Current Activities
The Packaging, Shipping & Transportation Methods Technology Committee (PSTMTC) met on Wednesday, May 5 at AISTech 2010, with eight members in attendance. Donnie Spencer reviewed the 2010 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics, with eight fatalities recorded so far this year. The group was asked to discuss recent injuries, near misses, and any successful corrective actions taken that improved their overall safety performance. The PSTMTC members were reminded that Technology Committee responsibilities are to develop technical sessions for upcoming AISTech conferences. A possible AISTech 2011 session will discuss innovations made with packaging banding materials. Terry Onufer updated the committee on the OTLRC TAG Subcommittee with the Association of Ameriacn Railroads (AAR) on trial procedures this committee is working on to maintain existing pipe shipment guidelines. Communication between the AAR and this subcommittee in finding an acceptable solution remains strong. The Material Handling Technology Committee (MHTC) is planning a Material Handling/Transportation Methods Training Seminar for August 2011. The PSTMTC has been invited to join the MHTC in developing an effective training seminar that will cover a variety of transportation methods, safety innovations, environmental restrictions, equipment maintenance, reliability performance, and steel-related obstacles and objectives with shipping/transportation. The PSTMTC officer elections for 2010–2011 are as follows: Dave Haslar as chair, Larry Guinn as vice chair, Richard Montano as papers chair and George Price as OTLRC TAG chair.
The Packaging, Shipping & Transportation Methods Technology Committee (PSTMTC) met in Jacksonville, Fla., for its annual meeting with the Association of American Railroads (AAR). There were 21 PSTMTC members in attendance, joined by approximately 25 members of the AAR. The joint morning meeting consisted of the annual review for the Open Top Loading Rules Committee (OTLRC), where general rules under review were discussed. Two TAG Groups (subcommittees) met separately later to discuss a possible loading rules change regarding pipe loading in gondola rail cars and steel plate loading guidelines. The AAR regulates railroad loading rules for North America, and the PSTMTC has an annual joint meeting in mid-March with the AAR to stay up-to-date with the latest railroad guidelines and revisions.
PSTMTC members then met in the afternoon to hear presentations from Cordstrap and Concept2. Darren Ward and Tom Keefe from Cordstrap showed the advantages of using their material to better secure any load shipment. Cordstrap made a similar presentation to the AAR in response to a need to reduce pipe load shifts in gondola railroad cars. PSTMTC members are considering trialing this material to see if pipe load securement improves. J.W. Franz from Concept2 presented the latest in RFID technology, where methods exist to improve product tracking, inventory control, and safety innovations in high-traffic areas. George Price, an employee of Berg Pipe and a member of an OTLRC TAG Group, updated the committee on the challenge ahead for pipe producers to develop a better pipe loading securement method that will reduce any pipe load shifts during transportation by the railroads. The PSTMTC will be working with the AAR to improve loading practices to avoid a loading rule change. Larry Guinn led a safety round table discussion covering the Steel Industry Fatality Statistics for 2009 and 2010. Three-year graphs depicting fatality “reason” and “type” highlighted the material handling/transportation areas as critical serious injury areas. The PSTMTC will join forces with the Material Handling Technology Committee to promote safety awareness.
PSTMTC officer rotation for the 2010–2011 term will be as follows: Dave Haslar, chair; Larry Guinn, vice chair; Richard Montano, papers chair; and Dave Otte, membership chair. The fall PSTMTC meeting will be held in Panama City, Fla., on Oct. 28–29 with a tour of Berg Pipe. PSTMTC members of the AAR OTLRC TAG Group have been invited to attend a joint meeting with the PSTMTC on Oct. 29.
The PSTMTC toured the CSX Jacksonville Dispatch Center on Friday morning. CSX had one centralized dispatch center in Jacksonville since 1985. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the philosophy of having one centralized dispatch center was changed to having 10 regional dispatch centers across the United States in 2008.
The Packaging, Shipping & Transportation Methods Technology Committee (PSTMTC) met on Monday, May 4 at AISTech 2009. There were seven PSTMTC members in attendance. Dave Otte, SSAB North America, reviewed last-minute presenters for the joint panel discussion with the Material Handling Technology Committee on Tuesday afternoon. Larry Guinn, papers chair, encouraged committee members to submit a paper or solicit a presentation for AISTech 2010, to be held in Pittsburgh, Pa., May 3–6, 2010. Donnie Spencer, chair, reviewed and approved the PSTMTC committee mission statement. PSTMTC officer elections were discussed and approved: Donnie Spencer, chair; Dave Haslar, vice chair; Larry Guinn, papers chair; and Richard Montano, membership chair. Next meeting will be a joint meeting with the Material Handling Technology Committee in Hamilton, Ont., Canada, on Sept. 16–18, 2009. An update on Association of American Railroads (AAR) impact testing will be provided by Richard Montano. A top priority for this committee will be to improve communications with the AAR. A joint meeting with the AAR is scheduled for March 17–19, 2010, in Jacksonville, Fla. Mike Pacana, ArcelorMittal Coatesville, is the PSTMTC representative with the AAR.
