Tips For Transloading Crude Oil From Tanker Trucks To Rail Cars
Transloading is the term used for the process that takes place when a shipment must be transferred from one mode of transportation to another. Transloading is often used in the oil industry because the pipelines to the refineries are in the south so if the well head is somewhere else in the country, the oil has to travel there. Transloading takes place when one type of transportation can’t make the entire journey or it may be more cost effective to transfer the shipment from one mode to another. Usually product (in this scenario it’s crude oil) is transloaded from tank trucks into about 120 connected railcars. Using railcars to carry product may sound old fashioned but it’s still the most consistently effective way to transport lots of products including crude oil. A tank truck terminal transloading to railcars will have a rail spur off the main train track. This way, the railcars can pull in and be loaded. Once loading is complete the cars continue back to the main railway for the jo...