Priority number one for any successful railroad is delivering cargo not only in a timely fashion, but in good condition. No shipper would trust his goods to the ragged innards of a railcar unless damage-free transport was assured. In order to provide such service, railroads rely on suppliers to continually improve the draft systems that protect rail-cars, and their cargo, from the forces of buff and draft and slack action. Ongoing research and development and new-product efforts in the draft system industry have seen engineers working with new materials and designs for constructing couplers, draft gears, draft gear pockets, and cushioning devices. Active draft control has become the wave of the future, and suppliers are pushing forward with new ideas, new philosophies―and seeing better results.
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