News Briefs: Maine propane transload challenge, TransCanada-Magellan project, confined space training

Jan. 19, 2016
We’ve highlighted some of the latest news and announcements affecting tank truck and storage terminal operations and safety in this collection of web reports from the past week:

We’ve highlighted some of the latest news and announcements affecting tank truck and storage terminal operations and safety in this roundup of web reports from the past week:

1. NGL Supply Terminal’s efforts to find a new rail transfer location for propane is meeting stiff local resistance in South Portland ME, according to a report in the Portland Press Herald. Large-scale shipments of propane into the state increasingly arrive by rail rather than pipeline, and more local storage and transloading are needed.

2. TransCanada and Magellan Midstream reportedly should complete a crude oil pipeline linkup—called the HoustonLink pipeline—by the first half of 2017, according to a blog post by Robert Grattan on FuelFix. The project will give TransCanada a second terminus and about 700,000 barrels of storage in the Houston TX area.

3. MasteryTCN recently published a new video-based online training course entitled Confined Space Entry: To the Point that takes a detailed look at the risks posed and steps that must be taken to ensure a safe confined space work environment. The video runs on a variety of devices.

4.  The latest Freight Transportation Services index from the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology showed a decrease that was unusually broad in terms of mode--all freight modes dropped. The decrease appears to have been driven by weakness in the mining (including oil and gas well drilling and servicing) and manufacturing sectors of the economy. The Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production index declined in November by 0.6%, and the ISM Manufacturing Index was below 50, indicating declining manufacturing activity.  

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