(Union Pacific issued the following on November 14.)
OMAHA, Neb. — Thanksgiving meal preparations are under way, and Union Pacific is helping to transport turkeys, corn, yams and other seasonal food items nationwide. Over the last two years, Union Pacific’s 64-foot refrigerated rail cars delivered nearly 90 rail car loads of the centerpiece holiday entrée of turkey. This is equivalent to 324 over-the-road truck loads or 1.2 million turkeys. In addition, we delivered hundreds of rail car loads of corn, potatoes, onions, beans, peas, rice, wheat, grain and baking ingredients for pies and cakes.
“People often are surprised to learn that the Union Pacific trains they see passing through their local communities are delivering the food items that make up one of the biggest and most memorable meals of the year,” said Jack Koraleski, executive vice president – Marketing. “Your Thanksgiving will be fresher and tastier thanks to rail car technology developed over the last century.”
Since the first patented refrigerated car was built in 1867, the century-long transformation of rail service has had a profound affect on cost-effective and efficient transportation of food and America’s diet.
Rail service has evolved over the years to efficiently transport fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meat cross-country. Union Pacific handles more than 48,000 car loads of refrigerated and frozen products each year and has the country’s largest fleet of refrigerated rail cars with nearly 5,000.
Union Pacific uses its fleet to deliver thousands of carloads of food items most commonly used in preparing the traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner.
Union Pacific works with eastern railroads to offer customers “seamless” service between the West and East coasts. The company has an optimum network to run a refrigerated rail car fleet carrying fresh and frozen products from the growing areas of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest to points east, returning with meat and poultry products for export through West Coast ports.