Union Pacific Railroad recently recognized 56 companies with its Pinnacle Award for their commitment to safely transport chemical products. The annual award reportedly honors Union Pacific customers for implementing release prevention protocols, corrective action plans and having zero non-accident releases (NARs) of regulated hazardous materials shipments.

“We are thrilled to recognize customers who share our passion for safely transporting chemicals and eliminating chemical releases,” said Kari Kirchhoefer, vice president and general manager, chemicals. “Our continued collaboration ensures products arrive without incident, protecting the communities and customers we serve.”

The Pinnacle Award criteria include safe-loading techniques, shipment securement and zero NARs. NAR is an unintentional hazardous material release during rail transportation not caused by an accident. Hazardous material NARs reportedly declined more than 20% on Union Pacific’s network from 2015 to 2016. The favorable trend may be a result of customers’ intense safety focus and increased inspections and training by Union Pacific’s hazardous materials safety personnel.

Union Pacific serves the large chemical complexes along the Gulf Coast. Pinnacle Award winners based on 2016 shipments include:

Afton Chemical
AkzoNobel
BP
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.
CITGO Petroleum
Clariant
Cornerstone Chemical Co.
Covestro LLC
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.
INEOS Oxide
INEOS Styrolution America, LLC
INVISTA
Marathon Petroleum
MarkWest Energy
NOVA Chemicals
Occidental Chemical Corp.
Olin Chlor Alkali
Sasol North America
Solvay Chemicals Inc.
The Chemours Co.
Westlake Chemical

For more information, visit www.up.com.