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Earlier this week, Norfolk Southern Corp. announced that 45 shippers will receive the 2011 Thoroughbred Chemical Safety Award for their efforts to safely handle chemical shipments last year.
 
Presented annually for the past 16 years, the award recognizes companies and facilities that ship more than 1,000 carloads of federally regulated hazardous materials on NS without an incident. In 2011, 39 companies and six plants achieved the award.
 
Collectively, the 45 customers safely shipped more than 128,000 carloads of various chemical products, including industrial chemicals, petroleum products, biofuels and sulfur.
 
“Safety is Norfolk Southern’s No. 1 priority, and we congratulate these valued customers for their shared commitment to best practices in chemical safety,” said NS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, CSX Corp. announced it’s been named to the Maplecroft Climate Innovation Leader Index, one of three Maplecroft indices that rank U.S. companies according to their climate change mitigation and management efforts.

CSX is listed No. 81, the highest-ranked Class I in this year's index and the only railroad featured on the top 100 leaders list, CSX officials said in a prepared statement. Among the 360 companies listed, Union Pacific Corp. is ranked No. 122, Norfolk Southern Corp. is ranked No. 186 and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — which owns BNSF Railway Co. — is ranked No. 351.

CSX received high marks in management associated with disclosures, targets and supply chain, and mitigation related to partnerships and operational efficiency.

Since 1980, CSX has improved its fuel efficiency more than 90 percent. And in the past 10 years, the railroad has invested more than $1.75 billion to upgrade its locomotive fleet and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.