2017 SmartWay Rail Carrier 

Partner Tool: 

Data Collection Overview & Workbook 

U. S. Version 2.0.16 (Data Year 2016) 
2017 SmartWay Rail Carrier 

Partner Tool: 

Data Collection Overview & Workbook 

U. S. Version 2.0.16 (Data Year 2016) 

Transportation and Climate Division 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality 

EPA-420-B-17-013 

February 2017 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION: DATA COLLECTION OVERVIEW AND WORKBOOK
 

This guide is Part 2 of a two-part series to help rail companies participate in the SmartWay Transport 

Partnership. 

In this guide you will learn about: 

1. The general organization of the SmartWay Rail Carrier Tool, and 

2. Data needs for each section of the Tool. 

You can collect your data using our data collection worksheets in preparation for data entry. 

Please review this guide carefully BEFORE attempting to use the Tool or enter data. Understanding 

the data requirements and gathering all data in advance will save considerable time and frustration 

while completing your Tool submission. 

In the event that you have a question about any of the data collection activities, you can contact 

SmartWay Email Support at smartway_transport@epa.gov and a member of our SmartWay Partner 

Support Team will assist you. 

WARNING! 

Completing the Rail Tool requires a considerable amount of information about your company 

and the fleets that are joining SmartWay. There are multiple sections and screens to 

complete for each fleet that you operate. 

While you will have the ability to save your Tool along the way and return to it at any time, we 

STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to review Part 1 to understand key information about joining the 

Partnership. Then, use Part 2 of this series to learn about the data requirements and gather your data 

BEFORE attempting to complete the Tool. 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 1 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview of Data Collection Requirements
 

The SmartWay Rail Tool is the data collection and calculation system for rail carriers that join the 

SmartWay Transport Partnership. There are four sections of the SmartWay Rail Tool that require data 

about your company’s operations: 

1.	 Specify Official Partner Name 

2.	 Enter Company Contact Information 

3.	 Characterize Your Fleets 

4.	 Enter Activity and Fuel Information for Each of Your Fleets 

This guide will explore the data required for completing these four sections. 

Section 1: Specify Official Partner Name 

To begin, you must specify your company’s Partner Name, exactly as you want it to appear on the 

SmartWay website. For example, if your company’s name includes “Inc.” or “Ltd.”, you may choose not 

to include that in your Partner Name. Please also pay special attention to proper capitalization, 

abbreviations, and punctuation. 

Section 2: Enter Company Contact Information 

SmartWay needs complete contact information for correspondence, web posting, press releases, and 

awards and recognition (where applicable). The SmartWay Rail Tool asks for: 

•	 General company information (e.g., location, web address, etc.) 

•	 A Working Contact1 for any questions about your company’s participation and Tool submissions 

•	 An Executive Contact2 for participation in awards and recognition events 

•	 Other contacts (optional): Other contacts may include your press/media contact, your 

fleet/division manager, etc.—anyone who is not the Working or Executive Contact for Tool and 

participation issues but may be involved in your involvement with SmartWay. 

Worksheet #1 in this guide is provided to help prepare for filling out the Contact Information Screen in 

the Rail Tool. 

1 The Working Contact is the individual designated by the Executive Contact to directly interface with SmartWay regarding specific tasks 

involved in the timely submission of the Tool. The Working Contact is responsible for coordinating the assembly of information to 

complete/update fleet/division data; completing and updating the tool itself; maintaining direct communication with SmartWay; and keeping 

interested parties within the company apprised of relevant developments with SmartWay.) NOTE: To ensure that emails from SmartWay/EPA 

are not blocked, new Primary Contacts may need to add SmartWay/EPA to their preferred list of trusted sources.) 

2 The Executive Contact is the company executive who is responsible for agreeing to the requirements in the SmartWay Partnership 

Agreement, overseeing the Primary Contact (as appropriate), and ensuring the timely submission of the tool to SmartWay. The Executive 

Contact also represents the company at awards/recognition events. This person should be a Vice President or higher level representative for 

the company. 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 2 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 3: Fleet Description(s) 

The SmartWay Rail Tool allows you to characterize your operations at the fleet level. In the Rail Tool, a 

fleet is defined as any business unit that a customer has discretion to hire. 

•	 If you are a small company (e.g., Class 2 or 3) you may only have one fleet 

•	 If you are a large rail company (e.g., Class 1), you may have several fleets 

NOTE: You may enter multiple fleets into a single Tool submission. 

SmartWay highly recommends developing your list of fleets offline using a company organization chart 

or perhaps a customer interface webpage. The best strategy is to have a clear idea of how to define your 

fleets before filling out the Tool. 

Your company’s name and your fleet name(s) will be listed on the SmartWay website to indicate your 

participation in the SmartWay Transport Partnership. 

It is critical that you identify your company and fleet(s) in the Tool as you would have them 

appear on the SmartWay website. 

The data requirements for the “Characterize Your Fleets” section are described below. 

Worksheet #2 is provided in this guide to help prepare for filling out the Characterize Fleets section in 

the Rail Tool. 

NOTE: You may wish to print multiple copies of Worksheet #2 if you have multiple fleets. 

