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[CNJRoss]

Railway Age, 7/24/18:
 

Report: BNSF to limit retrofit tank cars

 

 

A move by a major western Class I railroad to restrict certain tank cars could pinch available capacity as shippers ramp up crude oil volumes.

 

Following a June derailment in Iowa, BNSF Railway is moving to limit the use of older tank cars retrofitted to upgraded DOT-117 federal safety standards, Reuters reported.

 

The move by BNSF comes as the fleet of DOT-117 cars is fully utilized, with lease rates for the new cars having more than doubled, from $400 to $1000, since late 2017.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Railway Age,7/27/18:
 

Tempest in a tank car

 

 

Industry watchers greeted the news of the recent BNSF derailment in Doon, Iowa, as typical ho-hum news. 32 tank railcars hauling crude derailed on a stretch of track that had been compromised by floodwaters. Several of the cars were ruptured and there was a crude spill. Emergency services (BNSF and others) were able to contain the size of the spill, and residents of the area were evacuated as a precaution. Luckily for all parties involved, there was no conflagration whatsoever as a result of the derailment.

 

SNIP

 

It was surprising to hear from certain corners of the shipper community that, on the heels of the derailment, BNSF was making overtures to their customers indicating that it would only offer contract rates for the DOT 117J car while holding back or refusing to offer contract rates on the DOT 117R. As word of the BNSF policy change spread through the industry, industry watchers (shippers, manufacturers and lessors) were immediately alarmed. The issue? Three years after the implementation of HM-251 and a higher safety standard, BNSF was telling customers that an approved design of tank railcar, the DOT 117R, was going to face a restriction on useB.  .  .  .

 

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