1. Who we are
In these terms, "Clearline Protocol Rail", "we" and "us" mean Clearline Protocol LLC, a limited liability company doing business as Clearline Protocol Rail.
Clearline Protocol LLC is a Texas limited liability company. Clearline Protocol Rail™ and RailOps™ are trade names and trademarks of Clearline Protocol LLC, which is the party behind everything on this page.
2. What these terms cover
These website terms apply when you:
- visit clearlineprotocolrail.com or clearlineprotocol.com (the websites);
- send us anything through a form on the websites, book a call, or follow a demonstration invitation;
- use the demonstration front door before you sign in; or
- ask for help through the Clearline support channel described in section 7.
Other documents govern the products themselves. These terms do not change or replace any of them:
- Using RailOps is governed by the in-app Terms of Use shown in RailOps (version 2026-09-15 on the date of this page).
- Subscribing railroads are governed by their signed Order Form and the Master Subscription Agreement (the MSA).
- The demonstration is governed by the Non-Disclosure & Evaluation Notice shown at demonstration sign-in (version eval-nda-2026-09-15.2 on the date of this page).
If documents conflict, this order applies: an Order Form, then the MSA, then the in-app Terms of Use, then the RailOps Documentation, then these website terms.
By using the websites or the support channel, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use them. How we handle personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy.
3. Information, not an offer
The websites describe RailOps and our other products. Features, screenshots, examples and the demonstration may differ from any product we deliver. Nothing on the websites is an offer: prices and commitments are set only in a signed Order Form.
We do not claim that RailOps, or anything on the websites, is approved or certified by any regulator; there is no FRA certification for a recordkeeping system. Our Security page states how RailOps is actually hosted and protected. Where any other page on the websites says something different, the Security page is the accurate statement.
4. Not advice
Clearline Protocol Rail is not a regulator and does not provide legal, safety, engineering or regulatory advice. Nothing in this software determines whether a movement, a placard, a securement, a transfer or a record satisfies any requirement of 49 CFR or any other rule. Those determinations, and compliance itself, remain with the operator at all times.
That applies to everything on the websites and to every answer given through the support channel, including anything the AI support assistant says. Obligations under 49 CFR, and under rules administered by the FRA, PHMSA, TSA or any state authority, rest on the regulated party and cannot be delegated to a software vendor by contract.
5. Acceptable use of the websites and forms
When you use the websites and their forms, do not:
- scrape, crawl or bulk-download the websites, or use automated tools to fill in forms;
- try to get around the demonstration sign-in, a password or any other access control, or use a login issued to someone else;
- give false information, impersonate anyone, or book calls you do not intend to keep;
- upload or send malicious code, or anything you do not have the right to share;
- interfere with, overload or probe the websites, except as the vulnerability disclosure policy on our Security page allows; or
- use the websites in breach of any law, including export-control and sanctions laws.
We may block access, or remove submissions, that break these rules.
6. Information we collect through forms
Our forms ask for your name, company or railroad, e-mail address, phone number and a message; the call-booking page also asks for an optional note and your time zone. Our host, Netlify, records the IP address and browser details of each request. We use this information to answer you, to arrange a demonstration or call, and to send the invitation or calendar entry you asked for.
It is handled by our service providers Netlify (hosting and form submissions), Supabase (our database) and Resend (booking e-mails and calendar invitations). We do not sell it. To see, correct or delete what you sent us, write to sales@clearlineprotocol.com.
Our Privacy Policy has the full detail for clearlineprotocolrail.com, RailOps and the support channel, including the AI services we use and how long information is kept.
7. The Clearline support channel
The Clearline support channel is how Clearline Protocol Rail staff help a railroad that uses RailOps: e-mail and phone contact with our staff, and an AI support assistant that our staff run. The assistant searches the RailOps Documentation and, when a railroad allows it, looks at that railroad's RailOps settings to find the cause of a problem.
Who may use it
Support requests come from the railroad's Director or Trainmaster, or someone they name. Use the channel only for help with your own railroad's RailOps environment. Customers of a railroad (industry logins) should contact their railroad, not us.
When we can see your railroad's data
Our staff and the assistant look at a railroad's RailOps data only (a) while a vendor support grant made by that railroad's Director is live, or (b) with the railroad's written permission, as section 3.4 of the MSA provides.
