Transportation of Fuel to Union Pacific Railroad

UPRR utilizes a variety of transportation modes for diesel fuel:

  • 7500 gallon transport truck
  • 2500 to 4000 gallon tank wagon
  • Pipeline (based on prior scheduling)
  • Barge
  • Rail tank car

Purchase orders for the transportation of diesel fuel are issued based on the following methods of delivery:

  • UPRR contracts the carrier for transportation of the fuel and assigns a unique purchase order number coinciding with the fuel supplier's purchase order for the fuel being transported.

    Example: Purchase order number 4455-MPTC

    • 4-digit number before the hyphen relates to the location where the fuel will be unloaded.
    • MP (first two alpha characters after the hyphen) designates the company the purchase order is tied to for accounting purposes (MP = Missouri Pacific).
    • T (third alpha character) designates a transportation purchase order.
    • C (fourth alpha character) designates the type of purchase order.

      The FOB code assigned to the purchase order also ties the transportation purchase order to the fuel supplier's purchase order for the fuel being transported.

  • The fuel supplier provides both the fuel and transportation for the fuel. In this case, the transportation charge is shown as a separate line item on the supplier's invoice.
  • Transportation of fuel is direct to the locomotive. By definition, in these deliveries there is no storage tank at the delivery location, and the supplier physically unloads the diesel fuel directly into the locomotive unit. A tankwagon truck generally is used, enabling the truck to get close to the locomotive and delivering from 200 to 4,000 gallons on demand. Charges for these direct-to-locomotive deliveries are usually embedded in the price of the fuel, and shown on the invoice by just one line item. They are designated FOB – delivered to destination.