The Atlantic and Western Railway (ATW), a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc (G&W), opened a new Choice Terminal bulk transload facility in Sanford NC.
Located on a six-acre site, ATW’s Choice Terminal in Sanford features a 20-car rail yard and truck-to-railcar transloading equipment, including a weighing scale. ATW interchanges with Class I railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX, providing customer access to the North American rail network.
“The Sanford terminal provides non-rail-served businesses in the Raleigh-Durham and surrounding areas with the ability to not only reduce transportation costs, but also manage their inventory, utilize just-in-time delivery and shrink their carbon footprint by eliminating the use of long-haul trucks,” ATW President Andy Chunko said.
Choice Terminals are operated by G&W railroads and transfer bulk materials such as flour, plastic pellets, propane, and roofing granules between railcars and trucks, providing customers that are not located directly on the railroad with the ability to reduce transportation costs by using rail. Customers can receive inbound, bulk raw materials via rail at the terminal, hold them on site, and receive them via truck on a just-in-time basis. Likewise, customers can ship outbound bulk products to the terminal via truck, for loading onto railcars to their final destinations.
“Using the ATW Choice Terminal will allow us to work with a supplier that is not currently rail-served as well as two Class I railroads to broaden our market,” David Uncapher, Owens Corning’s director of transportation sourcing for the Americas, said. “We’ll have an opportunity to tap into freight-rail economics by trucking raw materials to the terminal from various points and loading them to rail for a single delivery at our manufacturing sites hundreds of miles away.”
The terminal offers flexible hours and open-truck access, and the property has security, fencing, lighting, and a staffed office.