USDOT announces TIGER 3 Grant Recipients
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/775809864_FE8D5-M.jpg)
The U.S. Department of Transportation has finally revealed the list of projects with will be funded under the $511 million TIGER III grant program. After three years of coming up empty, a Jacksonville project has finally made it to the winner's circle. Here is a description of the program, the full list of winners, and something to think about when preparing for TIGER IV in 2012.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-dec-usdot-announces-tiger-3-grant-recipients
Are there any conceptual plans available of the rail improvements? I'm just looking for something that will help me understand the project a little better.
I don't have conceptual plans but here's a graphic of where it will be located.
(http://www.flipsideflorida.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/FF-JaxportCargo110111.jpg)
Containers will be trucked from ships, across the terminal, to this rail yard where containerized unit trains will be assembled.
Thanks. Is this something that will only be used by CSX?
Yes.
I seem to remember there was some discussion recently about improvements that would allow other rail companies to have access. This must be a different project. Do you know if Jaxport is proposing that also?
That was something we suggested here on MJ. That suggestion was rebuilding the S-Line and purchasing the Blount Island spur from CSX and running it as a municipal railroad. If that were done, all three major rail carriers would have access to all port terminals and the line could also be used for some form of passenger rail (commuter, DMU, etc.). JAXPORT's plan has always been to only provide rail access for CSX. Imo, it's not the best idea when several competing ports have access to multiple rail carriers.
Any ideas as to what the pricetag would be to do as MJ suggested?
QuoteJAXPORT's plan has always been to only provide rail access for CSX. Imo, it's not the best idea when several competing ports have access to multiple rail carriers.
+1
Quote from: dougskiles on December 19, 2011, 05:08:36 PM
Any ideas as to what the pricetag would be to do as MJ suggested?
price doesn't matter unless CSX is interested in selling
^Don't know why they wouldn't. It's not like that JAXPORT line is more important to them than the mainline they sold to state for Sunrail ($150 million for 61 miles of track). This is America, everything is for sale (Ask Winn-Dixie). It's just a matter of coming to the table with a deal they'd consider. However, you'll never know if you don't present them with an offer or make a serious inquiry. As much money as JAXPORT wants to expand, the cost of purchasing track from CSX would amount to a pimple on the ass of the overall picture. However, the benefit to the companies the port wants to attract would be significant.
Btw, CSX has already turned over half the line to St. Mary's Railroad and First Coast Railroad. Their business model isn't pulling single box cars into warehouse sidings these days. So precedence has been set. Nevertheless, if they don't play, COJ already owns the S-Line and rebuilding it would at least provide FEC with access to Talleyrand.
Quote from: dougskiles on December 19, 2011, 05:08:36 PM
Any ideas as to what the pricetag would be to do as MJ suggested?
It depends on how much track is purchased. It's been a few years since the concept was discussed. Give me a day or two come up with a rough number based on the sell of track/mile in recent CSX deals.
why would CSX be interested in selling if they could get someone else to pay for improvements that gave them sole rail access to JaxPort?
Easy answer. No one (a company or individual) has a problem about investing their own money in things they really desire. CSX already has sole access to Blount Island. It's been that way since CSX was formed. The intermodal yard in question is clearly more beneficial to the future of JAXPORT than it is CSX. If there's real money to be made, CSX is a company who will gladly spend their money investing on infrastructure for more profit. Before his retirement, my dad worked as the comptroller for a F500 wood/paper products company that happened to be a major CSX industrial client. CSX routinely contributed cash for their plant expansion projects along their lines.
Also, major railroads have little interest in "fishing" for traffic. They rather would have those containers just show up at their existing yards. That's why several lines in the area have been sold off or leased to shortline operators in recent years.
What I'm not understanding is why would they need a new transfer yard when they could simply run the rail right to the TraPac waterfront?
QuoteF500 wood/paper products company
GP?
Yes. Over the last thirty years, the division he worked in has been owned by Owens Illinois, GP, Nekoosa Packaging, and now PCA. His first job out of school was in the accounting department of the old paper mill (the O-I/Alton Box era) on Talleyrand back during the 60s. I believe they still have a PCA corrugated box plant out on Eastport Road.
Speaking of PCA and what other companies will pay for if it makes them money, the Winter Haven plant is pretty much built out, so to make room for additional manufacturing space, they ended up taking over some space in the former Scotty's distribution center down the street to store tons of liner board. Needless to say, with all that paper, they ended up burning the entire thing down back in 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/v/IKY7rPGQc5c
Some other logistics company quickly saw a business opportunity and ended up building them a 200,000 square foot warehouse nearby to replace the loss.
With all that said, I guess that plant still has capacity issues. I just came across an article where another company 20 miles away is going to be receiving and storing 4,000 tons of liner board a month via CSX a month for that one plant (which gets its own box car shipments on a regular basis).
QuotePlant City, FLâ€" Star Distribution Systems, Inc. announced today that the company has been selected to operate outside storage and transportation services for Packaging Corporation of America’s Winter Haven Combining Plant. It is anticipated that more than 4,000 tons of liner board per month will be handled via boxcar to provide a JIT inventory to the plant. Star Distribution was selected based on industry expertise, product handling capabilities and a private fleet transportation solution.
http://www.stardistribution.us/press-room/120-star-distribution-systems-inc-is-utilized-in-pcas-growth-strategy
Now take this one plant and multiple it by 67 and throw in four paper mills, all of which need rail access. Rail and logistics companies have no problem in investing in infrastructure to keep feeding the beast, which in turn makes more money for all involved.
