(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
BNSF Railways, through its wholly owned BNSF Logistics (BNSFL), has acquired engineering and logistics company Transportation Technology Services (TTS). The move expands BNSFL’s capability in wind turbine shipping, which has been growing rapidly with the explosive growth of wind-generated power throughout the Midwest and Texas.
About TTS
Founded in 2001, TTS provides engineering design, distribution and wind and project cargo logistics services to railcar builders, manufacturers, shippers, railroads, and energy companies, among others.
TTS manages a fleet of more than 2,000 leased railcars and is responsible for over 9,000 dimensional shipments per year. 1,200 of the railcars are equipped with patented fixtures designed to handle wind turbine components including blades, tower sections and nacelles, TTS is a significant addition to the more than 9,700 rail shipments BNSF Logistics currently manages.
TTS will become the U.S. Rail, Project Cargo and Engineering Services division for BNSFL. The combined unit will have extensive capacity, hundreds of years of combined practical experience and strong relationships and credibility with the major players in Wind Energy, Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Heavy Machinery and the EPC and Manufacturing communities.
“TTS’s engineering and design capabilities, extensive wind fixtures, and rail transload locations coupled with their talent, and market expertise in industrial products are a perfect fit for our broader expansion into the industrial products sector that handles freight of all sizes. When combined with our existing multi-modal and transload capabilities, BNSFL becomes a leader in North America in multi-modal capacity and ability for the Industrial Products sector,” commented Ray Greer, BNSFL’s President. “The innovation and value we will be able to bring to our customers just increased significantly,” he added.
The company is based in Southlake, Texas, which is between Fort Worth and Dallas.
About BNSFL
BNSFL operates over 40 offices throughout North America, with over 120 FCPA certified Global Service Providers (GSPs) for import and export of general and project cargoes throughout the world.
© 2015 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.