In Mossville, there is an operation that will provide a critical link in the Southwest Louisiana supply chains. Savage partnered with Kansas City Southern (KCS) to construct a multi-commodity railport with transload and railcar storage capabilities.

The site is off Prater Road in Mossville.

Savage owns and operates the railport built on property leased from KCS at its Mossville Rail Yard.

“Right now, there are significant challenges for many different supply chains across the country and throughout the world,” said Jeff Hymas, a spokesperson for Savage. “We hear news stories every day about shipments being delayed, and boats stuck in ports waiting to unload products.

“It’s hard to hire drivers, and the increased fuel costs makes trucking tough as well.”

Delays are causing problems for both businesses and consumers across a spectrum of commodities and services. This facility can handle dry and liquid bulk and targets the local refining and the chemical industries’ needs, according to Hymas. Fewer trucks are needed to transport materials. One rail car can hold up to four truckloads of material.

“Rail can save money on shipping, fuel and it’s definitely more environmentally friendly than trucking,” Hymas said. “By having infrastructure in place to be able to get products onto the rail system closer to where they are manufactured helps shippers and manufacturers. Reducing the overall cost of transportation is also better for consumers.”

“Savage has a longstanding relationship with KCS and we’re excited to open this new Louisiana railport and provide a sizable transload and storage facility at their Mossville yard in the coming months,” said Savage President and CEO Kirk Aubry. “We’ve provided rail and loading services for Customers in the Lake Charles area for many years, and look forward to making a difference for even more businesses in Southwest Louisiana.”

“We are excited about this partnership with Savage, as the Louisiana railport will provide additional rail capacity and new services for shippers in the Mossville and Lake Charles region, which will expand their supply chain choices and allow for more competitive shipping options,” said KCS President and CEO Pat Ottensmeyer.

The Mossville railport is part of the growing Savage Transload Network of about 50 multi-commodity, rail-connected terminals across North America. The company has 10 operations in Louisiana and has been in business 75 years.

This is the first developed in partnership with KCS.

The Mossville railport will include over 70 active transloading spots. Another advantage to local industry is the 600 spots for railcar storage.

“It’s been expanded from 40 existing transload spots,” Hymas said. “Freight forwarding gives industry the opportunity to have product available at the nearby facility, so that they are able to access it quickly when they need it.

“This ties into the concept of ‘Just-In-Time Delivery’. As opposed to having the material shipped from a source far away, and without tying up storage onsite, Savage customers can ramp up production in a timely manner because of this easy, nearby access of materials at the Savage/KCS Mossville location.”

The railport was built in two phases and finished three months ahead of schedule and provides access to moving products into Mexico on KCS rail lines.