This project created 25 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs, and allowed trains to replace 2,000+ trucks that used to crowd the road each year.

Freight rail also means better air quality and improved safety

Pendleton Grain Growers (PGG) was at a crossroads.  PGG was ready to expand, but the cost and logistics for moving its inventory was prohibitively expensive.  Because of its location, surrounded by mountains in the La Grande Valley in NE Oregon, PGG was limited to shipping 1.2 million bushels of grain even though it had the ability to produce 4 million bushels.  Unfortunately, transporting 4 million bushels of grain by truck would be difficult, risky, and expensive.  PGG’s solution was to use freight rail.

Each year Pendleton was transporting grain by truck across Highway 184 over the Blue Mountains on a dangerous pass.  Former CEO, Al Gosiak began to negotiate with the local short line (Idaho Northern and Pacific) to build a grain elevator and rail spur that would allow PGG to ship 4 million bushels and store enough grain to utilize off-peak shipping months.  With added storage capacity and rail service, PGG was able to space shipments into off-season months, significantly reducing transportation costs and opening new opportunities.

In partnership with the Union County Economic Development Corporation and the Idaho Northern and Pacific, PGG applied to the State of Oregon for a transportation grant that helped build additional siding and 800,000 bushels of storage to allow rail shipment move more efficiently from the valley.  Gosiak explained that these projects demonstrate the importance of public-private partnerships to secure a more efficient multi-modal freight transportation network.

During the construction and upon completion, this project created 25 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs.  It also allowed trains to replace more than 2,000 trucks that previously crowded the pass each year.  This project made the roads safer for the hundreds of travelers who commute through the Blue Mountains, and gave PGG the stability it needed to expand the business in a much more affordable, fuel-efficient, and environmentally responsible manner.

The air quality and highway safety benefits from getting the grain trucks off the roads, as well as the local economic development benefits and cost savings to shippers could not have happened without freight rail.