DOT-117 defined
The wait for a new tank car specification is over. Now comes the “fun” part: Retrofits to older cars, and potentially onerous operating rules.
tank cars
Commentary
Tank car builders don’t agree on DOT-111 obsolescence timeline
Tank car builder The Greenbrier Companies is urging the White House Office of Management and Budget to disregard advice by the company’s own industry trade group, the Railway Supply Institute-Committee on Tank Cars (RSI-CTC), and proceed full speed ahead with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposed schedule for fleet renewal.
Greenbrier Cos. touts fiscal 2Q15 orders
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. announced Tuesday, March 17, 2015 it has received new orders in its second quarter ended Feb. 28, 2015 for 10,100 railcar units valued at $1.09 billion.
FRA: Tank cars must upgrade valves
Under a fairly intense political spotlight spurred by a series of high-profile rail incidents involving crude-by-rail (CBR) shipments, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a “Railworthiness Directive requiring railroad tank car owners to replace unapproved valves currently installed in some tank cars.”
Commentary
U.S. sway affects Canada CBR safety focus
Transport Canada’s selection March 11, 2015 of new tank car specifications is surely a harbinger of the choice the White House will make later this spring from among the options proposed by U.S. rail and hazmat regulators.
AAR lauds Transport Canada tank car proposal
Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger responded late Wednesday, March 11, 2015, to Transport Canada’s proposed TC-117 tank car standard.
BNSF pauses on tank car purchase
BNSF Railway is taking a second look at an earlier plan to purchase up to 5,000 tank cars for hauling oil products, following feedback from some of its customers, according to BNSF Chairman Matt Rose.
Appalachian Railcar Services makes buy
Eleanor, W. Va.-based Appalachian Railcar Services (ARS) on Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, said it has acquired BRC Rail Car Services of Lynchburg Va.
RSI stats show 3Q14 car orders break record
The Railway Supply Institute on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 released its railcar industry order, delivery, and backlog statistics for the third quarter, noting the quarter was the largest ever for car orders, notching 42,900 cars.
Railcar builder stocks tumble following PHMSA NPRM comment period
Shares of The Greenbrier Companies and Trinity Industries fell 10.2% and 7.7%, respectively, in afternoon trading on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, one day after the deadline for final comments on the U.S. DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on tank cars carrying flammable liquids. Wall Street analysts attributed the stock plunge (which also affected American Railcar Industries, down 5.8%) to investor wariness over an “oil tank car rule fight.”