Petroleum Rail Carloads by Product, 2016
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100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000
Plastic & Synthetic Resins
Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs)
Crude Oil Asphalt, Pet. Coke, Resid.
Lubricants & Other
Transportation Fuels
Natural Gasoline
Source: Analysis of American Association of Railroads (AAR) Freight Commodity Statistics 2016
Infrastructure in Focus: American Manufacturing Relies on Rail
Petrochemical plants, which are heavily concentrated in the Gulf Coast region, produce resins – the materials that are molded or shaped into finished plastic products. These resins are typically in the form of beads, sheets or powders. The petrochemical industry relies on rail transportation to move resins from the Gulf Coast to manufacturing plants in America’s industrial heartland – stretching from New York and New Jersey in the east to Illinois and Wisconsin in the west – where the resins are turned into a wide variety of finished plastic products, ranging from car parts to medical devices to everyday items such as water bottles or food packaging containers. In 2016, more than 500,000 carloads of plastic resins were transported by rail in the United States, primarily in closed hopper cars that can each carry up to 93 tons of pellets. 23
The Fuel and Petrochemical Supply Chains
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