DOT-111 Archives - SMART Union

Transportation Technology Center, Inc. conducted a side impact test on a DOT-111 tank car to evaluate the performance of the tank car under dynamic impact conditions and to provide data for the verification and refinement of a computational model.

The tank car was filled with water to approximately 97 percent of its volume and sealed but not pressurized. The tank car was impacted at 14.0 mph by a 297,125-pound ram car with 12- by 12-inch ram head fitted to the ram car.

The ram car impacted the tank center and punctured both the external jacket and tank shell. The overall purpose of the program is to improve transportation safety for tank cars.

Click here to read the full report from the Federal Railroad Administration.

If you want to carry crude oil in an older railroad car, it’s going to cost you.

Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway, the largest U.S. crude-by-rail carrier, is offering lower rates to lug oil in cars that meet the latest federal specifications issued in May. That means the vast majority of cars riding the rails today, known as DOT-111 and CPC-1232, will cost more to haul.

The new rates are part of a plan by the railroad, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, to push older cars off the tracks as regulators scrutinize the industry over a series of high-profile derailments and explosions. To that end, BNSF published higher rates for older cars relative to more advanced models, such as the DOT-117, said spokesman Michael Trevino.