Key Customers Get Advance Look at BNSF’s Expanded Memphis Intermodal Facility

FORT WORTH, Texas.- BNSF Railway Company today opened its Memphis Intermodal Facility for an advance look by members of its customer advisory board. The more than $200 million expansion is in its final phases of work. When fully operational in 2010, the expanded facility will have double the capacity, reduce emissions and improve air quality. The BNSF Memphis Intermodal Facility spans 185 acres and will have the capacity to handle 1 million lifts per year at full build out.

The facility is equipped with eight wide-span, electric, rail-mounted gantry cranes. These cranes produce zero emissions on site and significantly reduce the number of hostler trucks needed to move containers within the yard.

Additionally, BNSF has installed an automated gate system for trucks as they enter and exit the Memphis Intermodal Facility, using digital cameras to record images of containers, chassis and tractors. Drivers are also identified using a biometric system. These enhancements have increased security, while improving throughput, reducing truck idling time and emissions by 50 percent.

“Memphis is a very important freight transportation hub in the Southeast. We are pleased to bring our next generation of intermodal facilities to this city,” said Fritz Draper, vice president, Business Unit Operations. “Located in the heart of the Memphis warehousing and retail district, the BNSF Memphis Intermodal Facility offers our customers more capacity and service options.”