USA: The car builder has secured a contract with an unnamed company to upgrade over 1,000 DOT-111 tank cars to DOT-117R standard.
Following the derailment of an NS train carrying hazardous materials in Ohio, the US Department of Transportation issued a call for transition to a new standard in spring 2023.
Over a two-year period, FreightCar America’s cars will undergo a comprehensive upgrade, including the installation of a new exterior tank jacket, top fittings protection, thermal protection, and new bottom outlet valves. This is the inaugural contract of the car builder, and the relevant activities are to be carried out at the Castaños plant in Mexico, where FreightCar America has relocated its production from the US.
In 2015, the DOT-117R and DOT-111 standards were developed in 2015 to enhance safety during the transportation of hazardous and flammable liquids. This was in response to a derailment of a freight train in Canada in 2013.