1. Tank Car NAR Data Breakdowns 2018 1st 9 Months US Only
Source of data: PHMSA on-line NAR data
Todd Treichel
All data in these slides are for tank car non-accident releases of hazmat/dangerous goods only. They are compiled for the AAR Tank Car Committee and the North American NAR Reduction Task Force, whose focus is also restricted to tank cars at present. Tank cars experience the large majority of NARs compared to other packages, and also represent a larger hazard because of the quantities of lading in the tanks (though NARs almost always involve a very small loss compared to tank capacity).
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY

2. Sources for the NAR Data
For this presentation, the sole source for incidents is PHMSA’s based data
Canadian Class 1s also are voluntarily providing data on incidents in Canada, but we haven’t included that for 2018 yet
Railroads are voluntarily adding BOE Cause Codes to their reports
More precision than PHMSA Cause Codes
The North American NAR Reduction Task Force has scope covering all of North America, so data from both US and Canada are included. BOE=Bureau of Explosives. BOE uses its own cause codes because they offer a somewhat finer-grained breakdown.
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3. Further Notes on NAR Data
Some gaps
Cause Codes sometimes missing
Canadian short line incidents (and mainlines for 2018 at the moment)
Did not attempt to include Mexican incidents
data do include US short line incidents, while previous years’ presentations lacked many of those – there are some notations on the trend graphs for comparability with previous years
The graphs shown here are preliminary because there has not been a full review of the various counts
The North American NAR Reduction Task Force has scope covering all of North America, so data from both US and Canada are included. BOE=Bureau of Explosives. BOE uses its own cause codes because they offer a somewhat finer-grained breakdown.
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY

4. Further Notes on NAR Data
month dataset required clean-up
One major carrier shows only 3 NARs
On the other hand, 44 records show N/A as the carrier
Cause codes entered with variable format
The 44 N/As prevent a good understanding of how many records are from short lines
182 out of 263 (69%) have BOE Cause Codes assigned in the proper field
Many of these have the codes on 5800, but not in database
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5. Tank Cars with NARs by Year US & Canada
63% reduction since 1996
Going forward, will now include all US short lines
32% reduction since 2007
2018 1st 9 mos. US only: 263 *
The Canadian NAR reduction program was expanded to the US as well in Note that this curve is not normalized by shipment total. A change in the data source makes the 2018 total to date hard to compare to previous years, because Canadian data have not been added yet, but US short lines have been included more reliably.
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6. US Tank Car NARs by Class of Railroad
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7. Top Commodities for NARs Tank Car NARs in 2018 1st 9 Months US Only
The Task Force looks first at causes and commodities with the highest numbers of NARs, because that’s where the potential for big improvements lies. Ten years ago, AA and LPG were the leaders, but they have been reduced drastically. Crude oil and Alcohols NOS have both dropped back, and crude oil is a notable success story.
Also of interest:
Pet. Crude
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8. Alcohols NOS Trend * 2018 data are 9 months & US only
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9. Anhydrous Ammonia Trend
* 2018 data are 9 months & US only
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10. Crude Oil Trend * 2018 data are 9 months & US only
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11. LPG Trend
* 2018 data are 9 months & US only
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12. Tank Car NARs per 1,000 Originations Selected Commodities
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13. Tank Car NARs per 1,000 Originations Selected Commodities HCl Excluded
Hydrochloric acid is set aside on this graph, strictly to make it easier to see the trends in the rest of the curves that are crowded into the bottom of the graph on the previous slide.
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14. Components Involved in NARs Non-pressure Cars 2018 1st 9 Months, US Only
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
Note: 52 of 190 records had no cause code assigned
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15. Top Specific Causes for Non-pressure Cars 2018 1st 9 Months, US Only
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
Note: 52 of 190 records had no cause code assigned
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16. Components Involved in NARs Pressure Cars 2018 1st 9 Months, US Only
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
Note: 19 of 56 records had no cause code assigned
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17. Top Specific Causes for Pressure Cars 2018 1st 9 Months, US Only
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
Note: 19 of 56 records had no cause code assigned
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18. Data, Resources, Assistance
Data, Resources, Assistance
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19. Top Commodities for NARs 2017 for Comparison - US & Canada
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
Also of interest:
Pet. Crude
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY

20. Components Involved in NARs Non-pressure Cars 2017 for Comparison – US & Canada
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY

21. Top Specific Causes for Non-pressure Cars 2017 for Comparison – US & Canada
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY

22. Components Involved in NARs Pressure Cars 2017 for Comparison – US & Canada
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY

23. Top Specific Causes for Pressure Cars 2017 for Comparison – US & Canada
“Manway” includes all of the different manway systems found on various non-pressure cars, but principally hinged and bolted and acid car arrangements. “Other” generally includes vandalism and causes we don’t have a code for yet, such as swing bolts fouling manway covers so they don’t close, loss of vacuum between tanks on a DOT-113 car (not included in this graph), etc.
10/17/18 PRELIMINARY