Union Pacific drops Cold Connect refrigerated train service
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
UP is laying off 57 workers from its Palestine car shop.
Fox News 10
Union Pacific announced that it is discontinuing its refrigerated rail car and supply chain service offered under the marketing brand Cold Connect. The service began in 2017 when the railroad purchased three refrigerated terminals from Railex. The terminals were located in Delano, California, Wallula, Washington and Rotterdam, New York. The service carried fresh food and beverages from the sites in California and Washington, and delivered them to New York for distribution in the northeast.
Individual trains left Washington and California, and were routed to Chicago for interchange with CSX. CSX then took the train to the New York refrigerated terminal.
Here is the statement from Union Pacific on discontinuing the service:
“On Friday, May 8, we notified employees that Cold Connect, a Loup Logistics [a Union Pacific subsidiary] service that moves refrigerated products from the West Coast to Union Pacific’s warehouse in Rottterdam, New York, will permanently close and most Cold Connect-related positions have been eliminated. This decision was not made lightly. Since acquiring the Railex assets in 2017, employees diligently worked to grow volumes and create a platform for the future; however, with COVID-19 impacting volume and truck prices, it is no longer sustainable to continue operations.
“Customers also are being notified that today is the last day we will accept inbound orders. Our intention is to deliver on all product in transit, until it meets its final destination. A reduced staff will temporarily remain in position to exceute these final commitments.”
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