QuoteThe company is the fifth-largest producer of container-board and corrugated packaging products in the U.S., with sales of $2.44 billion in 2010, according to PCA's website. Altogether, the firm operates four paper mills and 67 corrugated products plants in 26 states across the country, employing about 8,000 people total.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20110224/NEWS/102245060
Spinning this back to JAXPORT, if the intermodal yard was critical to a rail company's short term success and profitability, they'd pony up cash to make it happen quicker.
Seems Norfolk has multiple rail carriers....
QuoteFor decades, Norfolk Southern Corp. has controlled all but a tiny sliver of the containerized cargo moving to and from the port of Hampton Roads by rail.
That's about to change.
CSX Corp., the nation's third-largest railroad, has signed a national contract with Maersk Line, the world's largest ocean carrier, that will shift the lion's share of rail-cargo operations at APM Terminals Virginia from Norfolk Southern to CSX.
The contract takes effect Jan. 1.
"The premise is more competition at the port and a growing pie," said Ryan D. Houfek, assistant vice president/sales at CSX Transportation, based in Jacksonville, Fla. "It really kind of gets us out of the gate here and makes CSX a real force in the Port of Virginia."
Quote"Today almost all of the cargo that we get that comes via the Panama Canal is local truck cargo that's going within a 300-mile radius of here; there's very little rail," Capozzi said.
That's expected to change with the opening of an expanded Panama Canal in 2014, enabling the transit of container ships more than twice the size of those moving through it now.
Rail is a linchpin of the Port Authority's long-term strategy for growth, enhanced by Hampton Roads' 50-foot channel depth and quick access to the open sea.
The bigger role that CSX soon will play in Hampton Roads will add to the options the port can offer shippers.
"When you have both Class 1 railroads calling at your port, it really helps us," said Joe Harris, a Port Authority spokesman. "When you're dealing with ship lines and customers and potential customers, you want to be able to lay that full menu of offerings in front of them."
full article: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/csx-muscles-norfolk-southerns-cargo-business
Hmmm, it looks like they might be paying for an intermodal yard to serve Mersk in Virginia as well. This pretty much confirms my assessment of JAXPORT's intermodal terminal and it's ultimate importance to CSX's bottom line. With that said, yes, I believe that JAXPORT/COJ should consider outright purchasing the spur to Blount Island and making the port's terminals accessible to multiple carriers.
QuoteNew Year, New Intermodal Business
Released: December 9, 2011
Major new business with shipping giant Maersk to begin Jan. 1.
CSX’s intermodal team, in coordination with Transportation, has been preparing all year for a major event occurring on Jan. 1, 2012. Maersk Line, the world’s largest ocean container carrier, is shifting nearly its entire eastern inland volume to CSX.
“Winning the Maersk account is an enormous accomplishment for CSX,†said Bill Clement, CSXT vice president-Intermodal.
Maersk made this strategic shift in carrier selection as a result of CSX’s renewed ability to service the company’s needs in Portsmouth, Va., as well as the long-term service reliability that our new Northwest Ohio terminal will deliver. Maersk is dedicated to being the best, most reliable service provider in its industry, and they are expecting CSX to help them accomplish that. The new Maersk volumes will be significant, with traffic flows concentrated between the marine terminals at Portsmouth and New Jersey and the Ohio Valley and Upper Midwest, as well as Charleston and Savannah in the Southeast.
In preparation for their volumes moving over the Virginia port of APM-Portsmouth, CSX is developing new capabilities to serve Maersk directly on the marine terminal (“on-dock railâ€) that will be ready by Jan. 1, 2012. New infrastructure currently under construction at Kilby in Suffolk, Va., will enable CSX to merge traffic from our Portsmouth intermodal ramp and the APM marine terminal. Further, a new non-stop train from Chicago to Portsmouth will make Maersk more service competitive than its current route. CSX is also currently building a new intermodal terminal in Louisville, Ky., where we will be able to meet Maersk’s needs as well as grow new business with our other intermodal customers.
The Maersk initiative requires tremendous teamwork, and CSX has proven once again the ‘People Make the Difference’ by completing the transition planning and preparation in less than a year. Both CSX and Maersk are service-demanding companies, and our teams have worked diligently to ensure that we are ready for the January launch.
“Maersk has high expectations that CSX will raise the bar and allow them to be more competitive in the international arena,†said Clement. “CSX’s reputation will be determined in the first months of Maersk’s experience on CSX, so it is critical that we get off to a great start and set the tone for the rest of the year. As we all see Maersk containers comprising a large part of our intermodal trains after Jan. 1, let’s work together to show them that they’ve made the right choice in selecting CSX as their long-term eastern service provider.â€
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,2637030,2637808
Now before anybody gets offended, I'm not saying investing in JAXPORT or the intermodal yard isn't important because they both are. What I am saying is when the demand comes to justify private investment, companies like CSX will pony up cash if they stand to make a decent profit. At this point, we're not there yet. However, giving other carriers access could be enough to get them to contribute cash to make that happen.