ARC is required by the FRA to specify what track was inspected, date of inspection, location and nature of all defects and remedial action taken, as in: 213.241(B) of the FRA safety standard.

A Railroad Track Safety Inspection will not create repairs that are not needed. The FRA requires minimal guide lines for a railroad track to meet its safety standards. The FRA rules apply to specific track conditions existing in isolation. Therefore, a combination of track conditions, none of which individually amounts to a deviation from the requirements, may require remedial action to provide for safe operation over your company track. If  ARC finds any required repairs they normally can wait to be budgeted, or be done in less than one day 

Several reasons, first a FREE estimate already assumes that repairs are going to be done, a Railroad Track Safety Inspection does not.  ARC works very hard to avoid unneeded repairs and still stay within FRA safety limits. Any repairs that ARC may find, are needed to comply with FRA safety rules.   ARC also prepares an estimate for repairs, at no additional cost to the inspection service. Second, this is one time when your company can save money going by the book. The FRA track inspection standards recognize 6 classes of   track safety standards 213.9 based on operation speed. Industrial track like your company's with speeds under 10 mph. are classified as class 1, the most minimal of safety requirements. There is a significant difference in up-keep cost between class 6 and class 1 track. If the contractor who now inspects your companies track is inspecting on standards anywhere higher than a class 1, your company is paying too much for up–keep cost. The FRA requires that a Track Safety Inspection Report be kept on file for a period of two years (213.241(C). NOT a repair estimate.

Seasonally, it makes no difference. Track Safety Inspections are performed everyday of the year. However, we recommend that tracks are inspected early in the year if the company anticipates any repair work. ARC is the only company who offers the  "TRACKWATCH" Track Risk Management system. This system is covered in the FRA recommendations and is offered at no additional cost as a service to the customers. With this system ARC will file one complete Track Safety Inspection Report with your company,(213.241) and in addition perform two stop-by or two on-demand calls per year. On-demand calls can be used for new installation, track reactivation, pre-construction, post construction,(213.239) incident reports or special reports relating to flood, fire or other incidents.