The American Iron and Steel Institute's Railcar Market Task Group determines and recommends strategies and programs to slow or stop the increased use of competitive materials, primarily aluminum, in the railcar market. Another major purpose of the Task Group is to develop uses for high strength, lighter steels in railcar applications.
Lighter cars increase payloads and reduce operating costs.
The Railcar Task Group strongly believes that the use of high strength steels for railcar applications will slow, and perhaps eliminate the inroads of aluminum - while at the same time regaining market share for steel, especially in the unit train coal car market. However, high strength steels are not readily accepted by US railcar manufacturers as the manufacturers perceive that fatigue and welding issues are related to such steels. Conversely, Canadian railcar manufacturers have successfully used high strength steels for years. Looking long term, the Task Group envisions being a catalyst for improving the efficiency of rail rolling stock through the application of high strength steels in a variety of cars - tank, intermodal, and gondola. By making rail operations more efficient, the railroads can increase their business - thus creating a demand for more railcars.