Inland port of Walla Walla and UP Cold Connect team up to ship precious cargo

Cross Docked

Products are cross docked into UP’s refrigerated box cars.  “We use proprietary loading procedures to carefully load the railcar to maximum capacity.  Using this platform allows customers who do not have access to rail, or would not reach critical mass, to ship by rail, the same advantages.”  UP expedited rail service interchanges to CSX in Chicago for final destination at Rotterdam, New York.  The team of specialists unloads the car in the same process, then matches UP LTL commodities to ship to customers in the Northeast USA and Canada.  

Dedicated information technology specialists interact with the transportation providers while the precious cargo is in transit for timely delivery.  These specialists can “remotely monitor temperatures while in transit and provide information to our customers in customized formats, including integrating into Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and usage of electronic data interchange (EDI)/Application Program Interface (API),” explained Peters. Trains leave the Wallula facility 5 days a week to speed goods to market to the Northeast arriving on the 7th or 8th day door to door delivery.  

Union Pacific Railroad Company is invested in environmentally sound technologies to fully benefit from the carbon emission reduction advantages by rail for customer shipments.  “Railroads are one of the most fuel-efficient means of transportation. On average, trains are four times more fuel efficient than trucks,” said Peters.  If 10 percent of freight now moving by truck moved by rail instead, our country would annually save about 1.5 billion gallons of fuel, according to the Association of American Railroads.  Union Pacific is working to reduce their carbon footprint and help their customers to do the same.  “A great example of our commitment to sustainability is the introduction of our new refrigerated railcars, which are equipped with hybrid refrigeration units designed to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.  They are also equipped with double-sealed doors to protect freshness and prevent thermal loss,” concluded Director Peters.