Tesoro Corporation announced today that Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC (Tesoro) is upgrading its crude oil rail car fleet with the addition of 210 enhanced tank cars that exceed new safe transport standards that were issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on May 1.
Tesoro worked with Union Tank Car Company (UTLX) beginning in February of last year to develop a rail car expected to meet or exceed forthcoming regulations. UTLX, which is manufacturing the cars and leasing them to Tesoro, has substantially completed the first group of enhanced cars, which are expected to be in service this year once enough cars have been delivered to form a full unit train.
Tesoro and UTLX collaborated to modify the design of the DOT 120 – which is built according to pressure car standards – rather than to enhance the design of the CPC 1232 – which is built according to general service car standards.
In February 2014, Tesoro was the first to announce a commitment to phase out legacy DOT 111 cars from its crude oil fleet, well in advance of federal regulations. This latest set of cars reaffirms the Company’s commitment to continually improve our fleet and lead the industry in the safe transport of crude oil via rail.
Tesoro’s new rail cars, which are classified as DOT 120s, have many of the same safety features as the new DOT 117 standard: 9/16-inch shell thickness; thermal protection; full-height head shields; high-flow pressure-relief valves; protected top fittings; and upgraded bottom outlet valves.