Over the past four decades, The RSICTC has been a leader in advancing the design and safety of rail tank cars. This includes developing packaging standards for compressed gasses and toxic inhalation hazards. More recently, the Committee was a leader in advocating for the new DOT-117 standard that was mandated by the U.S Department of Transportation and Transport Canada in 2015. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]

In 2011, the Committee undertook a major initiative–in partnership with the AAR Tank Car Committee–to petition the governments in the U.S. and Canada to adopt a new standard, known as at the CPC-1232, specifically for cars in flammable liquid services.

In 2012, in the absence of government action, the RSICTC member companies voluntarily began to invest more than $7 billion to put 55,000 cars into service at a standard that exceeded those required by law.

In 2014, as crude oil shipments by rail saw a historic spike, the Committee vigorously urged the government to officially adopt an even higher standard. The Committee’s advocacy efforts were partly responsible for the new U.S. Department of Transportation regulation known as HM-251, which outlined a new DOT-117 standard that took effect in 2016. The Committee also pushed Congress to pass the FAST Act of 2015, which set aggressive but appropriate timelines for the modification of the entire 150,000-car fleet of rail tank cars  available for flammable liquids service in North America to an equivalent of the new DOT-117 standard.

The Committee continues to be on the forefront of safety initiatives, recommending new design standards for cars in toxic inhalation hazard service.

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