b'16American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(LINKcontinued from page 14)SPONSORED CONTENT facilitating growth in the states refrigerated exports.Bean said there is a pronounced mid-Atlantic gap in the cold chain and the Port of Wilmington Genesee & Wyomings Georgia Central Railwayfills it by serving as an efficient gateway for cen-tral U.S. and East Coast locations, saving customers links up with Agile Cold Storage in Central GA time, money, and distance.The Port of Wilmingtons tremendous cold chain growth and investment will be on display next month By Andrew Meadows, AJOT atthe8thannualColdChainSummit: Advancing Cold Solutions on Thursday, April 24th at the Hotel Genesee& WyomingsGeorgiaCentralRail- ontheWestCoastandtransportedcrosscountryBallast in Wilmington, N.C. Last years event drew way is partnering with Agile Cold Storage to trans- through Chicago and then to Macon via the Class Imore than 300 attendees from a wide variety of cold port large quantities of frozen food products acrossnetwork. Both Georgia Central and Agile termed thechain related industries: warehousing, trucking, ship-the Southeast. process in the ramping up phase.ping, technology and investment. Organizers expect Once the process is in full swing, Georgia Cen- John Ripple, Agiles Chief Development Offi- an even bigger crowd in 2025.tral expects to haul more than 15 million pounds ofcer, said total freight could grow two-and-a-halfThe Summit covers the gambit. Each year, we frozen potato products monthly, which upon arrivaltimesdependingoninfrastructureandbuildinglearn more and more and were getting the voices of will be handled by Agile at its Macon, GA ware- expansion.industry there, Bean said. We cover a lot of indus-house along the Georgia Central line. The frozenThe building is currently full with the existingtry subject matter, and it serves as an open forum to potatoproductswillbedistributedtorestaurantcustomer base, though with additional volumes andspotlight where solutions can happen and what dif-chains, food service distributors, and grocers acrosscustomers being served by rail. said Ripple. Thisferent types of partners can help that happen. the Southeast.initial phase could lead to an expansion in Macon in The move marks a big leap forward for both com- the near future. n earp orti nvestmentpanies. Georgia Central continues to diversify its cus- Agile opened the 230,000 square foot, $80 mil- A year ago, American Blueberries LLC opened tomer base by tapping into the cold-storage market,lion cold storage facility in Macon late last year. Itan APHIS-certified cold treatment facility just 18 while Agile moves its temperature-controlled freightrepresents Agiles first multi-modal solution allow- miles from the Port of Wilmington. The retreatment beyond frozen proteins at its state-of-the-art Maconing customers to ship via truck, rail, or containers.facility was a game changer in the quest to lure more warehouse. The short line Georgia Central runs 211The facility will include frozen and deep-freeze tem- imported produce, Bean said. The facility serves as miles from Macon to Savannah, hauling mostly agri- perature zones to ensure products are blast frozena back-up if in-transit cold treatment goes wrong for cultural products, lumber and forest products, miner- and maintained at the highest levels of quality. Agilean ocean carrier. Bean said it has opened trade lanes als and stone, and pulp and paper. plans to capitalize on the growth in the Savannahfor imported produce from Chile and Peru. Because there is a minimum of cold storage inmetro area including the Port of Savannah.Near-port investment has continued to flow with the Southeastern United States, this is a big deal,Georgia Central rehabbed an old rail spur for thea handful of food industry playersAcme Smoked said Trevor Wilhelmy, AVP of Sales and Market- Agile partnership and committed to investing fullyFish,CardinalFoodsandRussetHouselocat-ing at Genesee & Wyoming. Agile Cold Storagein the project.The railroad, which was acquired bying facilities in close proximity to the Port. In addi-is a leader in temperature-controlled logistics with aG&W in 2005, offers shippers access to two Classtion, North Carolinas booming life science industry growing presence, and we hope this is the start of aI railroads.provides big potential, Bean said, evidenced by the long relationship between the two companies in theSomeoftheinitialAgileshipmentsutilizestate-of-the-art facility being developed by Frontier region and beyond.64-foot Union Pacific reefer cars that can fit 70-90Scientific Solutions, a temperature-controlled storage Thefrozenpotatoproductsaremanufacturedpallets per car, Ripple said. (LINKcontinued on page 18)Where Global TradeMeets Local Strength#ChooseOakland'