Coupler Carrier Wear Plate

A coupler carrier wear plate is located on top of the coupler carrier and beneath the coupler shank. There are three types of coupler carrier wear plates used in North America:

• "Metallic"
  • These hardened steel plates are only permissible for use with couplers that have a [kw]coupler shank wear plate[kw] applied.
• Manganese Steel
  • Austenitic Manganese Steel wear plates are extremely wear resistant and are suitable for use on couplers with or without shank wear plates.
• Non-Metallic
  • "Non-Metallic" coupler carrier wear plates are made of wear-resistant polymers, and can either be shaped such that they hold themselves in place or they can be bonded to a layer of steel that gets welded to the coupler carrier.