Data Requirements for “Fleet Description(s)” Screen 

For each fleet, you will need to specify: 

•	 Partner Name: On the SmartWay website, each of your fleet names will begin with the name of 

your company. This fleet "prefix" will be whatever you enter in the Partner Name field on the 

Fleet Description screen. By default, this field is automatically populated with the first 50 

characters of the Partner Name that is entered on the Home screen. You should specify the 

name so that it appears EXACTLY as it you want it to show within each fleet name. (For 

example, if your company's name includes "Inc." or "Ltd.", you may choose not to include that in 

your fleet names.) Please pay special attention to proper capitalization, abbreviations, and 

punctuation. 

•	 Fleet Name: Specify each fleet identifier exactly as you want it displayed on the SmartWay 

website, including proper capitalization, any abbreviations, and punctuation. Remember that it 

will automatically be combined with the Partner Name field. 

•	 Class: Enter the Class of the associated rail fleet (1, 2, or 3). 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 3 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 4: Enter Activity and Fuel Information for Each of Your Fleets 

Once you have identified and characterized your fleets, you will be asked to provide additional 

information for EACH fleet separately. Much of this information will be directly available for Class 1 rail 

carriers from their most recent R-1 report data. 

NOTE: If you are a new SmartWay Partner you should enter the most recent 12 months of 

data into the Tool. If you do not have a full year of operational data, please collect a 

minimum of three months’ data for input into the SmartWay Tool. In your next update year, 

you will be required to submit a full year’s data. 

Data Requirements for “Power Units” Screen 

Worksheet #3 is provided in this guide to help prepare for filling out the Power Units section in the 

Rail Tool (make one copy for each fleet). 

You will need to provide power unit information about the selected fleet. 

•	 Specify the number of power units or hours per year operated during the reporting 

period, by engine tier level. Depending up the Data Input Method selected, this 

information may be broken out by line haul and switch engines. Under method 1 you 

may aggregate your fleet’s line-haul and switch units together, while method 2 requires 

that you report the unit type counts separately. Methods 3 and 4 are similar, but 

require inputting hours of operation by tier, rather than unit counts.3 For Class 1 

operators, please refer to R1 form, schedule 710 for details. The different engine tier 

level definitions are provided below: 

o Non-tier – manufactured before 1972 

o Tier 0 – manufactured between 1972 and 2001 

o Tier 0+ - manufactured between 1972 and 2001, and remanufactured after 2010 

o Tier 1 – manufactured between 2002 and 2004 

o Tier 1 – manufactured between 2002 and 2004 and remanufactured after 2010 

o Tier 2 - manufactured between 2005 and 2011 

o Tier 2+ - manufactured between 2005 and 2011 and remanufactured after 2013 

o Tier 3 - manufactured between 2012 and 2014 

o Tier 4 – manufactured after 2014 

•	 Next, Class 1 operators must enter your fleet’s Total Locomotive Unit Miles/Year data 

under Part B. Break out your unit miles data by line haul and switching categories, as 

appropriate. This data is available in the R-1 forms for Class 1 railroads (see lines 8-14 of 

Schedule 755). Class 2 and 3 operators do not enter this information. 

•	 Finally, you will need to provide a detailed description of the data sources used to 

obtain your power unit data (e.g., R-1 Form section and line numbers). 

3 In general, method 4 will provide the most accurate estimate for NOx and PM emissions. 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 4 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data Requirements for “Cars” Screen 

Worksheet #4 is provided in this guide to help prepare for filling out the Cars section in the Rail Tool 

(make one copy for each fleet). 

Class 1 operators will need to provide power unit information about the selected fleet. (Class 2 and 3 

operators do not enter this information.) 

•	 Specify your fleet’s annual railcar miles for the reporting year, by car type (e.g., box, 

gondola, etc.) and ownership type (Owned/Leased or Private). These data may be 

obtained from R-1 Report Section 755 (see lines 15 – 84). 

•	 If available, also provide your fleet-specific railcar volumes by car type. 

NOTE: All car-mile data should be entered as actual miles, NOT 1,000s of miles (as presented in the R1 Report). 

Data Requirements for “Operations” Screen 

Worksheet #5 is provided in this guide to help prepare for filling out the Operations section in the Rail 

Tool (make one copy for each fleet). 

You will need to provide power unit information about the selected fleet: 

•	 Specify your fleet’s annual fuel consumption and ton-mile data. Record annual fuel use 

per year by fuel type (diesel, biodiesel, LNG, CNG, and electric) and train category 

(freight, passenger, and switch). Petroleum diesel, biodiesel, and LNG entries must be in 

gallons per year. Specify CNG units indicating standard cubic feet or gasoline-equivalent 

gallons per year. Electricity use is specified in kWh/year. If you indicate biodiesel 

consumption data, you must also specify the fleet average fuel blend level (between 0 

and 100). For Class 1 operators, please refer to R-1 form, schedule 750, lines 1 - 3 for 

details. 

•	 Specify your gross, revenue, and non-revenue ton-mile data. This data is available for 

Class 1 operators from R-1 Report Section 755, lines 104, 110, and 113, respectively. 

