President's Column

摘要

In September, I wrote briefly about the need for the Class 1s to encourage new employees to join AREMA and the importance of getting these employees involved in the committee work of our association. As we move into 2009, I would like to reemphasize the critical need for this involvement.rnThe AREMA Technical Committee structure is an essential part of the mechanism that our association uses to help fulfill its mission. AREMA's committees are the industry's method for establishing consensus-based standards and recommended practices.rnWithin our six functional groups, we currently have 29 active technical committees. A new committee on Positive Train Control was recently added. Each committee is charged with the continuous review of practices and policies related to its specific field of interest and with the development of new standards and recommended practices in that specific technical area. AREMA's Board of Directors, whichrnoversees the organization's technical activities, may also assign specific tasks to committees. An example of one of these specific assignments is the recent development and publication of the new AREMA Bridge Inspection Handbook, which "was a product of AREMA Committee 10 in collaboration with the other Structures Group committees.