The following definitions apply to this part:

Affiliated companies has the same meaning as “affiliated companies” in Definition 5 of the Uniform System of Accounts (49 CFR part 1201, subpart A).

Cut-off time means the deadline for requesting service during a service window, as determined in accordance with the rail carrier's established protocol.

Delivery means when a shipment is actually placed at a designated destination or is constructively placed at a local yard that is convenient to the designated destination. In the case of an interline movement, a shipment will be deemed to be delivered to the receiving carrier or its agent or affiliate when the shipment is moved past a designated automatic equipment identification reader at the point of interchange or is placed on a designated interchange track, depending on the specific interchange that is involved. For purposes hereof, constructive placement of a shipment at a local yard constitutes delivery only when:

(1) The recipient has the option, by prior agreement between the rail carrier and the customer, to have the rail carrier hold the shipment pending the recipient's request for delivery to the designated destination and the recipient has not yet requested delivery; or

(2) The recipient is unable to accept delivery at the designated destination.

Designated destination means the final destination as specified in the bill of lading or, in the case of an interline movement, the interchange where the shipment is transferred to the receiving carrier, its agent, or affiliated company.

Incumbent rail carrier means a Class I rail carrier that currently provides line-haul service to the petitioner to or from the point of origin or final destination that would be covered by the proposed reciprocal switching agreement.

Lane means a shipment's point of origin and designated destination. Shipments of the same commodity that have the same point of origin and the same designated destination are deemed to travel over the same lane, regardless of which route(s) the rail carrier uses to move the shipments from origin to destination. In the case of an interline movement, the designated destination is the designated interchange.

Manifest traffic means shipments that move in carload or non-unit train service.

Original estimated time of arrival or OETA means the estimated time of arrival that the incumbent rail carrier provides when the shipper tenders the bill of lading or when the incumbent rail carrier receives the shipment from a delivering carrier.

Petitioner means a shipper or a receiver that files a petition hereunder for prescription of a reciprocal switching agreement.

Planned service window means a service window for which the shipper or receiver requested local service, provided that the shipper or receiver made its request by the cut-off time for that window.

Practical physical access means a feasible line-haul option on a rail carrier, including but not limited to: direct physical access to that carrier or its affiliated company; an existing switching arrangement between an incumbent rail carrier and another rail carrier; terminal trackage rights; or contractual arrangement between a local rail carrier and a line-haul carrier.

Receipt of a shipment means when the preceding rail carrier provides a time stamp or rail tracking message that the shipment has been delivered to the interchange.

Reciprocal switching agreement means an agreement for the transfer of rail shipments between one Class I rail carrier or its affiliated company and another Class I rail carrier or its affiliated company within the terminal area in which the rail shipment begins or ends its rail journey. Service under a reciprocal switching agreement may involve one or more intermediate transfers to and from yards within the terminal area.

Service window means a window during which the incumbent rail carrier offers to perform local service (placements and/or pick-ups of rail shipments) at a shipper's or receiver's facility. A service window must be made available by a rail carrier with reasonable advance notice to the shipper or receiver and in accordance with the carrier's established protocol. For purposes of this part, a service window is 12 hours in duration, beginning at the start of the work shift for the crew that will perform the local service, without regard to whether the incumbent rail carrier specified a longer or shorter service window.

Shipment means a loaded railcar that is designated in a bill of lading.

Similar traffic means traffic that is of the same broad type (manifest traffic or unit train) as the traffic that is governed by a prescribed reciprocal switching agreement, and is transported by the incumbent rail carrier or its affiliated company to or from the terminal area in which transfers occur under the prescribed reciprocal switching agreement.

Terminal area means a commercially cohesive area in which two or more railroads engage in the local collection, classification, and distribution of rail shipments for purposes of line-haul service. A terminal area is characterized by multiple points of loading/unloading and yards for such local collection, classification, and distribution. A terminal area (as opposed to main-line track) must contain and cannot extend significantly beyond recognized terminal facilities, such as freight or classification yards. A point of origin or final destination on the rail system must be within a terminal area to be eligible for a prescription under this part.

Time of arrival means the time that a shipment is delivered to the designated destination.

Transit time means the time between a rail carrier's receipt of a shipment, upon either the tender of the bill of lading to that rail carrier or the rail carrier's receipt of the shipment from a delivering carrier and the rail carrier's delivery of that shipment to the agreed-upon destination. Transit time does not include time spent loading and unloading cars.