Greenbrier Rail, Oswego, Ore., one of three major U.S. tank-car builders, has seen its stock price nearly double, to more than $40 per share, since September. Responding to the needs of railroads and crude-oil shippers, the company in February unveiled its design of the "tank car of the future" for transport of hazardous freight, including flammable crude oil and ethanol.

In February, BNSF asked for bids for construction of 5,000 "next-generation tank cars" for transporting crude oil. BNSF wants to give tank-car builders a head start on tank-car design and production of replacement stock built to exceed the stronger new standards the industry voluntarily adopted in October 2011 for new CPC-1232 jacketed tank cars.

Some of the features of the "tank car of the future" include body, shell and head ends of 9/16-in.-thick steel; 11-gauge steel jackets and full-height, ½-in.-thick head shields; a thermal protection system that incorporates ceramic thermal blanketing; and an appropriately sized pressure-relief device capable of surviving an ethanol-based pool fire.

Greenbrier also is offering a retrofit service—which can add many of these features to older cars—for the legacy fleet if shippers decide to update their assets and avoid being gauged by the newly instituted surcharges from CP and CN. Says Jack Isselmann, spokesman for Greenbrier, retrofit charges vary "because the conditions and ages of the cars are different when they come to us."

As of November 2013, Greenbrier says that 93% of the 272,100 DOT-111 tank cars in service in North America feature the older legacy design. Of those, 170,000 are in hazardous transport, with 68,000 tank cars in crude oil and ethanol service.

The CP and CN surcharges, Greenbrier says, won't hurt its business but will force shippers to have the safest equipment available. "We are definitely supportive of any safety initiatives from the railroads, including BNSF's RFP and the announcement of the surcharge from Canadian Pacific," Isselmann says.

But there is supply pressure. "Tank cars are out to 2015. Other products maybe can be delivered a little sooner. But we think our capacity remains strong," Isselmann says.

Ultimately, there are many stakeholders involved with transporting crude oil, but recent moves suggest the railroads want more control and responsibility for public safety. "It's not a simple process.There are bad cars out there, and new standards are expected but have not been published yet," Hatch says. "Railroads want the newest and safest cars out there. [CP and CN] are pursuing a way to move forward quickly, but I don't know if these surcharges are enforceable until there are new regulations. Rail is very committed to safety. Derailments are incredibly inefficient. Nobody wants to see derailments."