Let's bring government and industry together

摘要

The movement of hazardous materials by rail is attracting unusual attention in Washington these days. Congress has responded to the threat of terrorist attacks on our nation's rail system by introducing several pieces of legislation addressing railroad security. One constant in each of the legislative proposals is the creation of a federal research and development program that would address a variety of issues, among them improved tank car integrity and development of breech-detection technology to allow tank cars to better withstand a terrorist attack. We have used this forum before to discuss tank car issues, but I think it is important to recognize that the Railway Supply Institute Committee on Tank Cars (RSICTC) represents companies that manufacture, own, manage, and full-service-lease 180,000 tank cars, or approximately 80% of the nation's tank car fleet.