Car Shopping

摘要

BNSF has issued a request to railcar manufacturers to submit bids for the construction of 5,000 rail tank cars to be used for transporting crude oil. The move is significant because US railroads traditionally do not own freight cars. Rail tanks are usually owned by lessors or private companies. BNSF also says that the rail tanks for which it is soliciting bids would be built to a higher safety standard than that which is currently self-imposed by the US rail industry. "The tank cars are to be built to exceed the stronger new standards the industry voluntarily adopted in October 2011 for the CPC-1232 jacketed tank car," says BNSF. The US is currently experiencing a boom in crude oil energy production in shale formations driven by advanced drilling technologies. Rail tanks play a central role in the transport of this crude oil.