OREANDA-NEWS. BNSF Railway today makes the following statement in response to claims made by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers in U.S. federal court:
BNSF continues to review the complaint filed by the AFPM, a trade association representing refining and petrochemical companies, challenging BNSF's recent implementation of rate discounts for crude shippers that load their product in rail cars with improved safety characteristics. We believe that our rate structure appropriately supports customers who are working to move to a safer car, which is in the interest of rail shippers, BNSF employees and the communities we serve. This rate structure is also consistent with BNSF's ongoing efforts to ensure the safe transport of crude on our network, including voluntary adoption of enhanced operating practices around crude oil shipments and requesting the federal government to make newer, safer tank cars the new standard for crude-by-rail shipments, replacing the older DOT-111 and non-modified CPC-1232 cars.