BNSF, Mark VII Team Up to Run 'Ice Cold Express' Reefer Unit Train

ATLANTA — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Mark VII Transportation Co. are planning to go where no intermodal service has gone before, launching a high-speed, dedicated train service for temperature-controlled products between Southern California and Chicago.

The service, dubbed Ice Cold Express, will debut in June with one 65-unit train a week in each direction from San Bernadino, Calif., and Chicago and with truck service to southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, one city in Kentucky as well as three cities in Michigan and Ohio.

The Michigan stops are Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit, the Ohio destinations are Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, and the Kentucky service goes to Louisville.

Earlier attempts to provide refrigerated intermodal service from the West Coast have failed because of poor equipment, inadequate monitoring systems and unreliable schedules, said Steve Branscum, vice president of BNSF intermodal marketing.

“Because there is no viable alternative, the majority of perishable commodities moving today between Southern California, Chicago and the Ohio Valley are moving over the road,” he said. “Ice Cold Express will offer growers and grocers a true truck-competitive transportation alternative and a better value for their transportation dollar.”

The new train service will use 53-foot RoadRailer refrigerated trailers manufactured by Wabash National of Lafayette, Ind.

Mark VII, an intermodal freight marketing company based in Memphis, Tenn., will be responsible for selling the service and monitoring loads using a wireless trailer tracking system provided by ARINC of Annapolis, Md.

For the full story, see the April 26 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.