NEWSLETTER
CLNA NEWS – November, 2012
Editor – Kelly Bass
Quarterly Review
The annual CLNA Christmas party again is at the Wilson Country Club. It will be here before we know it. A review of our past year seems appropriate.
CLNA is on pace to ever-so-slightly beat last year’s carload totals. The year got off to a strong start, but traffic began to drop in April. However, by October, traffic levels were again at the approximate forecast levels.
Several new and exciting initiatives have begun in the past few months. CLNA negotiated a haulage arrangement with CSXT for traffic moving between the CLNA main line and the Nash County line. Under this agreement, CLNA can move grain and scrap between our customers as if the business were local to our line. We have already handled some Perdue traffic between Bishops Cross and Nashville, as well as some scrap moving to Rocky Mount.
CLNA has also extended a haulage agreement we have with Norfolk Southern to include logs, as well as chips and pellets, between points on the CLNA main and our operation at Morehead City. As a result, CLNA began moving logs from Plymouth to Morehead City, again, as if this were local traffic on CLNA. We also use a reciprocal switching arrangement we have with Norfolk Southern to gain commercial access to the Cargill mill in Raleigh. We have just handled our first soybean cars of the season and expect to have a record year in handling this product. With the cooperation of our Class I partners, CLNA has been able to capture short-haul business that otherwise would be moving by truck. A very large percentage of our traffic is moving less than 300 miles, so it is important for us to find new ways of attracting this type of business.
During this past quarter, we have moved forward on a number of fronts. For the first time in years, we are handling grain products coming out of Perdue in Bishops Cross to several destinations. We are also working with Perdue to try to attract new business to their Nashville facility. In addition to the Plymouth log traffic, our stone business is growing. Starting in November, we are handling additional product from the Hanson Neverson quarry to their facility at Edgewater. We are also working with NC Chip on new destinations for outbound chips. The pellet mill planned for Sims has finally starting moving forward again, with an early 2014 opening planned. The auto shredder being constructed at Rocky Mount should be completed by the end of the year, while Morehead City has seen some new traffic, including pulp for export.
We have also made considerable progress on several track projects. We built two new tracks at Rocky Mount that should add about 40 cars of capacity to that line. We also replaced almost 2 miles of 85# rail with 100#. Another 2-3 miles will be done in 2013. When completed, the line as far as the auto shredder will have 100# rail, as will the curves to Nashville. We have also begun a brush cutting program on the Nash County line, which will then be continued on the Belhaven Branch and the CLNA main line. On the CLNA main some additional ties have been installed, but the biggest undertaking is tamping and regulating the line from Wilson to Plymouth. This project should be completed by the end of the year. On the Belhaven line, we will be converting 3-4 small bridges into culverts.
CLNA now has more than 30 full-time employees. We have recently added signal maintainers and will be adding to our mechanical forces shortly, while also supplementing our T&E crews. All in all, in spite of the economic ups and downs, it has been a good year for CLNA. We look forward to celebrating with everyone at the Christmas party on December 1. We will also celebrate five-year employment anniversaries for Dwight Scott, Jay Carr, and Jason Black.
Meet Our Customer
Morgan Fertilizer, Farmville NC
Morgan Fertilizer receives product in by bulk and mixes their final product on site
Family owned business since the 1900’s; Morgan Fertilizer is one of CLNA’s customers located in Farmville NC. I sat down and talked with Sales Manager Glenn Shirley about the business of selling fertilizer. He told me that the name Morgan was the family name given to the business in the early 1900’s and has been kept in the family. There was a slight ownership change several years ago, but the name stayed with the company along with the history and service Morgan Fertilizer was known for. Mr. Shirley tells me they get about 80-85% of their incoming product by rail. He added he would love to get it all in by rail, but he uses small amounts of some product and getting an entire rail car of it just isn’t very feasible. They deal with products such as pot ash, k-mag, ammonium nitrate, Dap, ammonium sulfate, limestone, some seed products and have about 19 hundred tons of storage room on site. Some of the material comes from places like Mexico, Canada, Tennessee and places around North Carolina. Mr. Shirley told me they receive raw product on site then mix and blend it to produce the final product. Then, this final product is sold in bags, spread out in the fields directly, or sold to the farmer in bulk to spread when he is ready. When they have the final product completed, they deliver to about 140 farmers directly and a couple outlets where it is delivered in bags. Morgan has about eleven full-time employees with an additional five part-time employees added in the spring to help with deliveries as farmers are preparing the fields for planting.
