATS GENERAL SERVICE
V***
FLATS MULTI LEVEL FA
P***, Q*** (except Q8**), S***:
FLATS TOFC COFC FC
F*(1-6)*, F*8*, F40* FLATS OTHER
TANKS
T***

TOTAL TANKS

ALL OTHERS
A*5*, F*7*, L***, Q8**:
ALL OTHERS

General Service - HFA, HK, HM, HT, HTA

General Service FM (Load Limit of Less Than 200K lbs.)
Multi-Level - FA
TOFC - COFC - FC, FCA
Other Class "F" Except "FL" FB, FBC, FBS, FD, FMS, FW, FM (Load Limit of 200K lbs. and Over)
Tank T, XT

All Other FL, LC, LF, LG, LM, LP, LPS, LS, LU, S

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