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Railway Supply Institute makes recommendations on tank car design
Mr Petit, +1 for you. I think you have perfectly responded to the meat-headed “!@#$#@ OBAMA KENYAN!!!” nonsense that seems to take over comment threads. Thanks!
So much for the belief system which claims no safety regulations would happen without government. Here we have the private sector telling government to get with the program, stop the foot dragging, and allow safer tank cars on the rails. Will government get out of the way of the private sector or will it find new excuses to keep its own failing safety standards in place?
Ya know this would be a good time to do away with all sorts of laws since this article shows that corporations are more then willing to implement self regulation. First off it will be the dairy industry since they would never sell tainted milk. Second will be the meat industry since they would never take short cuts to pass on contaminated meats to the public. Next the drug manufacturers since they know what’s best and wouldn’t do anything to endanger the drug supply. Last but not least would be the trucking industry, just do away with scale houses, no way would they ever run heavy overweight trucks on the highways.
Ya know this would be a good time to do away with all sorts of laws since this article shows that corporations are more then willing to implement self regulation. First off it will be the dairy industry since they would never sell tainted milk. Second will be the meat industry since they would never take short cuts to pass on contaminated meats to the public. Next the drug manufacturers since they know what’s best and wouldn’t do anything to endanger the drug supply. Last but not least would be the trucking industry, just do away with scale houses, no way would they ever run heavy overweight trucks on the highways.
Sorry for the double posting I accidentally hit the submit key twice
Strongly agree that government intervention is rarely the best solution. The proposals to ensure safer tank cars are good, except for one thing. Why is there a recommended period of 10 years to phase the proposals in? Apply a stiff upper lip and begin with the least safe tank cars while limiting the type of car that is used in hazardous shipping.
Weren’t the handles for the bottom outlet, inside the dome on top? That seems to have been the case in earlier tank cars in the 40’s and 50’s. Then it was a simple case of sealing the top dome to secure the load.
Several comments here. First, of course RSI is in favor of mandated changes in new construction as well as requirements to retrofit existing 111 tank cars. RSI members manufacture the components that would be used in new cars or in a retrofit process, so their advocacy for these changes is entirely self serving.
I personally am in favor of requiring head shields, roll over protection of top fittings and recessed bottom outlets on new tank car construction. I am currently working on a new tank car order for my employer and, although none of these modifications are required for the product service we intend for the new cars, we are having the cars built with them because it is the right thing to do. And yes, these modifications do result in an increase in the cost of the car.
Regarding retrofitting existing 111 tank cars, there is an impracticality to doing this. First, I am unaware of any cost benefit analysis having been performed. I have read projected costs of around $15,000 per car to perform these modifications however, even with the modifications, a tank car’s survivability in a derailment would only be improved up to a speed of 24 miles per hour at the time of derailment. The FRA is aware of this and has acknowledged it at meetings in which I have attended.
Second, I am unaware of the tank car leasing companies having performed engineering work to determine if or how an existing 111 tank car can be retrofitted with these modifications.
Third, even if their engineering determines the modifications could be safely performed to existing 111 tank cars, there simply is insufficient shop capacity in North America to handle the number of cars needing to be retrofitted. With all the tank cars built for ethanol in the mid 2000’s in addition to those constructed for other product services, those cars will be coming due for their HM201 qualifications beginning in 2015. That will create a tremendous backlog at the shops that will last into 2018-2020.