NOTE: All ton-mile data should be entered as actual ton-miles, NOT 1,000s of ton-miles (as presented 

in the R-1 Report). 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 5 
 

 

Worksheet #1: Company Contact Information
 

#1. Enter your Contact Information: 

General Company Contact Information 

Company Name 

Headquarters 

Mailing Address 

City State/Province Zip Country 

Main Phone Toll-free Number Cell Web Address 

Number number 

Working Contact Information 

Working Contact Name 

Working Contact Mailing 

Address 

City State/Province Zip Country 

Working Contact Phone Email 

Number Address 

Executive Contact Information 

Executive Contact Name 

Executive Contact Mailing 

Address 

City State/Province Zip Country 

Executive Contact Phone Email 

Number Address 

Other Contact Information 

Other Contact Name 

Other Contact Mailing 

Address 

City State/Province Zip Country 

Other Contact Phone Number Email 

Address 

Other Contact’s role in 

program 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 6 
 

 

 

 

Worksheet #2: Fleet Characterization
 

Complete this worksheet for each fleet you will be submitting in the Rail Tool. 

Specify Partner / Fleet Name (exactly as it should appear on the SmartWay website):
 

Partner Name ________________________________________________________________________
 

Fleet Identifier ________________________________________________________________
 

Railroad Class (1, 2, 3) __________
 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 7 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________ 

Worksheet #3: Power Units Information
 

Complete this worksheet for each fleet you will be submitting in the Rail Tool. 

Specify Power Unit Inventory by Engine Tier 

Inventory Basis (circle one): # Units Hours/Yr 

Engine Tier Line Haul Switch Total*
 

non-Tier ______________ ______________ ______________
 

0 ______________ ______________ ______________
 

0+ ______________ ______________ ______________
 

1 ______________ ______________ ______________
 

1+ ______________ ______________ ______________
 

2 ______________ ______________ ______________
 

2+ ______________ ______________ ______________
 

3 ______________ ______________ ______________
 

4 ______________ ______________ ______________
 

* If you cannot differentiate line haul and switch inventories, enter # Units or Hours/Yr for Totals only 

Total Locomotive Unit Miles/Year (Class 1 Operators Only): 

Unit Trains ______________ 

Way Trains ______________ 

Through Trains ______________ 

Train Switching ______________ 

Yard Switching ______________ 

Describe the data source used to develop the above data: 

Rail Carrier Tool Users Guide Part 2 | P. 8 
 

 

 

 

Worksheet #4 Car Data (page 1 of 2)
 

Complete this worksheet for each fleet you will be submitting in the Rail Tool.
 

Fleet Name:__________________
 

Railcar Miles/Year (Class 1 Operators only):
 

Owned and Leased Private 

Loaded Empty Loaded Empty 

Box - Plain 40' 

Box - Plain 50' 

Box Equipped 

Gondola Plain 

Gondola Equipped 

Hopper Covered 

Hopper Open Top - General 

Refrigerated Mechanical 

Refrigerated Non-Mechanical 

Flat TOFC/COFC 

Flat Multi-Level 

Flat General Service 

Flat All Other 

Tank Under 22,000 gallons 

Tank Over 22,000 gallons 

All Other Cars 

Work Equipment and Company Freight 

No Payment Car-Miles 

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Worksheet #4: Car Data (page 2 of 2)
 

For each fleet, enter the fleet-specific volume in cubic feet for each car type. If you do not have this data, the Rail 

Tool will apply national average volume estimates. 

Car Type Volume (cu ft) 

Box - Plain 40' 

Box - Plain 50' 

Box Equipped 

Gondola Plain 

Gondola Equipped 

Hopper Covered 

Hopper Open Top - General 

Refrigerated Mechanical 

Refrigerated Non-Mechanical 

Flat TOFC/COFC 

Flat Multi-Level 

Flat General Service 

Flat All Other 

Tank Under 22,000 gallons 

Tank Over 22,000 gallons 

All Other Cars 

Work Equipment and Company Freight 

No Payment Car-Miles 

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Worksheet #5: Operations Data
 

Complete this worksheet for each fleet you will be submitting in the Rail Carrier Tool. 

Enter Fuel Use/Yr: 

Fuel Type Units Freight Passenger Switching 

Diesel gal/yr 

Biodiesel^ gal/yr 

LNG gal/yr 

CNG gal/yr cu ft/yr * 

Electricity kWh/yr 

* circle one
 

^ Biodiesel blend % (if applicable): _______
 

Gross Ton-Miles/Yr _____________________ (R1, Schedule 755, line 104) 

Revenue Freight Ton-Miles/Yr _____________________ (R1, Schedule 755, line 110) 

Non-Revenue Freight Ton-Miles/Yr _____________________ (R1, Schedule 755, line 113) 

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Next Steps
 

Now that you understand the data collection requirements for the SmartWay Rail Tool, and you have 

collected the data you need in the worksheets, you are ready to download the Tool and begin the data 

entry process. Please visit https://www.epa.gov/smartway/smartway-rail-carrier-tools-and-resources to 

download the SmartWay Rail Tool if you haven’t already. 

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