Storage tanks for liquid products to mix with solid product received by rail
Mr. Shirley tells me business is steady for Morgan and thinks it will hold for the next couple years. He mentioned how a lot of farmers are trying out alternative fertilizers like chicken poop, but feels that shouldn’t impact business much. Morgan can adjust to the needs of the farmer and of the soil from season to season as crops are rotated in and out of fields. I asked Mr. Shirley how he felt Carolina Coastal was doing handling their needs and he said he was well satisfied and we were a lot easier to work with since CLNA took over switching operations. He also added that he tries to keep up with the location of inbound cars but sometimes he has trouble figuring out why a car has stopped in transit or unable to locate it on the computer. He tells me when he has those issues, he will call the CLNA office and they will give him an update on a car usually within a few minutes.
Mr. Shirley also inquired on receiving some additional product by rail. CLNA is always looking to provide rail service so we try to encourage customers to ask. Rates change on a semi regular basis, agreements and arrangements are made, and CLNA is constantly trying to lower rates with the larger railroads along the line in order to get business onto rail. The new agreements set up for business going to Morehead City and Nash County is a great example of how things can change for the better of the customer. We are checking into the information Mr. Shirley provided me and will hopefully be able to get reasonable rates for some more rail business.
Meet Our Employees
Tony Desien- Track Mechanic
Tony joined our team in September of 2011 as a track mechanic. His work involves fixing and maintaining our track equipment and trucks. Tony tells me the work has its challenges but enjoys the satisfaction of knowing he figured out how to get things fixed. He added that he loves a good challenge. Carolina Coastal has recently purchased a new mechanic’s truck so now Tony can carry all his tools, equipment, and parts with him to the job site. Tony told me that one of his biggest issues was having what he needed with him at the time he needed it. Now, with this new truck, he has what he needs on hand and can fix the problem without much down time of the equipment.
Tony came to us after operating his own welding business for seven years before having to sell it due to a sluggish economy and some military contracts ended. Things seemed bad at the time, but were a blessing in disguise. Tony tells me he is a family man and wants to go home every night, but owning the welding business was a full time adventure which made him leave home early and get home late. Tony also told me how he is a hands-on kind of person and when work had to be done, he would get in right beside his employees to help them. That kind of work ethic has carried over with him to CLNA. When someone has an issue, Tony is quick to jump in and give a helping hand to fix the problem. As an owner, he gained his employees respect as a leader. As track mechanic with Carolina Coastal, he has gained the respect of fellow workers.
Tony Desien, Track Mechanic
Tony and his wife of almost three years, Dana, enjoy fishing, biking, and going camping at Topsail Island or any other campground they can find. They have an anniversary coming up, December 5th Tony added, and are looking forward to relaxing and celebrating the time together stress free. Tony has a ten year old daughter, Madison, and spends as much time with her and Dana as he can. He told me that being home every night and every weekend had made a huge difference in his family life and that the reduction in stress levels is almost overwhelming.
Tony also enjoys the history of trains and railroading and makes trips to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer and other rail museums to learn more about the evolution of running the rails. I asked Tony what he thought about working with Carolina Coastal Railway, and he said he enjoys working with the crews and they are some good guys to work with. He said he appreciates the opportunity to work and learn the job and hopes to be a supervisor at some point. He hopes to be a take charge kind of person that people can look to when they need help or some answers. Tony has fit in really well with the CLNA and tells me he is looking forward to a long and prosperous career in railroading.
