L.B. Foster Company hosted U.S. Representative Mike Carey (OH-15) on a tour its facility in Dublin, Ohio. The facility is operated by Salient Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of L.B. Foster, which designs and manufactures its Wheel Impact Load Detectors (WILD) and Friction Management (FM) control boxes along with other track monitoring systems and solutions for the railroad industry. 

L.B. Foster provides rail, construction, and energy markets with innovative solutions to build and maintain their critical infrastructure. U.S. Rep. Carey currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and on its Subcommittees on Work and Welfare and Social Security. He also serves on the Committee on House Administration.

“It was a great experience hosting Congressman Carey and his staff at our facility. Being able to showcase our technologies and products to show how we strive to make the rail industry safer is paramount to our mission as a company,” said William Treacy, L.B. Foster executive vice president and chief growth officer.

“Hosting the Congressman at our Dublin facility was a terrific time. It was especially great to showcase how the WILD IV technology is providing tangible safety benefits to our customers,” said Michael O’Connell, general manager of Salient Systems, in Dublin.

The Dublin facility employs more than 20 highly skilled workers to oversee the manufacturing and final assembly of electronics, software development and testing, electronics hardware development and testing, mechanical design, electronics field service and machining of mechanical components. The primary products manufactured onsite include L.B. Foster’s Wheel Impact Load Detectors (WILD)and Friction Management (FM) control boxes. 

L.B. Foster’s WILDs are used to help the North American railroad industry identify unsafe conditions related to railcar wheels. Unsafe conditions that are detected and can lead to a train derailment include overloaded and imbalanced cars, high wheel impacts to the rail, and hunting trucks. With the data collected by the WILDs, railroads can prioritize maintenance based on type of defect. This has resulted in a major reduction in rail and wheel failures and derailments since their introduction, which has ultimately led to greater safety gains in the rail industry overall.

Established in 1902, L.B. Foster Company is a U.S.-headquartered company specializing in worldwide transportation and infrastructure markets. Since its inception in 1902, L.B. Foster has expanded its operations globally. In 1981, it became publicly traded on NASDAQ.

L.B. Foster is a member of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) and the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association(REMSA), two U.S. trade associations that advocate on behalf of railroad contractors and suppliers. L.B. Foster senior Vice President of Rail Greg Lippard serves on REMSA’s Board of Directors. L.B. Foster's Vice President of Rail Sales Doug Combs serves on NRC’s Board of Directors.

Other attendees participating in the tour included: Matt Ginsberg, president of TGA Association Management Solutions, LLC, and Mike McGonagle, NRC vice president government affairs & operations and REMSA vice president government affairs.