Plastics

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Use our Get a Freight Rate tool  to obtain a price for shipping plastics.

Pricing Tools and Resources

• Plastics are moved under various price authorities .

Key STCCs (Standard Transportation Commodity Codes)

Key STCCs for plastics (but not limited to):

STCC	Description	STCC	Description
2821139	Polypropylene, other than liquid	2821140	Polystyrene, other than liquid
2821141	Polyvinyl chloride, other than liquid	2821142	Polyethylene, other than liquid
2821143	Plastics, resins or gums, nec, liquid	2821144	Plastics, resins or gums, nec, other than liquid
2821156	Polyethylene terephtha (PET)

BNSF provides superior customer service and support through our dedicated team of shipping experts and our well-maintained fleet that meets the weight and size needs of the industry. With access to most major plastics production and consumption areas in the Western United States and joint-line access to Eastern Markets, we have the flexibility to get your goods where they need to go.

• Review transit times for plastics shipped using our single car services.
• BNSF provides service for plastics only on designated routes. Find out where BNSF ships.
• Check to see if BNSF serves your destination using our switching guides.

Not Rail Served?

• If you are not directly served by a railroad and need delivery by truck, consider using one of our premier transloaders or BNSF Logistics.
• You can also work with our Economic Development team to establish or expand your next site.

Please note that plastics only move in private equipment

Covered Hopper

Specifications Table	Diagram (Jumbo)	Diagram (Large)	Diagram (Small)
Cubic Capacity	5161 to 5470	4427 to 4750	2700 to 3426
GWR	286,000 lbs	263,000 lbs	263,000 to 286,000 lbs
Hatch Type	Trough, Combination	Trough, Circular	Trough, Circular
Outlet Gates	Gravity, Pneumatic	Gravity, Pneumatic	Gravity
Commodities	Grain, Sugar, Malt	Grain, Sugar, Malt, Fertilizers, Potash, Sand, Clay, Alumina, Coke, Lime	Perlite, Roofing Granules

** All materials are provided for informational purposes only; BNSF makes no warranty regarding accuracy and shall not be liable for any errors and/or omissions. Materials are subject to change at any time without notice or publication. Please consult with the Equipment Department for the most up-to-date data.

Tank Cars

Customers shipping commodities via rail that require movement in a tank car are able to supply and load their own tank cars for movement by BNSF. BNSF does not supply customers with tank cars for shipping. For more information on tank car specifications and regulations, please refer to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s website.

 

Private Equipment Guidelines

The following section contains guidelines and information for the use of privately marked equipment where BNSF is the origination line-haul carrier.

1. Private rail equipment must meet the Association of American Railroads' (AAR's) Circular OT-5 for Rules Governing the Assignment of Reporting Marks and Mechanical Designations. Privately marked equipment must also be registered via the OT-57 process that is administered by Railinc. For more information, please visit Railinc's Loading Authority (OT-57) web site.
2. Private equipment controlling entities are required to manage the flow (pipeline) of empty equipment moving to BNSF origin line haul locations or connecting carrier serving locations to preserve network fluidity.
   
3. BNSF may require private equipment controlling entities to move equipment off-line at their expense to preserve network fluidity.
   
4. Private equipment is subject to charges for both equipment held for loading and unloading and equipment held for purposes other than loading or unloading.
   
5. BNSF's Mechanical Requirements for Private Equipment listed below.
   

SAFETY IS BNSF'S MAIN PRIORITY

The following is not all inclusive. However, equipment must comply with all of the following key mechanical requirements:

1. All interchange freight car owners must subscribe to the AAR Interchange Rules and be listed in FindUs.Rail.
2. Cars must comply with and be maintained, by the owner, per the AAR Office and Field Manual Rules.
3. All AAR Field Manual Rules (Sections A.1 and A.2 defects along with any component obsolete or prohibited in interchange) must be complied with and equipment must be repaired or replaced prior to placement of the cars on BNSF.
4. All cars must have yellow Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 224 compliant reflectorization with the application date registered in Umler (no grandfathered material allowed).
5. Angle cocks located below the coupler as shown in AAR Field Manual Rule 5 Figure 14 are prohibited.
6. Greater than 268,000 Pound Gross Rail Load Freight Cars of any car type must meet one of the following criteria:

1. Cars are approved by the AAR per Specification S-286 or
2. Cars are approved by the AAR per Specification S-259 and the following is met: Cars must be equipped with constant contact side bearings, preferably long travel.
3. Cars must be registered with the proper Star Code.

