William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Jul 24, 2012 1:20PM EDT
Rail Logistics-Cold Train is expanding its refrigerated intermodal service, bringing its container fleet up to 300 53-foot units and adding East Coast destinations.
That will give the Pacific Northwest produce and food shippers who use the service coast-to-coast reach by intermodal rail, rather than over-the-road truck.
The asset-based logistics provider said the Cold Train, which shipped 100 containers a month in 2010, will be moving 600 containers a month by the end of the year.
The expedited refrigerated intermodal service is a partnership between Rail Logistics, the Port of Quincy, Wash., and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
Currently, the service is shipping close to 400 containers of fresh and frozen cargo a month from Washington state to the Midwest, the logistics provider said.
Next month, Rail Logistics-Cold Train said, it will expand service beyond the Midwest to reach customers in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New England.
The company sent about 100 test loads to the East Coast. “Our customers continue to trade highway miles for rail miles,” said Steve Lawson, president.
In April, Rail Logistics-Cold Train partnered with trucking and drayage provider Interstate Distributor as demand for the intermodal service grew.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @wbcassidy_joc.
