Citing a forecast from the Federal Highway Administration, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported in July 2019 that total railroad freight shipments in the United States will rise from 17.8 billion in 2017 to an estimated 24.1 billion in 2040, an increase of 35%. A good portion of this growth is being driven by the historically high levels of oil and natural gas that is being produced and transported in the U.S, creating a need for more so-called “crude-by-rail” shipping.
Since crude oil and natural gas are considered hazardous materials, there are now approximately 3.1 billion tons of hazardous materials – which also commonly include chlorine, anhydrous ammonia, ethylene oxide and sulfur dioxide (SO2) – transported via long-haul rail in the U.S. each year. Despite this growth in long-haul rail transport, railroads remain one of the safest ways to transport both hazardous and non-hazardous materials.