Asymptotic behavior of initially "large and smooth" pulses is investigated at two typical stages of their evolution governed by the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation. At first, wave breaking phenomenon is studied in the limit of small dispersion. A solution of the Whitham modulational equations is found for the case of dissipationless shock wave arising after the wave breaking point. Th...

Railroad terminal performance directly affects network capacity and an important element of terminal efficiency is railcar inspection and repair. New technologies to automate railcar inspections can improve railroad terminal efficiency by reducing inspection times and improving operations. This research applies Lean Manufacturing methods to the railcar maintenance process and investigates poten...

As railroad bridge is one of the most important infrastructures of railway, the safety of bridge has a direct effect on railway operation efficiency and safety. In this paper, we propose a distributed railway bridge monitoring platform based on the Internet of Things (IOT) to monitoring the state of bridge safety. We made detailed research on the sensor nodes deployment, sensing data updating a...

We develop an aerodynamic loading assignment model for intermodal freight trains based on an integer-programming framework to help terminal managers make up more fuel-efficient trains. This is the first use of optimization modeling to address the aerodynamics and energy efficiency of railroad intermodal trains. Several recommendations regarding railway equipment use, operations, and policy are ...

Long term demand for freight movements in North America is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades. The railroads are poised to take on this additional traffic assuming the capacity is available. Measuring the capacity of these rail lines is complicated by the interrelationships between asset utilization, reliability, and throughput. There is not a single metric that captures th...

In the United States, the freight railway industry is already running without much excess capacity. Hence, better planning and scheduling tools are needed to effectively manage the scarce resources, to cope with the rapidly increasing demand for railway transportation. The integration of freight train and passenger train scheduling and dispatching is an important railroad management task since ...

This paper examines the determinants of truck accidents in the United States using a time series data set covering the period 1970–2001. Along with other factors, the effect of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which deregulated the trucking industry, is examined for its impact on truck accidents. In addition, the model accounts for the effect railroad freight mileage has on truck accidents. Empir...