Tropicana’s Juice Train will continue to roll despite nationwide service issues with CSX Railroad

Shippers across the country are bemoaning changes made by CSX Railroad’s new CEO Hunter Harrison, who initiated sweeping operational changes when he took charge.

Those changes have led to a decline in the railroad’s servicing capabilities for companies depending on the railroad to get their product into customers’ hands. But if those changes are affecting Tropicana and Mosaic, two of CSX’s biggest Manatee County customers, they aren’t talking. Mosaic did not return a call for comment and Tropicana declined to discuss its current relationship with the railroad.

Some of the complaints are related to an incorrect number of railroad cars showing up to pick up freight, but Tropicana doesn’t have that problem because the orange juice giant headquartered in Bradenton has its own fleet of railroad cars, known as the “Juice Train.”

CSX hauls Tropicana products, however. Tropicana released a statement saying it remains committed to the community after rumors of a Tropicana and CSX conflict surfaced.

“As a leading juice producer with a deep commitment to Florida, we are dedicated to our Bradenton Tropicana plant,” the statement reads. “This plant is crucial to our juice operation and we will not be moving.”

According to Material Handling & Logistics Magazine, more than 80 percent of shippers who responded to a survey conducted by Cowen & Co financial research company said CSX service has declined dramatically since Harrison took charge and isn’t getting any better.

The study concluded that, “Shippers are moving or have already moved freight off of CSX where they can. Nearly 40 percent of those polled say they switched some freight to (Norfolk Southern) and 67 percent have transferred freight to trucks where they can.”

Norfolk Southern, like CSX, operates tracks across the eastern seaboard, but Norfolk Southern lines only dip into northern Florida while CSX operates well into South Florida.

The Surface Transportation Board has asked CSX to supply data regarding yard congestion, interchanges with other Class I railroads, equipment and manpower availability. The board also instructed CSX to set up a customer hotline as of this month in order to provide updates to its customers.

CSX delivers freight to Port Manatee, but executive director Carlos Buqueras said the port would not necessarily notice any CSX disruptions in service.

“They just deliver the product and we wouldn’t see any issues from where they originate,” Buqueras said. “We are just an intermediary.”

CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle said the company values its long-standing relationship with Tropicana.

“We are committed to meeting their business requirements today and into the future,” Doolittle said. “We are in regular communication with Tropicana about services we provide, as we are with most customers, and we look forward to extending our track-record of performance with them into the future.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Tropicana’s Juice Train will continue to roll despite nationwide service issues with CSX Railroad."