Don Schrack -- The Packer -- June 10, 2009
Just in time for the peak harvests of California stone fruit and table grapes, the Delano terminal of Railex LLC, Schenectady, N.Y., has added a second train per week to the firm’s Rotterdam, N.Y., terminal.
Railex guarantees shipments will make the cross-country trip in five days, said Gary Pena, general manager of the Delano facility.
“We are a unit train that does not hook up to any other cars and doesn’t join any other trains,” he said. “When the train leaves our facility it stays intact and arrives five days later.”
Railex is getting positive reviews from California grower-shippers whose customers used the rails to ship winter crops such as navel oranges and other citrus varieties to the East Coast.
“Everybody’s been very happy with the service,” said Andy Felts, sales manager for Wileman Bros. & Elliott Inc., Cutler, Calif.
Customers secure local trucking firms to make the 60-mile trip from Cutler to Railex Delano, he said.
Paramount Citrus Association has enjoyed a good relationship with its Delano neighbor, said Scott Owens, vice president of sales and marketing.
“Everything that we’ve tried to do with them has worked out well,” he said.
Prices of diesel fuel have been inching upward in recent months, a market condition that could make the Railex option more attractive, said Neil Galone, vice president of sales and marketing for Booth Ranches LLC, Orange Cove, Calif.
“We probably haven’t used them as much as we could have, but I think it’s because old habits die hard,” he said. “The fact that they’ve added a second train will make a difference.”
The trains now depart Delano early Wednesday mornings and on Friday afternoons, Pena said.
He cautioned grower-shippers to alert their customers that shipments must arrive at Railex Delano a minimum of eight hours before departure time.
Railex also offers customers the opportunity to lock in season-long freight rates, Pena said.
The only change in the seasonal rate would be a fuel surcharge if diesel prices skyrocket, as they did last year, he said.
Another potential shipping commodity is melons.
An advantage for East Coast customers is that the N.Y. terminal includes cold storage, said Jim Malanca, partner and sales manager at Westside Produce, Firebaugh, Calif.
“A retail chain can order two or three train cars of fruit, but they don’t have to take all the fruit immediately upon arrival,” he said. “Trucks can pick up and distribute the fruit over several days.”
Firms operating at East Coast produce terminals have tested Railex and found the service worked well for them, Malanca said.
“They’re using Railex for northwest apples and other commodities,” he said. “It works well because they can grab a half load of apples and a half load of potatoes.”
Some customers are shipping just a handful of pallets, Pena said, which are consolidated with other loads.
Railex Delano has shipped a variety of commodities since it began service to the East last fall, Pena said.
Among the produce sent to the Rotterdam terminal has been onions and potatoes from the San Joaquin Valley and vegetables, such as broccoli, from the Salinas Valley, he said.
The two trains per week schedule may signal additional service in the future.
“Our goal is to run five trains a week from Delano to New York,” said Andy Pollak, Railex chief executive officer, when the Delano facility opened in 2008.
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