Citing a forecast from the US Federal
Highway Administration (FHA), the
Association of American Railroads (AAR)
reported in October 2020 that total railroad
freight shipments in the US will rise from
18.6bn tonnes in 2018 to an estimated 24.1bn
tonnes by 2040, an increase of 30 per cent.
A good portion of this growth is being driven
by the historically high levels of oil and
natural gas that is being produced and
transported in the US, creating a need
for more shipping of crude oil by rail.
Since crude oil and natural gas are considered hazardous materials, there are now approximately 3.1bn tonnes of hazardous
materials – which also commonly include
chlorine, anhydrous ammonia, ethylene oxide and sulphur dioxide – transported by
long-haul rail in the US each year. Despite
this growth in long-haul rail transport,
railroads remain one of the safest ways to transport both hazardous and non-
hazardous materials.
Read more in the March 2021 edition of
Hazardous Cargo Bulletin.