I saw some grocery store (I think it was Ralph’s) trailers on a BNSF intermodal train. What do you figure is going on there?
Sounds interesting. Do you think they are sending their trailers direct to the growers for loading, cutting out the middle men?
Couple of ideas-It is possible they were going to growers for loading. Were these reefers or dry vans. Could have been new trailers enroute from builder to customer. A lot of trailers will come from the builder in decals already.
It seems like they are reefers. I actually saw them last week or the week before last and forgot about them until one of the threads reminded me about them. The train was going too fast to tell if the refrigeration units were running.
If that’s what’s happening, then they would be off westbound, and on eastbound. What part of the country has Ralph’s? It sounds like a small regoinal chain.
If it was westbound, it makes me wonder if maybe they are deadheading the trailer on the rails, loading it and driving it back. Cheap ride west, grower direct price, fastest return.
If you look up the background on Ralphs, you will find Kroger is the parent company and they probably are shipping produce to the east.
I have seen President’s Choice trailers on a BNSF intermodal on the Willis Steel Webcam.
That one is very interesting,as Kroger has it’s headquarters in Cincinnatti,and have a regional distribution center here in Louisville. I don’t recall ever seeing A Kroger trailer on a train.[:)]
Ralph’s is one of the major grocery chains in Southern California. They are far from a ‘small’ regional company!
Anything shipped revenue under their name would almost certainly be heading westbound. If that’s the case, I’d think you’re looking at produce or frozen goods coming from the East; my presumption would be that these are destined directly for particular stores in areas where there is significant highway congestion along ‘logical’ interstate routes. Interesting.
Anybody watch the pig terminals in the LA area, where these trains terminate?
Yes kroger has alot of stores under diffrent names throughout the country.thats how alot of companies make money now. deliver the goods and backhaul something else. happens all the time.
stay safe
Joe
I have seen various other food trailers on trains. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sysco Foods, Molson, Loblaws, and I believe I saw an A&P trailer as well.
The Ralph’s trailers in question were on a train heading to Stockton, CA. or the Bay Area. If I remember correctly, the train was all spine cars and traditional TOFC cars. I am guessing it was probably a WSPSTO. I have not seen any since then, however, I have not seen many BNSF trains since then.
I have also seen Allied Moving (or Allied Movers) piggybacks on flatcars.
I don’t know the Ralph’s/Kroger relationship, but I used to work for a grocery store chain that was owned by Fleming Foods. Fleming is a wholesaler of grocery items and they decided they wanted a piece of the retail pie, so they opened their own chains. Of course, all of the chains’ stores got their stock from Fleming, so Fleming made money by selling these products to the stores, making the profit there, and then turning around and selling them retail and making another profit margin there. Could be what’s happening at Kroger’s. All those Fleming trucks could be taken back to the regional wharehouse or headquarters by train, although that didn’t happen at Flemming, as the trucks usually stopped at producers and loaded wholesale products back up for the trip back to the wharehouse.
If these were westbound, the possibilities are endless. Eastbound, If they belong to the Kroger family they could possibly be reassigning them to a different part of the country, and repaint them when they get there. You are all really coming up with some good ideas. I know that big chains, Kroger, Super-Valu, etc. move trailers between subsidiary companies as needed.
I saw three Safeway reefer vans on a BNSF train to Stockton today. I wonder if they were new empties or were loaded.