transportation services for Railex

“The second weekly service is starting just as a lot of fresh California produce is starting to be harvested,” said John Philp, assistant vice president for food products at UP. “It may be that the second weekly service will end up being seasonal.”Out of the Washington area, nearly all the farm goods moved by Railex are storage crops — potatoes, apples, pears and onions that are harvested, put in storage and sold throughout the year. “It’s a very steady demand there,” Philp said. “The fresh produce in California may not sustain two weekly services all year long.”

In addition to providing transportation services for Railex, UP offers its own refrigerated services — both carload and intermodal.Five years ago, UP invested in thousands of new reefer boxcars. It has the rail industry’s largest fleet of refrigerated equipment. With the decline in rail cargo over the past year, Philp said reefer business has been a bright spot. In fact, during a conference call with Wall Street analysts, the sector got a special mention.