(The following story by Dave Wilkins appeared on the Capital Press website on April 2, 2009.)
SALEM, Ore. — Idaho potato shippers rely on truck or rail service to get their product to market. Now some shippers are using a combination of the two transportation modes to get their spuds to important Northeast markets faster.
Under a new program that started in January, trucks haul refrigerated trailers from Eastern Idaho packing sheds to Northern Utah, where they’re transloaded by crane onto flatbed rail cars.
A special “blue streak” rail service operated by Union Pacific takes the shipments from an intermodal rail yard near Salt Lake City to Eastern Pennsylvania in five to seven days. From there, the potatoes are delivered to customers in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and New Jersey.
The new program provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional truck service, said Travis Blacker, president of the Idaho Grower Shippers Association.
“It’s been gaining speed every week since we started it,” Blacker said.
Some shippers were skeptical at first that rail shipments could reach the Northeast in just five to seven days, but more of them are using the service now that they’ve seen the results, Blacker said.
The normal transit time for potatoes shipped by rail from Eastern Idaho to the Northeast is about 10 to 14 days, so spuds riding the “blue streak” arrive in about half the time.
The new service is catching on with potato shippers in Eastern Idaho where most of the state’s fresh-market spuds are grown and stored.
The Utah to Pennsylvania rail shipments are “pretty much non-stop” Blacker said. “We don’t have to worry about driver fatigue … and it’s quite a bit more fuel-efficient,” than truck.
Shipments have steadily increased from just a handful to about 20 trailer loads per week.
Blacker expects weekly shipments will top out at about 25 to 30 trailer loads.
“It started slow, but we’ve seen more and more shipments each week,” he said in mid-March. “It’s working very well right now.”
The Northeast has always been a major market for Idaho potatoes, but it’s also a difficult and expensive destination to ship product to.
The new program wouldn’t be possible without C.H. Robinson, the giant trucking company that approached IGSA with the idea, and Union Pacific, Blacker said.
“Union Pacific has been outstanding in helping us out with this,” he said. “It’s provided some new business for them as well.”
The bulk of Idaho potato shipments will probably continue to be by traditional rail or truck service, Blacker said. The new program simply provides another alternative.
“This isn’t meant to replace rail by any means,” he said. “Rail is still the cheapest way to ship product.”
Trucks can make it from Idaho to the East Coast in four to five days, so it’s still the fastest option.
The new rail service takes a day or two longer than truck, but it also costs about 10 percent less, Blacker said. “This is designed to compete with the truck market as an option,” he said. “It’s been great so far.”
Shipping potatoes to Eastern markets by truck can be challenging, especially during the winter, Blacker said. Road closures due to snow and ice aren’t unusual.
“Interstate 80 through Wyoming can get pretty nasty at times,” he said.