- A Director grants access in RailOps at Setup → Users → Support access, for the number of days they choose, never more than 90 days.
- A grant ends on its own when its time runs out, and the Director can end it at any moment with End it now.
- Every grant and every revocation is recorded in RailOps, where the railroad can see it.
- When a grant ends, the assistant's access ends with it. The assistant checks the grant again during a session, not only when it starts.
The assistant is read-only
The assistant can read; it cannot write. It has no means to change operational or regulated records (inspections, bad orders, holds, movements, waybills, blue-signal protection, departures), and it never deletes anything. If a fix needs a change, a person makes it: the railroad's Director, or a member of our staff signed in under a live grant or acting with written permission, through RailOps in the usual way.
What the assistant can and cannot read
| Information | Under a live grant | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Which modules are switched on, which screens each role may open, and license status | Read | Most "I can't see it" problems come from these settings. |
| Industries, crew briefings and the railroad's settings | Read; contact phone numbers and addresses are reported only as present or missing | To check that a screen has what it needs. |
| User accounts and the support access record | Read: role, status and grant dates. Names appear as initials (in full only when our staff open one specific account); e-mail addresses, employee numbers and phone numbers are masked | To find out why a person cannot sign in or see a screen. |
| Evaluations, Part 243 training and qualification files, training records, incidents, safety concerns, the Records change log, exports and retention schedule, and terms acceptances | Never: the RailOps database refuses these to a support account, grant or not | Personnel and regulated records. |
| Hazmat inspections and the hazmat handling audit, waybills and positive transfers | Never: refused by the assistant's own code | Security-sensitive information and shipping papers. |
| Sign-in logs, notifications, crew location data, customer contacts, demonstration and booking records, AI logs, and keys or secrets | Never: refused by the assistant's own code | Not needed for support. |
AI answers can be wrong
Answers from the AI support assistant are generated by an AI model and can be confidently wrong. Treat them as diagnostic suggestions: check them against the RailOps Documentation and your railroad's own operating rules before acting on them. The assistant is not a substitute for the Documentation, the handbooks or your rules, and nothing it says decides whether a record or practice satisfies 49 CFR; ask your own counsel or regulator about that.
AI processing by Anthropic
The assistant runs on Claude models provided by Anthropic. The questions our staff ask it (which may include what you told us), the documentation it reads, and the railroad data it reads under a grant are sent to Anthropic for processing under Anthropic's commercial API terms. Before anything reaches the model, the assistant masks personal identifiers: e-mail addresses, employee numbers and phone numbers are masked, and names are cut to initials except when our staff open one specific account.
What we log
We keep a log of every support-assistant session: which tools ran, which tables and columns were read, how many rows came back, when, under which grant, and which member of our staff and which support account were involved. The log never contains the data itself. Each entry is chained to the one before it with a cryptographic hash, so a later change is detectable (the log is tamper-evident). We keep these logs for 2 years, and a railroad can ask for its vendor access report at any time. Support tickets hold our summary of the problem, not rows copied from your database.
What not to send us
Do not paste or send into the support channel:
- security-sensitive information (SSI) under 49 CFR Part 1520, such as hazmat security plans;
- personnel, medical, or drug and alcohol testing records; or
- passwords, API keys or other credentials.
If you send any of these by mistake, tell us and we will remove what we can from our support records. Anything already sent to the AI model cannot be recalled.
Acceptable use of the support channel
- Use it only for your own railroad. Each railroad runs in its own environment, so the channel cannot reach another railroad's data, and you must not try.
- Do not try to make the assistant ignore its rules, reveal its instructions, or act outside its read-only role.
- Do not send abusive content, or anything you do not have the right to share.
- Do not use it to obtain a legal or compliance determination.
Service levels
Answers through the support channel are not the first response under Schedule B of the MSA and do not change its targets. The assistant is provided as available, with no availability percentage promised. When it cannot help, our staff take over; you can always reach a person at sales@clearlineprotocol.com.
