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49 USC § 11144 - Records: form; inspection; preservation 

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t49/s11144"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "49 USC § 11144 - Records: form; inspection; preservation"
title_number: 49
title_name: "TRANSPORTATION"
section_number: "11144"
section_name: "Records: form; inspection; preservation"
chapter_number: 111
chapter_name: "OPERATIONS"
subchapter_number: "III"
subchapter_name: "REPORTS AND RECORDS"
part_number: "A"
part_name: "RAIL"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 102(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 835.)"
---

# § 11144. Records: form; inspection; preservation

**(a)** The Board may prescribe the form of records required to be prepared or compiled under this subchapter—

**(1)** by rail carriers and lessors, including records related to movement of traffic and receipts and expenditures of money; and

**(2)** by persons furnishing cars to or for a rail carrier providing transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board under this part to the extent related to those cars or that service.

**(b)** The Board, or an employee designated by the Board, may on demand and display of proper credentials—

**(1)** inspect and examine the lands, buildings, and equipment of a rail carrier or lessor; and

**(2)** inspect and copy any record of—

**(A)** a rail carrier, lessor, or association;

**(B)** a person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with a rail carrier if the Board considers inspection relevant to that person’s relation to, or transaction with, that rail carrier; and

**(C)** a person furnishing cars to or for a rail carrier if the Board prescribed the form of that record.

**(c)** The Board may prescribe the time period during which operating, accounting, and financial records must be preserved by rail carriers, lessors, and persons furnishing cars.

---

**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 102(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 835.)

## Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 11144, , , ; , , , related to form, inspection, and preservation of records, prior to the general amendment of this subtitle by . See sections 11144, 14122, and 15722 of this title.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective , except as otherwise provided in , see , set out as a note under .