PORT MANATEE, Fla. — Officials looking for ways to boost rail traffic here might ask Tropicana to carry more than juice on its trips to New York and Cincinnati, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported.
Next month, the port will participate in a state-funded study to examine whether a partnership with Tropicana Products Inc. — the Bradenton-based juice company owned by PepsiCo Inc. — and rail line owner CSX would benefit the port’s tenants and users.
The port already transports cargo from ship to railcar. A partnership with Tropicana could offer an additional option: faster service to the Northeast and Midwest. In some cases, the cargo’s trip could be shortened by a day or two. “The bottom line is that time is money and an expedited rail service could bring additional business to the port,” said Rob Hebert, a planning consultant at Wilbur Smith & Assoc., the business hired by the state to conduct the study.
Preliminary discussions about the express service have sparked some interest from Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. and lumber suppliers, said Steve Tyndal, special projects director at Port Manatee.
Once in place, the service could entice additional clients who need to get their goods to market quickly, Tyndal said. Tropicana uses rail cars to transport fresh juice to its distribution centers, where it is packaged and sent on to New York, Chicago and other cities.
Tyndal said the study initially will examine how the arrangement would help all parties, then consider how the railcars would connect to Tropicana’s cars, which travel to the Northeast and Midwest five days each week.
So far, CSX and Tropicana seem interested. The deal would benefit CSX by bringing it additional customers. Tropicana stands to gain by getting a reduced rate from CSX. But logistics could be a sticking point. Tropicana’s trains must follow a strict schedule in order to get juice quickly to supermarkets and convenience stores. The trains could face too many delays if asked to hook up additional rail cars and then disengage them down the line. Also, the port could be forced to upgrade its tracks to accommodate extra rail traffic.
Still, Megan Stout, a spokeswoman for Tropicana, said the company remains “supportive of the study.” “We look forward to seeing the results,” she said. For Port Manatee, the benefits would translate into new or expanded business. If paired with Tropicana’s express service, the trip to New York, the nation’s biggest marketplace, would take a little over a day.
That could attract companies sending fruit and produce, as well as lumber suppliers trying to meet construction deadlines.
“It would get to New York as fast as a (cargo) train can get there,” Tyndal said.