CHICAGO, May 7, 2012 — Rail Logistics and Iowa Pacific Holdings have announced a new partnership in which Rail Logistics (www.rrlx.com) will manage, operate and market Iowa Pacific's (www.iowapacific.com) refrigerated railcar fleet beginning May 1, 2012. The state-of-the-art refrigerated railcar fleet will initially be equipped with 150 cars. Iowa Pacific has ordered an additional one-hundred 64-ft. refrigerated boxcars, which will be added to the fleet in 2013. All cars in the Iowa Pacific fleet are electronically tracked and internal temperatures are monitored to ensure product quality on delivery.
Iowa Pacific Holdings selected Rail Logistics because of its successful track record of managing, operating and marketing both refrigerated railcar and intermodal container fleets. Since 2006, Rail Logistics managed and operated the highly successful Produce Shippers Rail Car Pool Program for the State of Washington. The state pool offered railcars to shippers of perishable products who no longer had access to railroad supplied railcars.
Additionally, in early 2010, Rail Logistics launched the "Cold Train" Pacific Northwest-Chicagoland Express Refrigerated Intermodal Service in partnership with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and the Port of Quincy (www.portofquincy.org) in Washington State. To date, Cold Train has shipped over 5,000 loads of Washington produce.
"Rail Logistics is excited about our new partnership with Iowa Pacific. Our team will add expertise and experience to help maximize the utilization of Iowa Pacific's refrigerated railcar fleet. We look forward to many years of continued growth," said Steve Lawson, President of Rail Logistics.
"The partnership with Rail Logistics will enable us to deploy our expanded car fleet beyond our traditional Colorado potato business," said Steve Gregory, Executive Vice President Marketing for Iowa Pacific. "With tight truck capacity and high fuel prices, we think there is a solid market for refrigerated rail transportation."
For more information, please contact Nanci Norman of Rail Logistics-Cold Train at Email or 913-491-0050 and/or Steve Gregory of Iowa Pacific Holdings at 806-438-0891 or Email.
About Rail Logistics-Cold Train
Rail Logistics, LC (www.rrlx.com) is an asset-based third-party logistics firm offering turn-key rail services to industries throughout North America for both bulk and intermodal shipments. Rail Logistics provides transportation planning and optimization, supply chain logistics consulting and management, rail fleet management, railcar leasing, maintenance management, and specialized customer service. Rail Logistics has corporate offices in Overland Park, Kansas and regional operations offices in Chicago, Illinois and Quincy, Washington. Rail Logistics is also a leading provider of intermodal freight transportation for perishable (fresh and frozen) cargo via its "Cold Train" Express Refrigerated Intermodal Service, which runs between the Port of Quincy (in Washington State) and the greater Chicago area.
About Iowa Pacific Holdings (www.iowapacific.com)
Iowa Pacific Holdings (IPH) was formed in March 2001 to acquire railroads and create rail-related businesses. IPH has successfully acquired and operated six railroads – while working to increase their value to rail customers and the communities they serve, through improvements in services, facilities and equipment. IPH management is a diverse group, collectively with extensive rail-industry experience. With such wide-ranging expertise, IPH is uniquely capable of devising creative solutions to transportation problems. IPH continuously seeks opportunities to increase rail freight business on its railroads through growth of existing traffic, adding contiguous lines, relocation of new customers on-line or in conjunction with trucking to non-rail-served sites.
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