UP: What Can You Ship by Rail?

What Can You Ship by Rail?

A guide to shipping freight like construction materials, food, beverages, new vehicles and other goods by train

If you're looking to find out which kinds of goods ship by train, this list outlines many of the important items that railroads move.

Wondering which products you can ship by train? 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 and Construction 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
Asphalt
Paper
Rebar
Metal Coil
Bricks
Shingles and Other Roofing Products

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 your 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

Railroads can ship very large, heavy and oversized freight that can be difficult to move by truck.

Transformers
Wind Turbines
Machinery
Military Vehicles
Rocket Boosters

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.

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

A Little Bit of Everything Else

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

Paper
Recycled Materials
Solar Panels
Waste
Feed Products
Christmas Trees
Paint
Carpet
Irrigation Equipment
Fibers
Grains
Minerals
And More (some of which are surprising!)

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? 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. Or, answer a few quick questions to get a rate or connect with a shipping expert.

Related Articles:

What Can You Ship by Rail? video

Stay Up-to-Date on the Supply Chain and Logistics Conferences Left in 2022

If you’re trying to plan one more development opportunity in 2022, there are a few supply chain and logistics conferences left in the year. The list below provides the details and links to learn more about each event. If 2022 is already booked or you’re looking ahead to 2023, read to the end to see a preview of supply chain and logistics conferences happening next year.

Please note: As always, safety should always be your top concern when deciding whether to travel and/or attend large events in person. While COVID-19 restrictions may be loosening in many areas, you and your team should weigh the risks and benefits, especially if you are at an increased health risk.

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month: A Q&A with Four Transportation Leaders

The United States celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month every May. That month has particular significance: It commemorates the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7, 1843, and marks the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, for which much of the track was laid by Chinese immigrants.To continue honoring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and their contributions to our country and transportation, four railroad leaders share how they are making a mark on the industry and their perspectives on the importance of AAPI Heritage Month.

“We can easily point to our AAPI employees who built our railroad centuries ago. One wonders what that outcome would have looked like without their involvement,” said Chief Diversity Officer Debra Schrampfer. “The better news is that we can still easily point to how our AAPI employees play critical roles in building our railroad today.”

What Is a Flatcar Rail Car?

Flatcars hold an important place in railroad history: they were the very first type of rail car used by the railroad industry. Thanks to their simple, flat-deck design, flatcars carried all sorts of freight. For that reason, the design didn’t change much over time. Today, there are several variants of flatcars, including spine cars, centerbeams and well cars. Even so, the basic flatcar is still riding the rails to this day, carrying equipment, machinery, oversized loads, pipe, steel beams and more.

Renewable Diesel and Biodiesel: The Fast Track to Cutting Transportation Emissions?

Following the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, electric vehicles have been getting a lot of attention. In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address climate change, the bill is intended to fund a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers and make upgrades to our nation’s power infrastructure to support them (among other transportation-related projects). While increasing the viability and use of electric vehicles has the potential to dramatically reduce transportation emissions, it’s going to take time — and with climate change looming, people are ready to take action now.

That’s where biofuels come in. Renewable diesel and biodiesel are made from renewable resources turning waste into fuel that burns cleaner than petroleum diesel. Moreover, renewable diesel is a “drop-in” fuel, meaning it can be used in existing diesel engines and requires no new infrastructure upgrades. Biodiesel is often blended with renewable diesel and traditional diesel. In other words, fuel consumers who want to reduce their environmental impact don’t have to wait — biofuels can help them start cutting GHG emissions immediately.

Working for a Sustainable Tomorrow: WM’s Approach to Mitigating Climate Change

Waste and recycling are often thought to exist on opposite ends of the environmental spectrum. At one end materials are discarded, and at the other they are reused, each representing diametrically opposed approaches to the way we handle materials at their end of life.

For WM, North America’s leading provider of comprehensive environmental services, it’s less of a spectrum and more like two sides of a scale. Today, WM manages waste in the traditional sense while also focusing on improving recycling and creating renewable energy from the material that does go to landfills, coinciding with the company’s sustainability targets. Put these efforts together and WM is clearly leading efforts to tip the scales in favor of sustainability.

Electric Locomotives: The Latest Step to Cut Freight Rail GHG Emissions

Moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 75%, on average. Trains are already an environmentally responsible shipping choice, and railroads continue to take steps to reduce the impact of freight shipping on climate change.

One method railroads employ involves using technology to make their locomotives more fuel efficient, which in turn reduces GHG emissions. Now, battery-electric locomotives are poised to be an additional technology to help the railroad industry take a big leap toward running net-zero emission operations.

How Are Locomotives Getting More Fuel Efficient for the Railroad Industry?

Today’s train locomotives are already quite fuel efficient, especially compared to trucks. In fact, trains can haul one ton of goods an average of more than 480 miles on just a single gallon of fuel, making them 3-4 times more fuel efficient than trucks.

Freight rail is the most fuel-efficient way to transport freight over land, and railroads continue to invest in technology to reduce fuel consumption. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are directly related to fuel consumption, so the investment is a win for the planet.

Here’s a rundown of the technology railroads are leveraging in their current locomotive fleets and the solutions that are on the horizon to make them an even more environmentally responsible transportation solution than they already are today.