Gantrade has earned Union Pacific's Pinnacle Award for the second consecutive year, one of 138 companies recognized for shipping regulated hazardous materials through a full year without a single non-accident release.
Union Pacific's Chemical Transportation Safety Pinnacle Award goes to customers who implement release prevention protocols, maintain corrective action plans, and record zero non-accident releases of regulated hazardous materials shipments across the year. Gantrade first earned the recognition for the 2024 shipping year and repeated for 2025, a year in which the overall recipient list contracted from 147 companies to 138.
The Federal Railroad Administration defines a non-accident release as an unintentional release that occurs during transportation but is not caused by a collision, derailment, or other rail-related accident. That distinction matters. Because these releases happen outside of accidents, they trace back to the work a shipper controls: how a car is loaded, how closures and fittings are secured, and how equipment condition is verified before a car moves. One clean year is not a statistical accident. It is the product of process. Two clean years is a pattern.
"Safety is a shared responsibility, and these customers show a strong commitment to protecting communities while keeping the rail network moving safely," said Kenny Rocker, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Union Pacific.
Why it matters to the customers we supply
For the formulators and procurement teams who depend on Gantrade, a safety record like this one shows up as something more practical than a plaque. A release in transit does more than create environmental and community risk. It pulls product out of the supply chain, triggers investigation and remediation, and puts a delivery date in question at exactly the moment a plant is counting on it.
Two consecutive years of regulated shipments without a non-accident release is two years without that disruption. It is one of the operational disciplines behind the promise Gantrade makes to every customer: dependable supply, timely advice, and a global perspective.
"Our customers are counting on material arriving when they planned for it. Safe handling of regulated products is inseparable from reliable supply, and this recognition reflects how seriously our teams treat both." − The Gantrade Team
Gantrade has supplied specialty chemicals since 1975, operating across North America, Europe, and Asia, and serving the coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, plastics, construction, textiles, and packaging markets.
Read Union Pacific's full announcement and the complete list of Pinnacle Award recipients.
