LETELLIER, MB - Mid Canada Transload Services Ltd is building a new inland port and rail siding in southern Manitoba on the United States / Canadian border. The new company will be one of the largest privately owned inland ports in Manitoba. It will be built on a 250 acre green field site, 1 mile south of Letellier, Manitoba and 7 miles from the United States border. It will be located alongside Manitoba's major export highway 75 and have access to two Class 1 railways, the CN and BNSF railways. The site will have daily rail service to and from the United States and Mexico. The concept of a new transloading site is the idea of Mr. Real Tetrault of Emerson, MB. Tetrault is also the CEO and President of Emerson Milling Inc, an oat milling plant located at Emerson, MB.  His 30 year old company is already shipping oat products by CN rail into the United States and Mexico.  The product is loaded on CN rail and the rail cars are interchanged at Emerson, MB with the BNSF railway.  This led to the idea of building an industrial park to transload other products that travel by rail but still require a truck to move the product to and from the rail site. The new location will be of particular importance to the agricultural trade as a private producer car loading site.  This will allow farmers to ship their products by rail to either Canadian, US or Mexican destinations. Another vital agricultural market that Tetrault wants to capitalize on is "Identity Preserved" grain shipments to millers and processing plants. Manitoba's Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen welcomed the new investment. "Cross-border trade is vital to the growth and prosperity of Manitoba's economy," said Cullen.  "This development is strategically positioned with direct links to international markets.  Manitoba producers, processors and small and mid-size shippers will benefit from the opportunities this new inland port will provide." Mid Canada Transload Services Ltd will also handle other commodities and manufactured products that travel in and out of Manitoba and Saskatchewan by rail.  According to Tetrault, "any product that travels more than 10 hours by truck is more cost effective freight when shipped by rail."  Tetrault further said, "We are offering a service to and from our rail site and we will transload the customers' product in a safe and efficient environment.  We are also willing to build on this site as our customer may require."