The Packaging, Shipping and Transportation Methods Technology Committee (PSTMTC) met in Ontario, Calif., on March 18–19. Donnie Spencer welcomed eight committee members who participated. Two conference calls were scheduled on March 6 and 13 to prepare this committee for its joint annual meeting with the Association of American Railroads (AAR) on Thursday, March 19. The PSTMTC reviewed the scheduled joint panel discussion session with the Material Handling Technology Committee. Travel restrictions have limited participation in this joint panel discussion. Committee member David Otte is trying to solicit panel discussion replacements with the U.S. Federal Department of Transportation, the Association of American Railroads, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Dave Haslar, PSTMTC vice chair, has sent out an e-mail to encourage supplier members to participate in this committee. The PSTMTC has nominated Mike Pacana, ArcelorMittal, to serve as the committee’s contact person with the AAR in hopes of improving communications between the two associations. PSTMTC officer nominations for 2009–2010 were discussed. Donnie Spencer was nominated for a second year as chair. Dave Haslar was nominated for a second year as vice chair. Larry Guinn was nominated as papers chair, and Richard Montano was nominated as membership chair for 2009–2010. These nominations were to be voted on and approved at the next PSTMTC meeting at AISTech 2009 in St. Louis. Richard Montano of California Steel Industries, who was the tour host, presented his paper, “ERW Pipe Loading on 89-Foot Flat Cars.” Dave Haslar of The Timken Co. presented Timken’s improvements in fall protection with loading/unloading of trucks.
The annual joint meeting with the PSTMTC and the Association of American Railroads took place on Thursday morning, March 19. Sixteen members of AAR were in attendance. Both associations agreed that improved communications were needed. PSTMTC member Mike Pacana will help improve future dialogue between these two groups. Mr. Spencer requested that AAR circulars be re-instituted so that the PSTMTC can voice its opinion before any rule change is implemented. Committee member George Price expressed a serious concern over a nominal safety length allowance from 3 feet to 1 foot in distance from a car’s end. This change in the rules demonstrated a breakdown in communications that now exists. A number of agenda items were discussed, including: improved data collection with testing (impact testing); pipe loading (bare and coated pipe); RR stacking guidelines to reduce shifting; Dave Otte’s proposal (accepted) for a reinforced steel clamping material; impact testing results; protection of RR car ladders; floating loads in RR gondola cars; request for impact test with 84-foot pipe lengths; and successful scrap loading to keep below RR car frame height. Mr. Spencer asked what was the rule for car humping speed (coupling railroad cars together by slamming them into one another at low speed)? 6 MPH is the rule, while testing is done at 8 MPH. AAR announced that next year’s joint meeting will be March 18, 2010, in Jacksonville, Fla. The PSTMTC toured California Steel Industries on Thursday afternoon. The next PSTMTC meeting was to be held at AISTech 2009 in St. Louis on May 4.
The Packaging, Shipping and Transportation Methods Technology Committee (PSTMTC) met in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 1–2. Committee chair Donnie Spencer welcomed 14 members, including five new members: Steve Fulton of IPSCO Tubular; Mike Massis of GloboPro; and Holden DuBose, Tom Duminuco and Bill Hittinger of DuBose Strapping. Current PSTMTC membership is at 28 members. The committee hopes to expand its membership by contacting producers and suppliers involved with material movement, from raw materials to finished goods. This committee’s initial meeting after the AIST/AISI integration highlighted the need to expand committee involvement to include a variety of transportation methods and plant logistics. The PSTMTC will have a joint round table session at AISTech 2009 with the Material Handling Technology Committee. Dave Otte (SSAB), Mr. Fulton and Jonathan Repp (Timken) will represent this committee at the round table discussions. FreightCar America made a presentation on transverse trough coil cars, depicting improved methods in transporting coils in rail cars. DuBose Strapping made a presentation on updated strapping tools and strapping materials. The PSTMTC has a number of Work Plans that are covered at every meeting: Trucking, Lost Loads, RR Rules, and Open Top Rules Committee with support from AAR (Association of American Railroads). Mike Cummings (ArcelorMittal) discussed mixed coil issues where RFID technology can offer a solution. Dave Haslar (Timken) discussed the ongoing trial using an RFID system. The committee requested a government regulatory representative to provide new guidelines and restrictions established for the transportation industry. The next PSTMTC meeting will be a joint meeting with the AAR in Ontario, Calif., on March 18–19, 2009. Richard Montano will host a tour of California Steel. John Blackman (AAR) will be contacted to see if a committee tour is possible at the Pueblo Test Facility in the fall of 2009. Larry Guinn and Jason Holmes were hosts for the PSTMTC tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley’s shipping department during the October 2008 meeting.
