DLA moves towards more efficient rail practices in Japan

 The Defense Logistics Agency Energy Department, specifically the DLA Energy Pacific section, has recently completed its transition to 45-ton rail cars in Japan. Moving from the less-efficient 36-ton rail tank car, with some of these 36-ton cars being over forty years old, towards the 45-ton car will allow DLA to move more fuel at a time and move that fuel faster.

With Japan's Ministry of Transportation deciding in 2007 to increase Japan's national commercial rail speed from 75kph (kilometers per hour) to 95kph, DLA had to comply with these new regulations and, thus, had to modernize its equipment, with the introduction of more efficient and modern rail cars being the main priority. Over the course of five years, DLA phased out its old 36-ton rail cars and acquired the new 45-ton rail cars. DLA does not actually own these new rail cars but actually leases them out at a rate of 100,000 USD per month from a private company. DLA uses these cars to transport JP-8 jet fuel to its Yokota DLA station from its Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) in Tsurumi.


 Previously, the trip between Yokota and Tsurumi took two hours for a "convoy" of twelve 36-ton rail cars; with these new 45-ton rail cars, the trip has been cut down by 30 minutes. Although this doesn't seem like a significant achievement, this is an important capability gained by DLA. If DLA had to conduct an operation that required a large shipment of fuel to Yokota, DLA would be able to get fuel to forces on the ground even faster than before. Since fuel is a highly coveted and highly necessary commodity on the battlefield, being able to get more fuel to Yokota quickly will be an important asset for DLA's efforts in getting fuel to the warfighter. Rail always has and will always be an important and effective means of getting fuel, supplies, and troops to and from any given place; DLA Energy Petroleum Distribution Supervisor Army SFC Tomas Rivera Mendez voices this sentiment when he said in the article, "Rail tank cars are the most efficient method to move fuel to the warfighter in the central region of Japan."

With the United States Army in the midst of "pivoting" to the Pacific, knowing our fuel transportation capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region will be more important than ever, especially if a military conflict broke out between the United States and another country in the Asia-Pacific region (cough cough...China).
Link to article "DLA Energy acquires new rail tank cars"