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Tropicana Products Inc.'s chilled juice shipments destined for the northeast might be reaching consumers a bit faster. Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) Sept. 18 initiated direct rail service from Tropicana's Ft. Pierce, Fla. plant to Northeast markets designed to reduce transit times.

Using specially designed refrigerated "juice" cars, the 351-mile regional plans to move chilled juice products daily Monday through Saturday from Ft. Pierce to a CSX Transportation connection in Jacksonville, Fla. Then, CSXT within 48 hours would deliver shipments to Tropicana's Jersey City, N.J., distribution center, which covers the Northeast region.

Adding Tropicana to its customer base helps validate FECR's ability to quickly and cost-effectively handle time-sensitive freight, said FECR President John McPherson in a prepared statement.

Tropicana officials believe rail service from Ft. Pierce will enable the company to better compete in the juice-product market. Tropicana recently improved its Ft. Pierce plant to extract and manufacture greater juice volume, and package product for distribution.