A new company is reviving the plans that temperature-controlled intermodal provider Tiger Cool Express had to acquire and develop the former Union Pacific Cold Connect warehouse in Wallula, Wash.
Last October Tiger Cool Express signed an agreement with UP to acquire the Cold Connect property and to develop an intermodal terminal on the site. But Tiger Cool Express went out of business in June.
Now Tri-Cities Intermodal has signed a lease-purchase agreement to acquire the former Cold Connect warehouse and property in Wallula, the company announced this week.
The envisioned Tri-Cities Intermodal Center will benefit the agricultural community in the three-state region by providing cost-effective and sustainable transportation capacity. Initially, service will be offered in international containers between Wallula and the Northwest Seaport Alliance on-dock facilities for dry imports and exports. The facility also will support UP intermodal customers in service between Wallula and Chicago and beyond.
“It is fantastic to have line of sight to actual operation within three to four months,” Tri-Cities CEO and Founder Theodore Prince said in a statement. “We were very fortunate to find an investor with the foresight, along with Union Pacific’s support to bring this project to fruition.”
Although Prince was a founder of Tiger Cool Express, there is no connection between Tri-Cities and Tiger Cool.
“We are excited about Tri-Cities Intermodal advancing an initiative that will remove thousands of trucks from the highway. This is a region that continues to grow in logistical importance, and we look forward to supporting its growth with safe, reliable service,” Kari Kirchhoefer, UP’s senior vice president of premium marketing and sales, said in a statement.
Tri-Cities has the backing of PNW Capital.
Union Pacific unexpectedly ended its Cold Connect refrigerator service and closed warehouses in Wallula; Delano, Calif.; and Schenectady, N.Y., in 2020 [see “In a surprise, UP shuts down Cold Connect reefer service,” Trains News Wire, May 10, 2020].
“Union Pacific unexpectedly ended its Cold Connect refrigerator service and closed warehouses in Wallula; Delano, Calif.; and Schenectady, N.Y., in 2020”
UP had taken over the Railex operation which also went kaput.
The lengthy California drought simply killed the perishables by rail market. Now that water is available in Cali again, people are sniffing out some opportunities.