(The Democrat and Chronicle posted the following story by Todd Grady on its website on February 5.)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Daily rail shipments from the salt mine in Livingston County are up about 50 percent this week at Genesee & Wyoming Inc. since American Rock Salt Co. adjusted operations to meet demand.
David Collins, president of Genesee & Wyoming’s New York and Pennsylvania region, said 60 rail cars a day transported salt from the mine on Monday and Tuesday.
Genesee & Wyoming had been shipping salt from the Hampton Corners mine at a rate of 35 to 40 cars a day. Each car holds about 112 tons.
American Rock Salt, the mine s owner, requested a ramp-up to replenish the stockpiles it supplies across the Northeast.
“It’s certainly a case of a winter demand situation that’s beyond anybody’s control, ” said Philip Saunders, chief executive of American Rock Salt.
Salt stockpiles have been dwindling rapidly. The mineral is in high demand as a result of above-average snowfall that has covered area roads.
“The mine is mining at a record clip,” Saunders said.
American Rock Salt is leasing 170 rail cars until demand subsides.
“We’ve been busy, Collins said. “They’ve been busier. ”
Genesee & Wyoming is the exclusive rail carrier from the mine to rail yards in Rochester and Silver Springs, Wyoming County. Its cars are hooked up to larger rail carriers such as Norfolk Southern Corp. and Canadian Pacific, which transport the salt out of state.
Local supplies are trucked from the mine.
The leased rail cars will boost business for Genesee & Wyoming, which is paid for every load carried on its tracks.Collins declined to say how much the increased business would bring, but Saunders said the annual contract is worth about $3 million.
He said the contract would be worth up to $1 million more if rail logistics were perfect.
“Candidly, they should be getting a lot more business from us than they are, ” he said.
Genesee & Wyoming reported it transported about 110,000 tons of salt from the mine in January. Collins said it was the highest monthly total since the new mine opened to rail in June 2001 but was only about 10,000 tons more than January 2002.
Load totals are expected to be be higher in the months ahead.
“We’re working with them to improve upon it and I think the future will be much better,” Saunders said.