Transporting Coal Products for Power Industries

Like all fuels, coal has to be hauled to an end-user until it could be properly utilized. Specific transportation demands change — Gulf Coast lignite is usually hauled over short distances into mine-mouth power plants, Appalachian and Illinois Basin coals are usually transported over marginally longer distances from mine to market, and also coal mined from the Powder River Basin can travel distances ranging from less than 100 kilometers to over 1,500 miles before it reaches the consumer.

An increase in coal usage is dependent on getting the adequate capability to deliver increasing quantities of coal at affordable rates and reliably. Conversely, surplus transport costs or inadequate capacity confidence in shipping that is dependable can reduce or remove the growth in coal usage.

Together with the electrical power industry accounting for at least 90% of U.S. coal usage, coal transportation to over 600 coal-burning energy plant sites in the country is particularly significant. Of those plants, railroad transportation serves roughly 58 percent, waterborne transport serves 17 percentage, trucks function 10 percent, 12 percent are served by several modes of transport (primarily railroad and barge), and 3% are mine-mouth plants using conveyor systems.

In 2004, over 85% of coal imports were sent to customers by rail (684 million tons), truck (129 million tons), or water (98 million tons). But, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data report just the method where coal has been sent to the final destination and don’t clarify how many heaps might have traveled with other ways across the way–nearly one-third of coal delivered to electricity plants is subject to one transloading across the transport chain. The amount of transport doesn’t include. But if you want transportation through towing trucks, you may contact BigTruckTow to help you.