7. 286,000 Pound Gross Rail Load Freight Cars of any car type less than 44 feet 11 inches in overall length must have route specifically approved by BNSF due to bridge loading concerns. The following link can assist in route selections: Rail Network Maps.
8. Flat Cars of any type and capacity must be equipped with constant contact side bearings. Long travel constant contact side bearings are preferred.
9. Covered Hoppers must have outlet gates that seal completely. The sealing member must be maintained in good condition and not allow product to bypass the gaskets/seals and leak onto the ground. All gates must be of a positive lock design with security seal capability.
10. Cars equipped with one or more rotary couplers must be equipped with anti-gravity locks on both ends.
11. All Cars must meet AAR and FRA Safety Appliance Standards.
12. Gondolas and bulkhead flat cars must be equipped with crossover platform and associated safety appliances on both ends.
13. Bottom dump coal hopper cars equipped with door line air hose must have this hose in the "low" configuration as to not block the crossover platform.
14. Tank cars must be equipped with a Group R "weather resistant" slack adjuster.

Foreign Marked Equipment Guidelines

Foreign marked equipment is defined as equipment having reporting marks of a non-BNSF controlled railroad or equipment that contains non-private marks. Private marks are defined as equipment initials ending with an X, with the exception of TTX owned/controlled equipment.

• Request for assignment of foreign marked equipment should be in accordance with Car Service Rule 16. Requests should be made through your BNSF representative.
• BNSF reserves the right not to use foreign marked equipment when BNSF-controlled equipment is available. If no agreement exists with customers/controlling entities to utilize foreign marked cars, BNSF may refuse to place non-BNSF marked equipment for loading and may return them to the railroad whose marks are stenciled on the cars.
• Prior to securing foreign marked equipment to be loaded at a location where BNSF is the origin line haul carrier, customers/controlling entities must discuss equipment options with their BNSF sales representative.

Loading Origin Guarantees

Shippers have the ability to guarantee equipment supply through BNSF's Loading Origins Guarantee (LOGs) program. Log in to our Customer Portal to find more information.

• Carload Reference Guide
• Standard Carload Policies are under BNSF 6100-Series 
• Loading & Shipment Safety
• Demurrage and Storage
• Weight Restriction Maps
• Oversized Shipments Reference Guide
• Oversized FAQs
• Hazardous Waste Manifest

BNSF customers can stay up-to-date on the latest news covering BNSF services, tools, prices and facilities by subscribing to BNSF Customer Notifications.

• Network Update: Network Update notifications inform BNSF customers on a biweekly basis of the overall state of our network.
• Service Advisories: Service Advisory notifications inform BNSF customers of temporary changes or interruptions to transportation service.
• Marketing News: Marketing News notifications inform BNSF customers of new service or product offerings, or of permanent changes to existing service.
• Pricing Updates : Pricing Update notifications inform BNSF customers of changes to existing rates or price structures.
• Facility Updates: Facility Update notifications inform BNSF customers of changes related to specific facilities.
• BNSF.com Updates: bnsf.com Update notifications inform BNSF customers of new Web tools at www.bnsf.com, or changes to existing tools.
• Customer Letters: Customer Letters inform BNSF customers on a variety of marketing and service-related topics.

Become a New BNSF Customer

Begin shipping with BNSF quickly and easily. We will need the following information to get you started with BNSF: Commodities you will be shipping. Please use our STCC/Commodity Lookup tool for exact commodity information. Origin and destination for your shipment. Amount you will be shipping.

Connect with BNSF

Pricing/Rates

Easily search available rates, collaborate with BNSF on rates, as well as track the progress on rates for new opportunities.

Get a Freight Rate

Shipping Questions

BNSF Customer Support can answer shipment questions including shipping instructions, equipment movement, web support, invoices, equipment and demurrage

Customer Support 888-428-2673

Helpful Links

Quickly find out who is served by BNSF	Serving Carrier Reciprocal Switch Inquiry Tool
Easily locate a transloader on the BNSF network	Premier Transloader Directory
Locate your new site near BNSF or have your existing site served by BNSF	Economic Development