Posted on 12/22/2014 6:14:48 AM PST by thackney
One-third of the crude oil hauled from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale region by railcars could be forced off the tracks and into expensive truck fleets in the next four years, according to a railcar-industry trade group.
The Railway Supply Institute says there aren’t enough shops to retrofit cars carrying flammable liquids in time to meet proposed federal deadlines, and that tens of thousands of cars will be idled as a result. The U.S. Department of Transportation wants tank cars carrying crude oil to be retrofitted with more puncture-resistant features in two years, and those carrying ethanol to be upgraded in three years. Those carrying other flammable liquids, such as heating oil and chemicals, have five years to be upgraded.
“They can’t all be modified by the deadline, and the only alternative would be to yank them out of service,” said Kevin Neels, a transportation consultant for the Brattle Group, which studied the impact of the proposed regulations for the railway institute, which represents railcar-leasing companies and car manufacturers. The DOT is expected to complete standards and compliance deadlines for tank cars by early next year.
Without enough tank cars, producers of oil, ethanol and other flammables could be forced to curtail production or switch to other, more expensive types of transportation, mainly trucks. The oil “is either going to move by trucks or it’s going to stay in the ground,” said Mr. Neels, adding that expanding the use of pipelines and river barges would provide only limited additional capacity. Greater reliance on trucks would add traffic to congested interstate highways and expose more motorists to flammable cargoes, Brattle says.
The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s trade group, declined to comment directly on the Brattle report, but said it has warned the DOT’s...of looming output disruptions and car shortages...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Build two pipelines next to each other . One for oil and one for water. The one for water can pick up at the Missouri river and deliver to Texas for farming.
Good idea. Chance of implementation under current rulers, near zero.
I don’t necessarily believe he is going to have to increase the operating costs. I believe he may already have the source for the needed cars at little or no real cost. That provides a premise for increasing the cost to shippers.
The article is about requiring stronger cars than were in that wreck.
As if it would make a difference.
Well my crony capitalist detector just went off.
I wonder who’s involved in the trucking deal?
Surely they can’t be Teamsters, right?
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