Patriot Rail Corp. and The Andersons, Inc. jointly announced that Patriot's wholly owned railroad subsidiary, the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway (BAP) located in Anaconda, Montana, has entered into a railcar maintenance and repair agreement with The Andersons. In the future, Patriot and The Andersons will seek to expand this business to additional Patriot locations.
The agreement, which commenced March 1, 2008, calls for The Andersons to perform railcar maintenance and repair services on BAP's property in Anaconda, Montana. The Andersons will utilize BAP's roundhouse, rail facilities and railroad tracks to perform the services on railcars owned by third parties, as well as railcars managed by The Andersons. All railcar maintenance and repair services will be performed in accordance with the highest work standards as certified by the American Association of Railroads and Federal Railroad Administration.
The Andersons have been in rail transportation since the company was founded in 1947. They control a fleet of approximately 23,000 railcars, including covered hoppers, box cars, tank cars, gondolas and coal cars, which they lease to shippers, railroads and fleet owners. In the railcar repair business since 1991, The Andersons currently has five additional railcar repair shops located in Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi.
Gary O. Marino, Chairman, President and CEO of Patriot Rail Corp., said, 'This agreement with The Andersons is another example of how Patriot's short line railroads work with its customers and industry service providers to find unique and innovative solutions that meet both their needs. Railcar owners throughout the western US will now be able to have their cars repaired at a convenient location, resulting in reduced out-of-service time and improved utilization. At the same time, our railroad is able to better utilize its assets by providing The Andersons with facilities to perform the repair services. Finally, we look forward to expanding our relationship with The Andersons to additional Patriot properties as we continue growing through acquisitions of short line railroads.'
Rasesh Shah, President of The Andersons Rail Group, said, 'We are excited about our new business relationship with Patriot and the prospects for railcar repair at BAP and other Patriot facilities. This Montana location provides our railcar customers west of the Mississippi with another option for quality repairs. We pride ourselves on providing outstanding customer service through fast, expert railcar repairs at competitive prices.'
Patriot Rail Corp. is a short line and regional freight railroad holding company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company owns and operates four short line freight railroads comprising 253 total rail miles ' the Tennessee Southern Railroad in Tennessee and Alabama, the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway in Montana, the Utah Central Railway in Utah, and the Sacramento Valley Railroad in California.
