Ethanol and crude oil fleets near 100% adoption of DOT-117 tank cars in 2023  

Key Points: 

• All jacketed (a layer of thermal insulation) and non-jacketed DOT-111 and non-jacketed CPC1232 tank cars that carried ethanol met the May 1 and July 1, 2023, phaseout deadlines. 
• Nearly all cars that carried either crude oil or ethanol met DOT-117 specifications. Jacketed CPC-1232 cars can still carry crude oil or ethanol until May 1, 2025.
• All tank cars carrying other Class 3 flammable liquids will need to meet DOT-117 or equivalent specifications by May 1, 2025 (Packing Group I), or May 1, 2029 (Packing Groups II/III).

The Number of Tank Cars meeting the DOT-117 Specification and Phaseout dates for all Other Tank Cars

In accordance with the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) released its Progress Towards Safer Rail Tank Cars Transporting Flammable Liquids: 2024 Report. The report discusses the progress in upgrading the rail tank car fleet to the DOT-117 standard, which meets new safety requirements, and summarizes the types of rail tank cars carrying Class 3 flammable liquids. There is a rolling phase-out schedule of tank cars based on both tank car type and flammable liquids carried. In 2023, 67% of all rail tank cars carrying Class 3 flammable liquids were built to the new DOT-117 or DOT-117R specification. 

Inventory of Rail Tank Cars Carrying Class 3 Flammable Liquids by Year

 
There were three phaseout deadlines in 2023. Jacketed and non-jacketed DOT-111 and non-jacketed CPC-1232 tank cars carrying ethanol were phased out on May 1 and July 1, 2023, respectively.  The next major deadline is in May of 2025, when jacketed CPC-1232 tank cars will be prohibited from carrying ethanol and crude oil and all DOT-111 and CPC-1232 tank cars will be prohibited from carrying other flammable liquids in packing group I. Compliance with the phase-outs in 2025 will be evaluated in the 2026 report. A large proportion (96%) of crude oil-carrying cars in 2023 already met the new DOT-117 standards.

Survey results indicate that 6,296 DOT-117 and DOT-117R tank cars are projected to be built or retrofitted in 2024. 

In 2023, 100,869 rail tank cars were used to carry Class 3 flammable liquids, an increase of 0.5% from the 100,393 tank cars used in 2022. In 2016, only 8% of the fleet that carries crude oil, and other Class 3 flammable liquids, consisted of DOT-117s (new or retrofitted), compared to 67% in 2023. For crude oil alone, 96% of the tank car fleet in 2023 consisted of DOT-117s, up from 87% in 2020.  

The annual BTS report is required under FAST Act, Section 7308. Additionally, Section 7308(c) requires BTS to estimate the anticipated number of DOT-117 tank cars for each year from 2018 through 2029 by collecting data from tank car shops that build or retrofit tank cars. It is expected that, by the end of 2029, all Class 3 flammable liquids will be carried in rail tank cars that meet or exceed DOT-117 specifications.