Please answer the six questions below to calculate the potential savings and revenue increases that could result from adding the Iron Python to your operation.

1. On average, how many trains are built in your yard each day?

2. How many cuts does it typically take to build a train?

3. How many employees on a standard 8 hour shift spend the majority of their time applying and releasing handbrakes and/or conducting a locomotive to build trains?

4. How many employee accidents related to the applying and releasing of handbrakes are reported each year?

5. How many trains per month depart from the yard with a handbrake left applied?

6. On average, how many wheel sets are replaced within your yard each month?

Potential annual cost savings:

See page 2 for details

Total potential annual value:

If you could increase yard efficiency and build more trains per day, that would amount to a potential additional annual revenue of:

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The potential for savings resulting from incorporating an Iron Python in your operation is calculated by the information we’ve gathered through the following:

Fuel Savings: Holding cars while setting and releasing handbrakes as cuts are brought to the departure track requires an idling locomotive, which on average burns 5 gallons of fuel per hour. Alternatively, using the Iron Python to hold cars eliminates the need for the setting and releasing of handbrakes, and therefore the fuel expense from the idling locomotive. Assuming a locomotive burns fuel at a rate of 5 gallons per hour at idle, with an average cost of $3.00 per gallon, we can multiply this number by the number of trains built within your yard, the number of cuts used based on the information you’ve supplied, and the average time it takes to set and release handbrakes for each cut. Assuming that each cut requires the application and release of 8 to 16 handbrakes, taking approximately 20 minutes to accomplish the task, we can determine the annual fuel savings.

Labor Efficiency: A typical operation requires a two person crew when moving cars and building trains, with one person operating a locomotive, and the second applying and releasing handbrakes. The Iron Python holds the weight of the cars when building trains and eliminates the need to apply and release handbrakes, reducing the workload. This allows your crews to work more efficiently and makes them available for other tasks. The labor costs incurred while building trains is therefore decreased. If your yard employs crews for three shifts at eight hours per shift, and an employee costs you on average $50 per hour, the potential for savings on labor is significant.

Yard Safety/Insurance Savings:Applying and releasing handbrakes can be a dangerous job. Weather conditions and time constraints are some of the factors that can contribute to the danger, and accidents do happen. By eliminating the need for applying and releasing handbrakes during the process of building trains, the Iron Python helps you eliminate this danger and greatly reduce the number of accidents that take place. Considering the wages paid while an employee misses work, the medical expenses, insurance premiums, etc., the average cost of an incident occurring is approximately $25,000. The potential for savings is clear, and more importantly, you have the ability to improve safety and risk to your employees.

Yard Efficiency: Applying and releasing handbrakes is a monotonous task, and occasionally a handbrake is left engaged when a train leaves a yard. When this happens, a dragging wheel will trigger a heat sensor outside of the yard, and the train must be stopped and the situation investigated. When these types of situations occur, we can assume that a train could be delayed on average for 1 1/2 hours, as well as tying up the main track, wasting both time and money, an estimated $1,000 per hour. By eliminating the need for applying and releasing handbrakes, the Iron Python eliminates this potential for human error, and increases profitability.

The normal life span of a wheel set is 5 years. When a train leaves the yard with a handbrake applied, a wheel set is damaged and must be replaced sooner. Studies have shown that repair expenses are 20% greater for emergency maintenance vs. scheduled maintenance. In addition to creating a more efficient yard, the Iron Python decreases your expenses such as the need to replace defective wheel sets resulting from handbrake related accidents. The Transportation Technology Center attributes the majority (assuming 75%) of wheel slide defects to handbrake related incidents. A conservative estimate is that half of these could have been prevented by using the Iron Python. The number of wheel sets replaced each month, multiplied by a $1,000 average cost of replacement, is a considerable savings.

The Iron Python is revolutionizing the industry, creating safer, more efficient yards. The potential for savings goes well beyond keeping money in your pocket, consider the ability it gives you to increase your throughput. If two more trains can be built each day, and on average a train contains seventy cars, each car representing a $100 of income, the potential for additional revenue is over $5,000,000 annually!