What is the Umler® system?
The Umler system is a powerful and dynamic tool for tracking the physical characteristics, transportation management and pool assignments of virtually every piece of rail equipment in North America. Umler is also the base file for Industry Reference Files (IRFs) and industry equipment accounting files.
Who uses Umler?
Railroads, equipment owners, agents, shippers, ports, suppliers, industry consultants, government agencies and car maintenance facilities use the Umler system for the safe and efficient placement, movement and interchange of cars for railroad carriers and customers.
How does Umler benefit railroads, car owners and repair shops?
Umler serves as the freight rail industry’s database for equipment management and inspection information, communicating real-time updates to the industry. It provides rail carriers, equipment owners and shippers with real-time access to detailed equipment information via the web or enhanced Train II computer-to-computer electronic messaging.
Are companies required to use Umler?
Umler is the base file for Industry Reference Files (IRFs) and industry equipment accounting files. Equipment listed on interline waybills of lading are required to be registered in Umler.
Are there fees associated with Umler?
Yes. All car owners receive an annual invoice. These charges are based on an owner’s registration as of January 1 and July 1 of the calendar year. These fees cover the continued development, operating, support and maintenance costs of the Umler system. Please see the Railinc Price List for specific charges.
Am I charged for running equipment queries?
No, users can download Umler data via CSV at no cost.
Why can I not see the End of Service Date (B078) information?
The End of Service Date field is considered confidential information by private car owners and is only visible to the owners and those to whom they have granted View Confidential Data rights and/or Equipment rights. However, the End of Service Date, Build Date and Rebuilt Date becomes visible to all users two (2) years before the end of service for that piece of equipment.
Does a new unit added to Umler immediately show as Active?
A newly added unit will start life as Pre-registered. After it has passed three readers/movements, usually found at interchanges, the status will change to Active. However, a unit can be in full use, never go through interchange and remain in Pre-registered status until the user moves it manually to Active.
What should the status be on equipment that is being deleted?
When deleting equipment, Railinc recommends that the equipment be in Inactive status. Also, before deleting make sure the equipment has been in Active status at some time during its existence. If it has never been Active, then you will be unable to use this equipment on a restencil.
Should I delete all of my inactive equipment IDs?
This is a business decision. If the car is sidelined for a short period of time, then probably no. If the car is inactive due to a Restencil/Transfer, then probably yes. All cars in Umler are subject to registration fees. If the equipment is not going to be used under the equipment ID again, consider deleting it. All deleted IDs can be restored via the Add-Back process.
Can equipment be restenciled if it appears on the Umler Exception file?
Yes, both pieces of equipment (old and new equipment IDs) must be entered on the Exception file before the restencil can occur.
Is Original Cost/A&B Data carried over to the new equipment on a Single and/or Multiple Restencil?
The buyer must receive Confidential Data rights from the seller for Original Cost/A&B Data to carry over to the new equipment on a Single and/or Multiple Restencil.
Is there a best practice on how to query and pull back all transactions on a piece of equipment?
Yes. Click the Search All Dates box when querying transactions over a large period of time.
Is there a way to view all transaction data at once instead of clicking through each transaction?
Yes. From the Query > Transaction Log menu item, select the Browser (Detail) format in the first drop-down box to view all the information for multiple transactions at once.
Can third-party agents gain access to my equipment if I delegate permissions?
Yes. With a valid Letter of Authorization (LOA), the Stenciled Mark Owner can grant Umler permissions to multiple users who need to view and/or maintain Umler records for specific marks.
Does the Reflectorization rule include passenger cars?
Yes. All cars are subject to the Reflectorization rule as of November 28, 2015.
How far back does the Historical Lineage Query go?
The historical lineage of a car is tied to the EIN (Equipment Identification Number) of the car. If the information is available, the historical lineage will go back to 1992, when the EIN was introduced.
What must the status of equipment be in order to Restencil it?
The source equipment ID(s) of a restencil process must have a status code (USCD) of A – Active or I –Inactive before it can be restenciled. Any other status will result in an error message.
What is the difference between the Umler Owner and Stenciled Mark Owner?
The Umler Owner is the entity that actually owns the physical unit. The Stenciled Mark Owner is the entity that owns the Mark ID (the painted mark on the side of the unit). The Stenciled Mark Owner can be different from the actual owner.
Can an EIN ever be reused after a car is deleted?
No. Deletion removes that number from the system. Using the Add-Back Equipment function will return the car to the system and reactivate the EIN for that car.
What are Umler ticklers?
They are electronic notifications/emails meant to remind users of updates they must attend to. See the Configure Ticklers section of the Umler User Guide. The Enabled check box must be checked, and a valid email address must be present for ticklers to be sent out. Also, multiple email addresses can be used in each address field.
How do I access Umler?
You must have an Railinc Single Sign-On (SSO) account to access Umler. To create an account, go to www.railinc.com. The ‘Customer Login’ link is located at the top, right of the page. Click ‘Need Help Signing In’ and follow the prompts to establish your account. You will receive an email confirmation of your profile, which you must verify within 14 days to avoid your account being locked. If you already have an SSO account, you do not need to create a new one. You can request permission to access Umler after you have logged on with your SSO account at www.railinc.com.
What roles are available to Umler users?
The following roles are available to Umler users. Your company administrator will approve your request. If your company does not have a company administrator, the Stenciled Mark Owner must decide who should be granted the Umler Company Administrator role.
• Component Maintenance Access: (Mark required) Ability to Add/Modify/Delete components.
• Umler Access for Maintenance: (Mark required) Access to Umler transaction/update
functionality (including Notice Management).
• Umler Access for Query: (Mark required) Access to Umler Query functionality (Display Unit, Equipment Query, Car Management Query, Transaction Log, Inspection History, Historical Lineage Query, Locomotive Historical Blue Card Query, and Equipment Unit Comparison).
• Umler Advanced Query Access: (Mark required) Ability to download data from the Umler system.
• Umler Bulk Upload: (Mark required) Upload transactions in CSV format. Upload corrected notices in CSV format.
• Umler Manage Future Trans: (Mark required) Create, view, and delete pool transactions
that the system will process at a specified future date.
• Umler Refresh Request Access: (Mark required) Allows a company to resynchronize its local copy of pool and equipment data following an interruption of messaging or an error occurring at the company site. This access is limited to Train II subscribers.
• Umler CSEG Access: (Mark required) Create, modify, or delete company-specific equipment group headers. Add or remove equipment from a company-specific equipment group.
• Umler Company Admin Access: (Mark required) The Stenciled Mark Owner must approve the Company Administrator. The responsibilities of this role are to manage SSO permissions and Umler Internal rights, configure ticklers and allows visibility to View Usage statistics.