What makes OmniTRAX different from other transloaders?
- OmniTRAX is different from other transloaders in that we own and operate the railroad, the transload facility, and the adjacent land. With OmniTRAX, our customer works with OmniTRAX for most points, including bundled service rate negotiations, site development, fully integrated rail and transload operating schedules, and simplified problem-resolution if issues arise. Controlling the entirety of the operation allows us to be very flexible when entering into agreements with our customers. For instance, we are open to collaborating with our customers by assisting financially to get new sites and projects up-and-running at our properties. In addition to owning and operating our own transload facilities on behalf of our customers, we also are able to supply the land and track for our customers to operate on their own behalf, and for 3rd party transloaders who are able to transload on behalf of multiple customers. We are passionate about making rail easy.
What are you seeing in the market? When do you see markets coming back?
- Although large portions of railcar fleets are in storage at this time, we still see a lot of optimism for transloading in the market. Inquiries are continuing to come in and deals are moving forward. Some markets, like the energy market and the food and beverage market, have slowed down quite a bit. But others like industrial & building products continue to remain strong. There are many question marks about when the economy will stabilize, but we remain optimistic that it is moving in the right direction.
Are there any new projects or developments that OmniTRAX is working on now?
- We are always looking at building new and enhancing existing transload sites across all of our properties. For example, we recently acquired the Winchester & Western Railroad, which has branches in West Virginia/Virginia and in New Jersey. We view this as a strategic asset that hits multiple consumer markets in the northeast with dual-connectivity to both NS and CSX. We are now increasing our storage and transloading capacity on both branches. In addition, we are adding resources to our Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway in Texas, which acts as a conduit for international trade between Mexico and the United States with Class I connectivity to BNSF, UP, and KCSM.
Is there something you would like to share with our members that people may not know about OmniTRAX?
- OmniTRAX is committed to working with our customers and communities to provide safe access to the North American freight rail network. Our purpose is to promote and grow the communities in which we operate by delivering freight, bringing jobs, and improving lives. We are unique in the rail space in that we are a part of a leading real estate company with extensive experience assisting customers while they navigate the nuances of large-scale industrial development projects. Recently, OmniTRAX rolled out to market our Rail-Ready Sites Program, which highlights greenfield properties adjacent to our railroads. These sites are suitable for the development of transload facilities and large scale industrial development projects. One example of this is our Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub where we are building Georgia’s first short line rail line in over 50 years. The SGIH will be served by both CSX and NS, and has over 2,700 developable acres of land for the development of transload facilities and various industrial development projects.
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