UP: What Can You Ship by Rail?

What Can You Ship by Rail?

A Freight Shipper's Guide

We take a close look at all of the items that ride the rails and keep America moving.

Wondering what products you can ship by rail? The short answer is that trains can haul just about anything. From materials mined from the earth to the products that make a house a home and everything in between, you can ship it by rail.

But let’s get into a little more detail.

Don't miss the "What Can You Ship by Rail?" video at the end!

Building Materials

Pipe

Ask a rail fan and they’ll say trains build America. Even though they may be a little biased, it’s sort of true. Think about the materials used to build your own home – odds are, they probably moved by rail before making their way to the job site. Those building materials include things like:

Lumber
Pipe
Metals
Paper
Rebar
Metal Coil
Bricks

Household Goods

Household Goods

If you take a closer look at the items inside your house, most everything you see can ship by rail.

Boxes
Parcels
Shoes
Clothing
Toys
Furniture
Appliances
Electronics

Note: While railroads do ship goods that ultimately end up in peoples' homes, they typically don't ship personal property (e.g., an individual person's household goods). So where they do ship household goods, they don't ship individual households.

Food

Food

What’s in you fridge? How about your kitchen cabinets? Most of that — including the cold stuff! — can move by rail.

Packaged Food
Canned Goods
Frozen Food
Produce
Seafood
Cheese
Chocolate

Beverages

Beverages

Beverages can move by rail, too — even those that come in glass bottles.

Beer
Wine
Tequila
Orange Juice

Liquids

Liquids

Everything from the fuel that powers your vehicle and heats/cools your home to the corn syrup that sweetens your cereal can be moved by rail.

Ethanol
Biodiesel
Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)
Corn Syrup
Petroleum
LPG

Large Items

Large Items

Rail cars can also hold really large items, especially those that can be difficult to move by truck.

Transformers
Wind Turbine Blades
Machinery
Military Vehicles

Small Items in Large Quantities

Small Items in Large Quantities

Teeny tiny items in really big quantities (better known as bulk items) are also ideal for rail.

Sand
Plastic Pellets
Soda Ash
Flour

Vehicles

Vehicles

A train can also move vehicles — and even the parts they're made of (but please note freight railroads typically don't ship personal vehicles).

Cars
Trucks
SUVs
Auto Parts

A Little Bit of Everything Else

What else? Well, just about anything can ship by rail.

Paper
Solar Panels
Waste
Feed Products
Christmas Trees
Paint
Carpet
Irrigation Equipment
Fibers
Grains
Minerals
And More

What's Left?

That leaves one question: What can’t you ship by rail? It’s a short list: Personal property, passengers, pets or other living things.

Learn More

Want to learn more about shipping by rail? Get in touch to find out where you can ship and how you can ship door to door, even if you don’t have access to railroad tracks today.

Related Articles:

What Can You Ship by Rail? video

11 Train Facts that Could Save Your Life

Operation Lifesaver is a non-profit dedicated to rail safety education with the goal of preventing collisions, injuries and fatalities on and around railroad tracks and crossings. Every September, the organization holds Rail Safety Week, a week of awareness activities designed to help prevent track tragedies. Rail Safety Week is a time to raise awareness about the importance of rail safety education and empower the public to keep themselves safe in the presence of railroad tracks.

In honor of this important week, we’re sharing these 11 facts you may not know about trains — because they may just save your life.

Behind the Scenes with Father and Son Rail Photographers

Is railfanning genetic? As a scientist, Paul B. Larsen will tell you the answer is definitively “no.” But when you meet his son, Zachary, it makes you wonder. Both Paul and Zachary have had a lifelong love of trains, and they photograph the many trains they see, sometimes together, sometimes on their own.

With seven decades of railfanning between them, Paul and Zachary have an impressive collection of photos to document the history of their shared love of trains. Here they share their three favorite photographs from their respective collections, the stories behind them, and how they became rail fans.

What Is a Boxcar Rail Car?

When you think “rail car,” chances are your mind’s eye pictures a boxcar. Featured in books, movies and television, boxcars may be one of the most iconic pieces of railroad equipment and are certainly the most recognizable. Perhaps that’s because boxcars are one of the oldest rail car types, appearing first in the 1830s. For over a century, boxcars were used to ship most non-bulk freight (even cars!). That changed in the 1960s, when more specialized cars came on the market that catered better to specific types of freight. Even so, boxcars continue to play an important role in shipping all sorts of freight, from paper to canned goods to appliances.

Quiz: Which of These Beverages Ship by Rail?

When you pour a glass of juice in the morning, enjoy an iced tea at lunch, or raise a glass at happy hour, you may be enjoying a product that shipped by rail. In fact, more beverages ship by train than you may think. To find out which ones ride the rails, take this quiz.

Plastics and the Circular Economy: Is Transportation the Missing Piece?

Try to imagine a single day without plastics. That means no cell phone, no computer, no packaged foods, no driving a car, no using a pen or wearing tennis shoes. Plastics are ubiquitous in today’s society, and for good reason. They are functional, versatile, hygienic and low cost – and they are used so widely that it’s difficult to imagine living without them, even for a day.

So it’s no wonder that the use of plastics has increased twenty-fold over the last 50 years, and in 20 more that number is expected to double yet again. While plastics make our lives easier, they also present challenges related to waste, marine pollution, and sustainability, and that means we must strike a delicate balance between making use of this important material, producing it responsibly, and managing its end of life.

Enter the circular economy. By placing a greater focus on recycling plastics and keeping them in the economy rather than producing waste, we can begin to make progress on the challenges associated with plastics today. But as the recycled products market grows, companies will need to place a greater focus on their supply chain choices, too.

Which Reefer Unit Is the Best for Shipping Perishable and Frozen Goods?

Dairy products, frozen foods, produce. These are the kinds of products that can spoil when they ship. How do they stay cold between Point A and Point B? Reefers. But not all reefers are created equal. Which is the best choice to keep perishable products safe during transit? These answers to commonly asked questions about reefers will help you compare reefer options and decide for yourself.

What Is an Autorack Rail Car?

You’ve seen finished vehicles being shipped over the road on large car hauler trucks, but did you know they also travel by train?

In fact, freight rail moves nearly 75% of the new cars and light trucks purchased in the U.S. each year. According to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), in 2019 alone, automakers sold 17 million cars and light trucks in the United States, an achievement made possible by freight railroads and the larger integrated transportation network.

Needless to say, it is clear rail plays a big role in shipping the automobiles we drive. So, what type of rail equipment helps transport finished vehicles from origin to destination? The answer is: an autorack.

For an in-depth look at all things related to autoracks and how they safely transport cars, trucks, SUVs and other vehicles, read on.