(The following article by Eric Anderson was posted on the Albany Times-Union website on June 1.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — Buildings large enough to drive a freight train through and refrigerated cars tracked and monitored by satellite are the key components in a plan to move fresh produce quickly from the West Coast to Rotterdam, N.Y.
A Long Island-based produce distributor is nearing completion of two new warehouses, one in Wallula, Wash., and the other in Rotterdam Industrial Park. They will serve as end points on the 3,000-mile route of the weekly 55-car produce express trains.
Until now, the fastest freight trains took up to nine days to go from coast to coast. But Ampco Distribution Services Management LLC of Riverhead, N.Y., has an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation to cut the trip to five days. That’s comparable to truck.
But the two trains — each of which will carry as much produce as 200 tractor-trailer trucks — also will use less fuel, giving them an advantage that grows as the price of diesel fuel rises.
If all goes well, the first train will roll in late September.
When Ampco began its planning, diesel fuel cost $1.50 a gallon, said spokesman Paul Esposito. Today, it’s twice that. Switching to rail will save 84,000 gallons of fuel a week, or more than 4.3 million a year. With the doubling of fuel prices, the $6.4 million in annual savings grows to $12.8 million.
The trains are expected to cut fuel consumption by about two-thirds, according to figures from Esposito.
And that may help cut consumer prices.
With current shipping, “it costs more to ship a box of lettuce than the lettuce itself costs,” said Neil Golub, president and chief executive officer of Golub Corp., the company that operates Price Chopper supermarkets.
Golub made his comments last fall at a news conference announcing the rail plan. Ampco, after looking at sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, settled on Rotterdam Industrial Park for its new East Coast distribution.
The 200,000-square-foot climate-controlled building is under construction next to a $15-million Golub Corp. frozen-foods warehouse that was completed in December. The new produce distribution center will employ as many as 300 people when in full operation.
A similar warehouse is nearing completion in Wallula, in Walla Walla County.
Both warehouses are large enough so the trains can be loaded and unloaded inside, under climate-controlled conditions.
Union Pacific Railroad crews will operate the trains between the West Coast and Chicago, with CSX crews taking over between Chicago and Rotterdam. Union Pacific already has the 110 refrigerated railcars that will make up the two trains. While one is heading east, the other will be heading west, back to Wallula.
“The train only stops for crew changes,” Esposito said. Satellites will track the shipments and even the conditions inside each car so customers can monitor their inventory.
Spoilage has been an issue if a train is delayed or if refrigeration equipment fails.
“A boxcar-load of asparagus is a high-dollar perishable,” said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis. “Any damage to that the railroad would have to pay for. Until the advent of today’s more dependable refrigerator units, the railroads would allow that business to go to truck.”
Esposito said his company will have a guaranteed supply of cars, locomotives and crews to keep the trains running on time.
Union Pacific’s current Express Lane service for perishable items now takes up to eight days to move shipments from California to New York City.
Ampco’s Esposito expects the savings on energy will make the produce more price-competitive and attract supermarket chains looking to cut costs.
But one longtime distributor questioned whether the produce would be competitive year-round.
“There’s not much that comes out of Washington,” said A.J. Rinella, one of the owners of produce distributor A.J. Rinella Co. Inc. in Menands, N.Y. “There’s apples and pears, but that’s about it. I don’t know how they think it’s going to be cheaper.”
Esposito said the trains would carry produce from neighboring states as well, and could even carry imported produce. The Port of Seattle is a three-hour truck trip from Wallula, he said.
Washington state also produces broccoli, cherries, asparagus and other crops that can be harvested several times through the year, Esposito said. Other crops can be stored long-term, such as potatoes, onions and apples.
Michael Sansolo, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Food Marketing Institute, a trade group representing retailers and wholesalers, said some companies hold items in the warehouse less than 12 hours. “They keep inventory levels running lean,” he said.
Trucking industry officials say they don’t view the new rail service as a competitive threat.