Borderland is a weekly overview of the developments in the world of cross-border trucking and commercial traffic between the USA and Mexico. This week: The TexAmericas Center wants to expand its rail handling business; Mexico’s commercial vehicle exports fell 11.3% in September; Bridgestone Completes $ 100 Million Expansion In Mexico, Creates 150 Jobs; and a cold storage facility for Southern California is discontinued.
TexAmericas Center wants to expand the rail handling business
The TexAmericas Center received a federal grant of $ 865,000 in July to build a railroad facility in northeast Texas.
Officials at the 12,000-acre industrial park are betting that due to the nationwide shortage of truck drivers, more shippers are likely to see rail as a viable alternative to moving goods across the country.
To attract new customers and expand TexAmericas’ rail operations, the center recently created the position of General Manager for Rail and Handling Operations and announced the hiring of Darrell Thompson for this position.
Darrell Thompson
“I’ve been in the rail industry for around 31 years. I have known the people at TexAmericas for several years through customer relationships and consulting work. I like working with them and their vision and where they try to take it all with them, ”Thompson told FreightWaves.
Prior to joining the TexAmericas Center, Thompson held various management positions at several companies, overseeing both rail and cargo handling operations and warehouse operations. Thompson also worked in Australia for two years for rail operator Watco Cos. help set up an international company.
“I love the rail industry, there is always something new,” said Thompson. “I’ve worked with such a diverse group of people over the years and come into contact with different cultures and have had some great industry leaders and teachers over the years.”
TexAmericas Center is a mixed-use industrial park in the northeast corner of Texas, approximately 20 miles west of Texarkana and 180 miles east of Dallas. The center is near the Texas-Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma borders.
TexAmericas has approximately 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial products, with over 1.1 million square feet currently leased to 34 tenants.
Texarkana is a major east-west and north-south railway hub, with seven rail lines converging in the area, serving over 125 trains a day. Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Texas Northeastern Railroad and Lone Star Rail Car Service currently serve TexAmericas and the surrounding area.
Dallas is the largest rail hub near TexAmericas, especially for intermodal traffic. The Los Angeles-Dallas route is the second densest intermodal lane after LA-Chicago.
FreightWaves SONAR shows a seven-day moving average of inland loaded intermodal rail containers from Dallas (ORAILL.DAL). It has decreased slightly from week to week, but above the volume for the same period in 2020.
TexAmericas owns more than 58 miles of tracks and currently offers its tenants a 12-car transhipment facility that handles goods such as aggregates (crushed stone, sand or gravel), wood, metals, building materials and merchandise.
With the federal grant received in July, officials at the TexAmericas Center are planning to renovate the existing transshipment facility at the site and to build another transshipment and storage facility in order to increase services.
During transloading, a railway unloads goods, often raw materials, from a railcar and loads them onto another means of transport, such as a truck or a ship.
“We have current tenants and potential tenants looking to expand their presence here and who are all interested in rail services,” said Thompson.
The 36 miles of rails at TexAmericas have been used primarily for the storage of railroad cars in recent years. TexAmericas officials want to continue using it for storage while the land is used for other services.
“My plans are to enlarge the railcar warehouse [capabilities] in addition to the transload operations, there is still a large need for storage; However, there is even greater demand for Transload in the Texarkana market, ”said Thompson. “I’m excited to be able to expand and grow our park to better serve our customers and the community. There is no other transshipment facility within 100 miles that has our capabilities and growth capacities. “
Mexico’s commercial vehicle exports fell 11.3% in September
Mexico’s commercial vehicle production and exports declined in September, hampered by a persistent shortage of semiconductors, according to the Mexican National Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor Manufacturers (ANPACT).
Truck manufacturers produced 12,357 units in September, an 8% decrease from 13,547 units in September 2020 and a 27% decrease from the same month in 2019.
Heavy truck exports totaled 10,772 units in September, a decrease of 11.3% from the same month last year.
Freightliner was the leading truck manufacturer and exporter in September. The company produced 7,742 trucks (a 13.5% year-over-year decrease) and exported 7,238 units (a 17% year-over-year decrease) compared to the same period last year.
Bridgestone Completes $ 100 Million Expansion in Mexico, Creating 150 Jobs
Tire maker Bridgestone recently completed the expansion of its plant in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, which will increase its production by 15% annually.
The company expanded its production facility to include a new 193,750 square meter production facility for the manufacture of tires for cars and commercial vehicles.
Cuernavaca is about 86 miles south of Mexico City. Bridgestone’s Cuernavaca facility opened in 1980 and currently employs more than 1,200 people. It has an annual production capacity of around 6.5 million tires.
Bridgestone Corp. based in Tokyo is one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world. The Bridgestone Americas family of companies has more than 50 manufacturing facilities and 55,000 employees across America.
New cold store set up for Southern California
West Coast Cold Storage recently announced that it is building a 127,000 square foot facility in Jurupa Valley, California.
The facility will have 70,000 square meters of freezer and 50,000 square meters of cold storage. The storage area will have a clearance height of 38 feet and offer more than 18,000 pallet spaces and 19 refrigerated loading spaces.
It will be 80 miles east of Los Angeles and 122 miles north of the US-Mexico border. The goal is to provide tenants with storage solutions and access to the surrounding major highways for delivery throughout Southern California. 75 new jobs will be created.
West Coast Cold Storage is a privately owned, women-owned and operated grocery storage and 3PL service provider based in Southern California. The company is based in the Jurupa Valley.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles from Noi Mahoney.
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