This sound is generated automatically. Let us know if you have any feedback.
Dive Brief:
- Union Pacific will open a new intermodal terminal in Phoenix to provide a viable rail service option to the San Pedro Bay port complex. the railroad announced November 29.
- The service targets regional shippers and consignees looking for a fast and sustainable rail option to move freight in and out of Southern California, EVP of Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker said in a statement.
- The new terminal is expected to start operating early next year, according to the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Union Pacific described the new service as “the first of its kind” between the Los Angeles and Phoenix basin, and said the terminal would be located in the railroad’s downtown Phoenix train yard.
“Union Pacific sees an opportunity with this new terminal to convert truck traffic to rail between the Los Angeles Basin and the Southeast,” spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said in an email to Supply Chain Dive. The service will take tens of thousands of trucks off the road annually.
The port complex of San Pedro Bay is about a 6-hour drive from downtown Phoenix, according to Google Maps, or a day’s work for the average long haul truck. However, railways and combined transport operators are trying to do so attracts shippers to convert from truck to rail for years with the promise of low emissions.
“The Pacific Union estimates that this new service product could help shippers avoid 25,214 metric tons of GHG emissions annually,” said Tysver.
In addition, shippers requiring transportation for bulky items now have “a heavy intermodal option for exporting goods from Arizona and the growing US Southeast region to the ports of Los Angeles,” he said.
The railroad said its new facility will open with drayage support from Duncan and Son Lines, a family-owned logistics company in Buckeye, Arizona, that specializes in international drayage of containers from the San Pedro Bay port complex. Duncan and Son Lines owns more than 3,000 intermodal chassis.