Coal transport: Efficiency and losses
Why trains and ships beat trucks threefold on fuel
What this tab covers How much energy is lost while it moves and while it waits in storage or transit, and how much energy the transport itself consumes, in per cent.Rail and ships use about 1% or less of coal's energy per 1,000 km, and trucks about three times as much. Coal dust blowing off open wagons is a measurable loss and a pollution problem. Slurry pipelines needed about a tonne of water per tonne of coal.
Chart: Efficiency ranges
Used to drive transport Lost in transitLosses by measure
| Measure | Range | Type | What is measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rail diesel per 1,000 km | 0.8 to 1.1%10 | Used to drive transport | Diesel at 472 ton-miles per gallon (about 40 kWh per gallon) as a share of coal energy (assumed 5.5 to 7 MWh per tonne) (calculated) |
| River barge fuel per 1,000 km | 0.6 to 0.7%10 | Used to drive transport | 675 ton-miles per gallon, same method (calculated) |
| Truck diesel per 1,000 km | 2.6 to 3.3%10 | Used to drive transport | 151 ton-miles per gallon, same method (calculated) |
| Coal dust blown from an untreated wagon | 0.3%13 | Lost in transit | Up to 645 lb (about 290 kg) per car over 400 miles (BNSF testimony as reported), against an assumed 100 t load (calculated) |
| Slurry pipeline water use | 0.9 to 1.1 cubic metres of water per tonne of coal1220 | Used to drive transport | Black Mesa: about 3,100 acre-feet (2004 federal figure) to 1.3 billion gallons a year for about 4.4 million tonnes (calculated) |
Holding periods and inventory
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Capesize voyage, Western Australia to North China | about 13 days one way, assuming 12 knots over about 6,700 km (calculated)22 |
| Daqin line throughput | about 1.07 million tonnes a day (calculated from 390 Mt a year)5 |
Coal does not evaporate or leak, so transit losses are physical: dust off open wagons and stockpiles, spillage at transfer points, and moisture changes that alter weight. The BNSF dust figure is the railway's own estimate for untreated cars; treated cars should lose less, though independent analysts dispute by how much. Coal holds only about half the energy per tonne of oil, so the share of energy spent on transport is about twice oil's for the same journey.
Slurry pipelines trade diesel for water and drying energy. Coal log pipelines, which pump compressed coal cylinders at about four parts coal to one part water, were developed in the 1990s but no commercial line was found in the sources.
Sources
- Chinese heavy haul coal traffic plateaus International Railway Journal, 2026
- A modal comparison of domestic freight transportation effects on the general public, 2001-2019 (TTI study, press release) National Waterways Foundation (industry-commissioned), 2022
- Black Mesa Coal Mine and Pipeline, Arizona Center for Land Use Interpretation, 2024
- Coal dust from trains adds to pollution, new research finds (reports BNSF testimony) KUOW, 2013
- Environmental Impact Statement notice: Black Mesa Project, Arizona (Office of Surface Mining) US Federal Register, 2004
- Shipping market information (standard bulk carrier sizes) NYK Line, 2026