It’s been at least five years since Grupo Bafar has sought to jump on the bandwagon to transport primarily frozen goods such as potatoes, pork cheeks, beef tripe, chicken, and others; however, it hasn’t been able to make this happen.
Now, with Canadian Pacific Kansas City ‘s (CPKC) new refrigerated service, this exchange is possible.
“Multimodal rail is an excellent alternative, and I’d like to find that echo with BNSF or Union Pacific , with which we’ve conducted tests and believe it should work. We haven’t been able to finalize anything, but it’s an indispensable tool when we have high costs for diesel, refractories, and human factors,” Velo describes.
He believes that one of the factors that has prevented them from reaching an agreement is that their plants are located far from the rail infrastructure, so they are also looking for suppliers who offer this service to be able to load the refrigerated box. However, he affirms that CPKC’s project to move refrigerated vehicles would also be a great option for the company, since Laredo, Texas, is one of the main areas through which they receive their merchandise to move it to their distribution centers.
In this regard, Velo states that they are “eyeing this railroad company as an option,” and are therefore seeking a meeting with its executives. “We plan to approach them and see what alternatives exist to finalize something, because we have very strong growth in that area. Our plant in La Piedad, Michoacán, which we supply through Laredo, is experiencing tremendous growth.”
The correct route
CPKC Railroad is moving forward with its plans to transport perishable goods. It has already added 1,000 53-foot refrigerated combined transport containers to its fleet network, thereby providing more shipping options to customers using the premium combined transport service, especially for the Mexico Midwest Express (MMX).
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