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From April 1-14, the Association of American Railroads and Class Is plan to conduct an Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) tagging "blitz" to reduce the number of North American rail cars that aren't tagged or sport incorrect ID tags.

During the blitz, Class Is will increase efforts to identify untagged or mis-tagged cars and install correct AEI tags.

Since 2002, North American railroads — led by AAR's AEI Task Force — have reduced the number of improperly tagged or untagged cars from more than 1 percent to 0.8 percent of all cars (about 14,000). Class Is are counting on the blitz to bring them closer to their goal of 100 percent tagged cars by reducing the number of untagged cars to 0.5 percent, AAR officials said in a prepared statement.

Attached to cars' and locomotives' sides, AEI tags are electronically read by trackside scanners, providing railroads data to trace cars, maintain accurate train consists and ensure proper routing.