Greenbrier to craft 'Tank Car of the Future,' offer DOT-111 retrofits

The Greenbrier Cos. yesterday announced it will design a new-generation "Tank Car of the Future" for transporting hazardous materials by rail, including crude oil and ethanol.

Designed to better withstand the additional demands associated with operating unit trains, the new tank car will serve as a response to safety criticisms of the existing legacy fleet of older "DOT-111" tank cars, Greenbrier officials said in a press release. The company also plans to introduce retrofits for tank cars already in service or now being produced to "significantly enhance" the safety of existing cars, they said.

"Recent high-profile derailments have clearly demonstrated the need for updating the North American tank-car fleet to the highest practical safety standards," said Greenbrier Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Furman. "Greenbrier is addressing the tank-car safety issue on two fronts — by supporting a 'Tank Car of the Future' and through offering retrofit alternatives for the legacy fleet, including our most recently built CPC-1232 tank cars."

As of November 2013, there were 272,100 DOT-111 tank cars in service in North America, of which 255,000 sport the older legacy design and 170,000 are used to transport hazardous materials, Greenbrier officials said. The company's new retrofit options for DOT-111 cars will include high-flow pressure relief valves, head shields, top fittings protection and thermal protection.

Greenbrier also plans to offer retrofits for newer tank cars built under the Association of American Railroads' CPC-1232 standards, which applies to all tank cars ordered after October 2011. The retrofit package will include high-flow pressure relief valves and improved bottom outlet valve handles for any CPC-1232 cars in crude and ethanol service which were not originally equipped with those features.

"We are prepared to respond in part as the result of an order to build 500 pressure cars in North America. Currently, pressure cars are used to transport hazardous freight other than crude oil and ethanol," said Furman. "Our pressure car experience will aid our design effort on the Tank Car of the Future for non-pressurized hazardous service, including the transportation of crude oil and ethanol."

The company plans to collaborate with industry leaders to achieve a shared goal of providing the safest means of transporting crude oil and ethanol by rail, Greenbrier officials said.