Typically, tank cars have up to five times the capacity of truck, holding between 6,500 gallons to more than 31,000 gallons of liquid.
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Thanks in part to these technologies, U.S. freight railroads can, on average, move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles per gallon of fuel, making rail the most fuel-efficient way to move freight over land.
For a fuel cost of $0.84 per liter of diesel ($3.17 per gallon) (AAR (2012b)), this results in an average running fuel cost of $185 per locomotive-hour. If actual train and operation data are available, energy models or rail simulators may provide more accurate fuel use values for specific conditions.
Federal regulators limit the speed of trains with respect to the signaling method used. Passenger trains are limited to 59 mph and freight trains to 49 mph on track without block signal systems. (See dark territory.)
Loading of coal and water and incidental maintenance takes a steam locomotive about 1 hour. A diesel engine can be fueled from a pump in 10 minutes or so.