Watch a freight train pass at any grade crossing and you’ll see a mix of rail car types: hoppers, covered hoppers, box cars, gondolas, auto racks and tank cars. Where are they going? Are they loaded or empty?

Tank cars are built of steel and commonly painted black – not of clear glass. You can’t see if they’re loaded or empty. And there’s no destination sign on the side of the car.

Hence, the mystery shrouding liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-by-rail shipments. How much product is moving? Where is it moving? How fast is it moving? The answers can inform critical business and supply decisions.

There is a way to get a peek into this opaque process – accessing the Public Us...