Ridge Development launches BNSF-operated TransCold Express

Ridge Development yesterday announced the launch of TransCold Express, a hub-to-hub refrigerated box-car service provided by McKay TransCold and operated by BNSF Railway Co. between Wilmington, Ill., and Selma, Calif.

The service targets produce growers and meat and dairy producers. Fresh and frozen cargo will be transferred from trucks to box cars at a new 49,000-square-foot refrigerated building operated by National Logistics and Cold Storage (NLCS) in the RidgePort Logistics Center, a 1,500-acre industrial park located 40 miles southwest of Chicago. Near BNSF Logistics Park-Chicago in Elwood, Ill., RidgePort Logistics Center is being developed by Ridge Development, the industrial arm of Transwestern Development Co.

TransCold Express will transport such products as vegetables, fruit, cheese and butter from California to the Midwest, and move meat, eggs, cheese, butter, finished goods and dairy creamers westbound. The service will take four days to reach the Midwest from California — the same speed as truck but at a significantly lower cost, Ridge Development officials said in a press release.

"Because TransCold Express connects to transportation hubs on both ends, this service is not point A to point B; it's from point A to anywhere," said McKay TransCold Chief Executive Officer Randy McKay.

NLCS and McKay TransCold selected the RidgePort Logistics Center for the TransCold Express service because of the potential to provide customers expanded transportation and occupancy opportunities as more of the industrial park is developed.

The service between the Chicago area and California's Central Valley will provide a supply chain solution to shippers who can benefit by moving fresh and frozen products by rail, said Dave Garin, BNSF's group vice president of industrial products.