When it comes to railcar repair, challenges that Derek Mecure has seen in the railroad industry inspired GBW, a Watco joint venture, to create a unique solution.
“What we’ve seen is two things that affect the Customer when it comes to railcars,” Mecure said. “One is the freight charges for cars that go to shop for repair. The costs of getting cars to shops now has substantially increased, which is a major factor in our Customers considering where and how they send cars to shops.”
“The second is when you do send a car to a shop, your asset that you’ve purchased to generate revenue for your company is now out of service for however long it takes to travel there and then back again,” Mecure said. “You’re losing revenue.”
Mecure wrote a business plan that tackles both of those problems; it was approved, and this year, the Mini Mobile began. The concept is simple:
“We can come to your property with our equipment, find an area we can house our equipment, and service your railcars onsite,” he said.
The Mini Mobile completely eliminates the cost of shipping cars for repair and drastically reduces out-of-service time. Working from mobile pickup trucks, gaiters, and UTVs they pull with a trailer, a two-member Team walks the length of the trains to inspect, with another Team following behind to make the repairs.
In Dallas, Texas, the service opened May 1 and operates in seven locations all within a two-hour drive. Among them, one serves an offload facility, another serves a quarry, one serves a cement plant.
“It’s going well so far,” said Richard Drummondo, operations manager on a Team of five.
Daily, his Team services two and sometimes three trains, each of 96 to 130 cars. The environment, including Texas weather and occasional rattlesnakes — is the most challenging part.
“The most rewarding part is seeing the Customer happy; that means we’re doing our job,” Drummondo said.
“We’re in the beginning of something new,” Drummondo said. “This is the forefront for repair. I could see GBW really growing with this kind of model.
A Mini Mobile location opened Jan. 3 in San Antonio, Texas. There, Jason Garza, operations manager, said his Team averages three to four hours to air test, inspect and make repairs to trains that range from 95 to 150 cars.
Three-quarter of the repairs are done in-train.
“That’s the part where it benefits the Customer,” he said.
Garza said the key is having Team members trained in a fast-paced environment, and having an organized and detailed plan.
“Coordination starts with us; as soon as the Customer notifies me, I identify the trains we have to work and send out a crew. We have mass text messages and emails going between the rail manager and the Customers and myself about when we start and when we should be done,” he said.
Team members work in two, 10-hour shifts, with a three-man crew rotating on call on the weekends to cover trains that come in then.
Derek Cargile, shop capacity analyst with Koch Rail, said his company had used an alternate mobile service for the Formaldehyde fleet to inspect and repair BOV concerns Koch was getting from a Customer.
“Sometimes it would take months to complete the mobile and utilize the car,” Cargile said.
The Customer was receptive to changing services, opening the door for GBW Houston.
“The GBW Houston mobile has been great with communication and are very Customer-focused in their approach to servicing our needs,” Cargile said. “David and his crew communicate well and timely.”
“I even had a ChemTrec call late last Friday, and David was ready to make another weekend call out to assist, but we were able to schedule for Monday,” Cargile said. “Thanks to David and his crew, we are able to utilize cars and are not creating extra switching for the guys at the plant.”
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