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Transportation
Making Tracks
Two pending deals between the state and CSX will reshape freight and commuter transportation in central Florida. Did everybody get a good deal?
The basic components of two "agreements in principle" between CSX and the state, involving some $491 million from the state and $100 million from the railroad company.
› Deal 1
In January, CSX announced it will build an advanced, all-in-one, rail and truck transfer facility known as an Integrated Logistics Center (ILC) adjacent to its current tracks in Winter Haven in the heart of central Florida.
In today's "intermodal'' transportation system, huge containers and entire truck trailers travel on flatbed rail cars from a port to an ILC. There, the containers and trailers can either go into warehouses for temporary storage or be transferred onto trucks that take them to retailers or wholesalers. Most consumer products, from DVD players to athletic shoes, travel this way, says Sease. "It's anything you buy that's produced in Asia."
Only a handful of big U.S. cities, including Fort Worth, Chicago and Dallas, have the advanced hubs. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway has one in Texas and another in Illinois. Union Pacific Railroad has three, with a fourth in the works.
Building an ILC in Florida was a key element in the strategic plan CSX shared with the state. "We see Florida as a growing market, particularly on the intermodal side with containerized freight," says Sease. "We wanted to be able to handle that as efficiently as possible."
