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Short Line Data Systems ROCS Update – October 2006
Website: www.sdsrocs.com
Greetings:
It’s been one of “those” months. I feel that I need to quote one of my favorite Disney ensemble casts to describe what it has been like; ”Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho…”
Semi-obscure Disney references aside; it has been a very busy month since I last updated you on our goings on. We’ve been to Knoxville, TN for the ASLRRA Southern Region meeting (you have never seen a mass of humanity as large as UT on game night), the Everett railroad in Duncansville, PA for an installation of ROCS, and Austin TX for the ASLRRA Central/Pacific Region meeting. All three trips were both enjoyable and successful, and October is going to be just as hectic.
We also have been working on changes and improvements to our products, with ROCSDispatch getting most of our attention this month. Work has also been continuing on the NextPath communication system for the classic ROCS system, with completion finally on the horizon.
Finally, we are going to take some space to discuss the changes to Car Hire Rules 3 & 14 that will probably be approved by SOMC in November. These changes will change how all railroads pay their car hire charges, and everyone needs to understand what is going to happen.
ROCSDispatch
We have been making some significant changes to the main screen and conflict checking system in ROCSDispatch. The impetus for these changes has come from the users in the field, who now have some significant time with the system under their belts, and have been able to tell us their likes and dislikes.
The conflict checking system has been modified to include more information about the conflicts, including what type of movement or document has caused the conflict, and the system will now show the most recent conflicts on the pop-up screen. With the conflict change we have instituted two new improvements to the main screen: first, the first two conflicting situations will now show next to the original occupation, eliminating a potential safety situation of repeating warnings causing the user to ignore a potential problem, and we have also added a small pop-up form that shows everything occupying that spot on the track if there is a conflict.
These improvements are being tested out at the A&M and the M&E, and will be installed at Farmrail and the Finger Lakes in the next couple of weeks.
ROCS NextPath Communications
We are just about done with the data testing for the receiving side of the NextPath communications. This system will greatly speed up the inbound data processing, and cut back on any potential dropouts or interruptions of data processing that can occur with the current processing system. If things continue at the current pace, then we will probably release the system in ROCS V11, which will come out in the spring of 2007.
Car Hire Rules 3 & 14 Changes
As many of you have heard in the last month or so, the rules for how we pay car hire are going to change. First of all, the changes will not take place before the third quarter of 2007, so we all have enough time to get our hands around the changes and implement them.
The biggest change will be that we will all pay our car hire through the Railroad Clearing House (RCH) which is the electronic banking system that is used for Interline Settlement System (ISS) funds transfers. All railroads that report their car hire through the Car Hire Data Exchange (CHDX, or the “exchange tape”) will be notified on the 19th day of the month that the reports are due of the net-net funds transfer that is needed, and on the 21st the funds will be transferred to/from you bank account. One other plus of this new system will be that the paper Appendix H and checks will be eliminated, so this new system will be completely paperless. If you still want to do your car hire on paper, the car owner can charge you $5.00 per car to process your claims.
This new system has been in the works for almost two years now, and it will take about another year of work before it is ready to be implemented with the railroads. If you have any questions about what is about to happen please feel free to contact us, and if we can’t answer your question we can put you in touch with the people who can.
October Travel
As mentioned at the start of this month’s update, we have already been on the road this month at the ASLRRA Central/Pacific Regional meeting in Austin, TX. We will be heading to Ft. Myers, FL in the coming weeks to install ROCS at the Seminole Gulf RR, and we will be at the ASLRRA Eastern Region meeting in Lancaster October 22-24.
Well, that’s all for now. We’ll be back next month for the latest goings on at SDS.
Stay Safe,
Steven Friedland President |
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