Each year there are approximately 20,000-30,000 Hazmat incidents from stationary and mobile sources (source: National Response Center database). Many of these incidents involve multi-agency response in collaboration with private industry.

Shipping commodities by rail is an extremely cost-effective means of transportation compared with trucking. Additionally, shipping commodities by rail has proven to be safer than shipping by truck. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) states that there were 15,289 highway incidents in 2017. Despite the safety and security systems in place, there were still 471 derailments resulting in releases of Hazardous Materials (HazMat) in 2017, according to the BTS.