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 CP Rail will add a $325 "general service tank car safety surcharge"
on each car of crude that is shipped in any container other than the
CPC 1232 model, effective March 14, it said in a notice issued to
customers and seen by Reuters. The CPC 1232 model refers to those
manufactured since tougher safety standards were voluntarily adopted
in October 2011.
The new tiered pricing scheme comes the same week that Canadian
National Railway Co <CNR.TO> also confirmed it was increasing rates
for the older variety of DOT-111 tank cars, whose long history of
puncturing in accidents came into public focus after the disastrous
crash of a runaway crude train in Lac Megantic, Quebec, last summer,
which killed 47 people.
"We are concerned about these cars and their use in transporting
crude," CP said in the notice.
"Tank car technologies are available today that significantly reduce
the likelihood of a release in the event of an incident. We believe
these upgraded tank cars are the best investments to enhance
safety."
The CPC 1232 design refers to a circular issued by the American
Association of Railroads requiring all crude- and ethanol-carrying
cars ordered after October 2011 to have enhanced safety features,
including reinforced outer shells and protective shields.
Many in the rail industry are growing increasingly frustrated with
U.S. and Canadian regulators who have yet to agree on how and when
to impose new tank car standards, even as a growing series of
oil-train accidents leaves rail operators facing public outrage and
damaged tracks.
CP Rail spokesman Ed Greenberg told Reuters that the firm had
introduced a "new rate structure for all crude shipments in any car
type other than the safest cars."
He declined to discuss the details of the new system, but said it
was designed to "encourage shippers to work towards an upgraded tank
car standard for crude by rail shipments."
Railroads are not the only companies seeking to shift. U.S. refiner
Tesoro Corp <TSO.N> is moving to phase out use of the older models
"proactively, in advance of the regulations," Senior Vice President
Keith Casey told Reuters last week. By the middle of this year, its
entire fleet would be made up of the newer model car, the company
says.
INDUSTRY MOVES AHEAD
Pressure to address the older cars has mounted recently following a
series of shockingly explosive derailments in Alabama, North Dakota
and New Brunswick, some of which involved the older cars. But it may
be months if not years before new rules are in place, experts say,
and it is unclear how long it will take to phase out older cars.
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The charges are meant as an inducement for shippers to upgrade to
newer models, but that is unlikely to occur quickly due to a general
shortage of tank cars amid booming demand to move fast-growing oil
production in inland places like North Dakota, and increasingly
Canada, to refiners along the coasts.
The AAR estimated last December that around 92,000 DOT-111 tank cars
were being used to move flammable liquids like crude oil and
ethanol, with only 14,000 of those built to the new standards. Tens
of thousands more tanks are now on back-order with manufacturers,
but will not all be delivered until next year.
As a result, some shippers fear the charges may erode the economics
of shipping Canadian crude by rail, making it a less attractive
option even as mid-stream companies invest billions of dollars to
build more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) worth of terminal
and loading facilities in Western Canada.
CP, like other rail companies, has benefited from the oil-by-rail
boom. It moved 90,000 carloads of crude last year, and is
forecasting to move 140,000 to 210,000 carloads of crude oil a year
by the end of 2015. That equates to as much as 400,000 bpd, based on
standard cars that carry 714 barrels each.
The CP surcharge would be applied to each older tanker transporting
crude oil in packing groups I, II, or III, the CP notice said. It
was not clear whether the charge would be applied in U.S. or
Canadian dollars.
CN added its fee in January and was charging up to 5 percent in
additional freight costs on some DOT-111 cars, industry sources told
Reuters this week.
The charges have upset some shippers, who say they are being
unjustly penalized for using tank cars that are still allowed by
regulators.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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