advertisement

---

Last year, Canadian Pacific Railway reorganized its sales force to capture more of the heavy-machinery transportation market, helping the Class I generate its most-ever revenue from that traffic segment.


To gain even more marketshare, CPR recently established a toll-free number (1-877-CALL CPR) and created two e-mail addresses to make it easier for potential customers to contact the railroad: CPR_Machinery@cpr.ca to obtain a rate and CPR_Clearances@cpr.ca to obtain a dimensional clearance.


The efforts already have paid off, helping CPR obtain an electric power-shovel move from P&H Mining Equipment, Milwaukee. Later this month, the railroad will transport the 1.1-million-pound shovel on eight rail cars to Fort McMurray, Alberta.


CPR also recently secured a new rail move from Komatsu America's wheel loader plant in Candiac, Quebec, to transport equipment to a dealer's Fargo and Bismarck, N.D., locations.


Other contracts include moving combines for CNH Global, Racine, Wis., and transformers and generators for General Electric Power, Schenectady, N.Y., and General Electric Industrial Systems, Peterborough, Ontario.


Part of CPR's segment growth also can be traced to a contract obtained in May 2002. The Class I's short-line partner Progressive Rail Inc. helped convince Ziegler Inc. to move an excavator by rail from Caterpillar Inc.'s Aurora, Ill., plant to Bloomington, Minn. Ziegler hadn't moved equipment by rail for 20 years, but since then has received 76 cars from CPR and Progressive Rail, and saved about 40 percent in transportation costs.


"There's no reason why 90 percent of the heavy equipment that moves across country can't be on rail," said Tim Ecklund, Progressive Rail's vice president of corporate development, in a prepared statement.