What does 49 CFR 173.10 (Tank car shipments) require?

Short answer

49 CFR 173.10 requires tank cars containing certain hazardous materials to be shipped only to parties with private-siding or railroad siding facilities equipped for piping liquids to permanent storage tanks.

The rule says

"Tank cars containing any 2.1 material (including a cryogenic liquid) or Class 3 material with a flash point below 38 C (100 F), except liquid road asphalt or tar, may not be offered for transportation unless originally consigned or subsequently reconsigned to parties having private-siding (see Note 1 of this section) or to parties using railroad siding facilities which have been equipped for piping the liquid from tank cars to permanent storage tanks of sufficient capacity to receive contents of car." (49 CFR 173.10(a))

In plain English

It requires that tank cars carrying certain types of hazardous materials, such as flammable liquids and cryogenic liquids, be shipped only to facilities that have the necessary equipment to handle these materials safely. This includes private-siding or railroad siding facilities that are equipped to pipe the liquids directly from the tank car to permanent storage tanks, reducing the risk of accidents and spills.

What to do

• Ensure that tank cars containing hazardous materials are only shipped to parties with private-siding or railroad siding facilities equipped for piping liquids to permanent storage tanks.
• Verify that the facilities have the necessary equipment and capacity to receive the contents of the tank car.
• Obtain written permission from the delivering carrier for the removal of loaded unit tanks from the car frame on carrier tracks, if necessary.
• Ensure that the shipper has obtained the required written permission and filed it with the originating carrier.