Confidentiality and security incidents
What our staff and the assistant see of a railroad is that railroad's Customer Data, and it is confidential under sections 8 and 9 of the MSA: we use it only to provide, support, secure and improve RailOps for that railroad, we never sell it, and we share it only with service providers bound by obligations no less protective. If we learn of a security incident affecting a railroad's data through the support channel, we will tell the railroad without undue delay.
How these support terms fit with the MSA
For a subscribing railroad, the MSA controls where it conflicts with this section. The support channel is part of the support described in section 6.3 and Schedule B of the MSA, and it uses the support access facility described in section 3.4.
8. Intellectual property and trademarks
© 2026 Clearline Protocol LLC. The websites, their text, design and images, and the RailOps software belong to Clearline Protocol LLC or its licensors. You may view and print pages for your own evaluation of our products; any other use needs our written permission.
Clearline Protocol Rail™ and RailOps™ are trademarks of Clearline Protocol LLC. Other names that appear on the websites, such as FRA, PHMSA, TSA, ASLRRA, GCOR and RMI, belong to their owners; mentioning them does not mean that any of them is affiliated with us or endorses us.
If you believe something on the websites infringes your copyright, write to sales@clearlineprotocol.com with the details required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), and we will look into it.
9. Third-party links and services
The websites link to sites we do not operate, such as those of regulators, industry bodies and service providers. Those sites have their own terms and privacy policies, and we are not responsible for them. The websites and the support channel also depend on third-party services, including hosting, database, e-mail and AI providers; their failure, unavailability, error or change is outside our control.
10. Warranty disclaimer
In sections 10, 11 and 12 of these website terms, "the Software" means the websites, their forms and the Clearline support channel, and everything they produce, including answers, drafts and reports from the AI support assistant. RailOps itself is covered by the same clauses in its in-app Terms of Use. The capitalised text below is copied word for word from those terms.
THE SOFTWARE AND ALL INFORMATION, SWITCH LISTS, TRANSCRIPTIONS, DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS IT PRODUCES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. CLEARLINE PROTOCOL RAIL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED AND STATUTORY, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY AND QUIET ENJOYMENT. NO WARRANTY IS MADE THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, AVAILABLE, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY DATA IT DISPLAYS, IMPORTS, TRANSCRIBES OR RETAINS IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, CURRENT OR FIT FOR ANY REGULATORY, OPERATIONAL OR SAFETY PURPOSE.
11. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CLEARLINE PROTOCOL RAIL, ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, BUSINESS, GOODWILL, OR FOR ANY PROPERTY DAMAGE, RELEASE, DERAILMENT, DELAY, DEMURRAGE, FINE, PENALTY OR REGULATORY SANCTION, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SOFTWARE OR ITS USE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND EVEN IF SUCH DAMAGES ARISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM THE NEGLIGENCE OF CLEARLINE PROTOCOL RAIL ITSELF. THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE FEES PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS.
12. What cannot be limited
Nothing above limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for gross negligence, willful misconduct, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for death or personal injury to the extent applicable law does not permit its limitation. Where any provision is held unenforceable, it is to be narrowed to the minimum extent necessary and the remainder of these terms stays in force.
13. Indemnity
You will defend, indemnify and hold us harmless from third-party claims arising from your misuse of the websites or the support channel, from information you send through them, or from your breach of these terms, except to the extent the claim arises from our gross negligence, willful misconduct or fraud.
14. Changes to these terms
We may change these terms by publishing a new version on this page, with a new version string in the form web-YYYY-MM-DD and a line in the change log below. A new version applies from its effective date; if you keep using the websites or the support channel after that date, the new version applies to you. A change here never changes a signed Order Form or the MSA.
| Version | Effective | Change |
|---|---|---|
| web-2026-10-22 | 2026-10-22 | First version: the websites, their forms and the Clearline support channel. |
15. Governing law and venue
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Venue lies in the state or federal courts serving Harris County, Texas, and both parties consent to that jurisdiction.
16. Contact and notices
Questions about these terms, support requests and copyright complaints: sales@clearlineprotocol.com. Security issues: follow the disclosure policy on our Security page. Privacy questions: see our Privacy Policy.
If any part of the websites is hard to use with assistive technology, tell us at sales@clearlineprotocol.com and we will provide the information another way.
Questions: sales@clearlineprotocol.com. See also our Privacy Policy and our Security page.