At any given moment, veins of railroad tracks that dissect the Americas from the Port of South Louisiana pulse with infusions of grain, oil and other bulk goods. The port links three major rail companies to an array of intermodal transportation that connects the global market.
The 54 miles of port along the Mississippi River is a truly modern marvel meeting point of waterway, roadway, rail and air. The Port is served by three trunk line railroads. On the West Bank, Union Pacific threads the line toward the opposite coast. On the East Bank, Canadian National pulls north and Kansas City Southern links to the lower hemisphere.
What Works on the West Bank
Union Pacific has a dedicated staff focused on their relationship with the Port of South Louisiana. Their 155-year history of hauling cargo across the western two-thirds of the United Sates situates them as a leader in cross-country logistics.
“As we work to provide freight rail solutions to our customers, innovation and technology play large roles,” said Jeff DeGraff, Director of Corporate and Media Relations at Union Pacific Railroad. “We are constantly working to find new ideas to become an even safer and efficient railroad. From Automatic Equipment Identifiers to Mobile Work Order systems, we are finding ways to enhance our customer service experience.”
The Port of South Louisiana is the largest tonnage port in the western hemisphere. For an organization to run as efficiently as it does, strong partnerships are integral.
“Union Pacific believes in being an active member of the communities that we serve. We regularly invest in programs and organizations that improve quality of life and economic development,” said DeGraff. “Our Union Pacific Foundation provides grants to a number of Louisiana organizations, and our UP employees are active members and participants of various boards throughout the area.”
As global trade progresses into the future of intermodal traffic, Union Pacific, as a class-one rail, is proud of its substantial history. Over the past century and a half, Union Pacific has seen cargo evolve.
“As we see in Louisiana and the Gulf South, a new petrochemical boom is upon us as oil refiners and plastics producers are investing billions in the region. Additionally, American consumers are participating in the global marketplace more than ever, and intermodal shipping is making that economic and feasible,” said DeGraff.
Union Pacific is making headlines with drone technology. Since 2014, the pioneer rail company strategically replaces treacherous inspection stations dangling high in the sky with drone technology.
The drone technology is not without its limitations and has not made its way to the Port of South Louisiana. Critical data and safety remain top priorities as they embrace growth opportunities. “Drones are becoming a valued member of our team,” said DeGraff, but he adds that this is just a small part of a larger whole.
“Union Pacific values our relationships with our partners at the Port of South Louisiana,” said DeGraff. The company is proud of their ability to help customers expand reach. “This applies to both customers bringing goods into the port that need to be transported across the US, and to customers looking for ways to push their domestically produced goods to wider global markets,” said DeGraff.
Growing East Bank Partners
The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS) officials recently began preliminary negotiations with the port about access to the Globalplex facility as it undergoes transformation.
The historic space known as Globalplex, formerly served as a sugar-refining complex, continues to play a large role in the economy today. Globalplex Intermodal Terminal is a public 135-hectare maritime industrial port. For bulk transit companies like KCS, Globalplex occupies an excellent location for both manufacture and transit. Though KCS does not have direct access to the Port of South Louisiana today, they continue to serve several customers within the district.
“KCS is just one interchange away from every major market in North America,” said Doniele Carlson, AVP Corporate Communications & Community Affairs. “Our alliances with all other railroads – large and small – give us a strong competitive advantage.”
Their customers have access to Gulf of Mexico ports like Matamoros, Tampico and Veracruz in Mexico and Beaumont, New Orleans, Corpus Christi, Gulfport, Lake Charles, Mobile and Port Arthur in the United States for connections to the sea.
“Once inland, customer shipments are further expedited with KCS’ time-efficient and cost-effective distribution and transload program,” said Carlson. The program involves a partnership with select warehouse, trucking and logistics firms. “KCS essentially extends the economies of rail for each shipment’s ultimate destination,” said Carlson. “Billing is simplified, too, with one, single-source door-to-door rate.”
The River Region sits between the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico and connections to markets in the southern hemisphere – sometimes in just two days by rail – are important to many distributors. Market access is one of the important business development incentives for investors looking to join the bustling business center.
Gazing North
CN is the largest railroad in Canada, and the line cuts through Chicago before heading south to Louisiana. The company transitioned from a government-owner railway to a public traded company in 1995. Since then, expansion by a series of acquisitions has led to the current size of the company.
“None was bigger than the 1999 acquisition of the Illinois Central Corporation which added the Illinois Central Railroad to CN’s network,” said Patrick Waldron, senior manager of public affairs at CN.
Today, current and potential businesses have access through a unique, expansive network thanks to the strategic acquisitions of CN over the past two decades.
“CN’s unique, expansive network reaches from the Gulf Coast north parallel to the Mississippi River to Chicago and across the Upper Midwest through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan. It stretches across Canada from the West Coast in British Columbia to Halifax in Nova Scotia connecting markets across North America and the world. We work with Port of South Louisiana to attract more business to St. John the Baptist Parish,” said Waldron.
Bayou Steel Group, Pinnacle Polymer and Evonik are among the heavy-hitters along the St. John the Baptist territory. ADM Reserve and Globalplex, both owned by Port of South Louisiana, also have roots there.
“CN’s Baton Rouge subdivision stretches from Baton Rouge to New Orleans along this key corridor serviced by the Port of South Louisiana,” said Waldron. “Bulk products such as coal, grain and other materials such as iron and steel move to and from customers and industries at the Port of South Louisiana.”
The Future of Rail
As the world connects through diverse threads of commerce, rail remains an important keystone in multimodal transportation. Continued investment in these important freight routes will continue their historic legacy.
As a “key to the world,” the Port of South Louisiana relies on its rail systems for a significant portion of bulk transport. The Port of South Louisiana operates one of the most active Foreign Trade Zones in America. In 2016, the zone received over $39 billion in merchandise and facilitated the employment of 6,200. The railways, seven grain elevators and more than 40 liquid and dry bulk terminals no doubt play a role in this success.
Today, partnerships continue to grow along the port, making the future bright for the big three rails in its service.
