Switching or humping operations
(3) Switching or humping operations includes the classification of placarded railroad cars according to commodity or destination, assembling of placarded cars for train movements, changing the position of placarded cars for purposes of loading, unloading, or weighing, and the placing of placarded cars for repair. However, the term does not include the moving of rail equipment in connection with work service, the moving of a train or part of a train within yard limits by a road locomotive or placing locomotives or cars in a train or removing them from a train by a road locomotive while en route to the train's destination. The term does include operations within this definition which are conducted by any railroad; it is not limited to the operations of the carrier contemplating construction or reconstruction of railroad employee sleeping quarters.
Source
49 CFR § 228.101
Scoping language
The Hours of Service Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. 6164b), makes it unlawful for any common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign commerce by railroad to begin, on or after July 8, 1976, the construction or reconstruction of sleeping quarters for employees who perform duties covered by the act within or in the immediate vicinity (as determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary of Transportation) of any area where railroad switching or humping operations are performed. 45 U.S.C. 62(a)(4). This subpart sets forth (1) a general definition of immediate vicinity ( 228.101(b)), (2) procedures under which a carrier may request a determination by the Federal Railroad Administration that a particular proposed site is not within the immediate vicinity of railroad switching or humping operations ( 228.103 and 228.105), and (3) the basic criteria utilized in evaluating proposed sites ( 228.107).