Posts Tagged “cold storage distribution”
Union Pacific Railroad announced recently the acquisition of Railex LLC’s refrigerated and cold storage distribution assets in Delano, CA, Wallula, WA, and Rotterdam, NY. Terms were not disclosed, and the acquisition does not include Railex Wine Services LLC.
Railex, a refrigerated rail service and third-party logistics leader, plays a key role in Union Pacific’s Food Network transporting fruits, vegetables and other temperature-sensitive cargo across the United States.
“The Railex team developed a fantastic business changing how fresh food arrives on America’s tables, offering food shippers fast, reliable door-to-door rail based transportation solutions,” Brad Thrasher, vice president and general manager of agricultural products for UP, said in a press release. “The integration of their highly efficient cross dock facilities and logistics capabilities into Union Pacific’s broader food network allows us to offer our customers increased access to a wider range of capacity and service solutions in a rail-centric cold chain.”
Union Pacific, based in Omaha, NE, food trains directly serve Railex’s Delano and Wallula facilities, located in the heart of major agricultural-production regions. The food train network provides a fast and reliable service from these growing regions to the Midwest consumer base via Chicago and further into the heart of the Northeast region via the CSX. Railex will continue managing facilities during the transition and integration of its operations with Union Pacific.
In an Aug. 24, 2016 post, HaulProduce.com rported the following:
Even refrigerated carriers have their challenges hauling fresh produce, but it is an awesome mountain for rail entities, which is why there have been so many failures over the years. Now we hear Railex LLC is ending service to the Southeast, although it claims it will be back one day.
The rail logistics transporter, based in Riverhead, NY, ceased operations in Jacksonville, FL August 13th with its refrigerated perishables. Rumors of the closing had been circulating since July. The company apparently felt it was in its best interest to reassess the Southeast receiving location and close the Jacksonville location…..Paul Esposito, executive vice president of corporate affairs said. “The transit times were two days longer than what we had planned and what our customers expected. Now, two years later, during the peak summer season, with transit variabilities as well as the decline in truck rates, we find it difficult to sustain any significant volume into the area.”
To read the entire post from last August, click on “Sections” and then click on “News,” then scroll down to the 8/24/16 post.