Feb. 28, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Knife River South Dakota.

Like a lot of business ventures, this one was born out of necessity.

Knife River South Dakota saw multiple cement and fly ash powder products needing to enter the market, but not enough to justify any one business building a transloading terminal to meet the need.

In transloading, material is taken off a rail car and loaded into a truck for final delivery or, in some cases, taken off a truck from a local provider and sent via rail to a destination customer.

“The last mile to the destination is typically done by trucks because many businesses don’t have rail siding at their loading docks,” said Clark Meyer, president of Knife River South Dakota, which owns Rail to Road Inc., a transloading business founded in 2012.

Since then, it has grown to four terminals in three states, including one in Sioux Falls, plus a warehouse in Tea.

“Every year, it’s grown more,” Meyer said. “In 2023, we had our largest year ever.”

While the majority of the business is hauling cement and fly ash – “and that’s mostly because we’re familiar with it and know there’s a need” – there are other commodities served too, he continued.

“Things like lumber, ethanol byproducts, animal feeds for dairies or feed mills or livestock in the area, rebar, and we’re bringing in a used petroleum product.”

Throughout Rail to Road, the terminals handled more than 5,000 rail cars – and about half of that was in Sioux Falls.

“Every rail car is four to six truckloads of material, so if you take that times four, it was like we took 10,000 trucks off the road in Sioux Falls alone,” Meyer said.

The year also brought a new manager for the division: Cody Powell, who brings 15 years of experience in the trucking industry, most recently in business development.

“He’s done a really good job and hit the ground running and brings a skill set that adds a lot of value,” Meyer said.

In the trucking industry, “you always look to the rail industry as a sort of compass,” Powell said.

“So having the opportunity to work this side of the fence and broaden my knowledge base was appealing. Plus, Knife River is a great member of the community, and they’re really driving culture here. We just got done with a leadership summit, and it’s all been pleasantly surprising. I’ve only worked for family-owned companies, but this doesn’t feel like a big corporation.”

He leads a team of 14 that’s looking to grow.

“My experience has been great,” said Tyler Paulsen, an operations supervisor who joined Rail to Road in 2015 as a warehouse operator and grew into his supervisory role.

“I have the best people to lead every day, people that I enjoy being around. The opportunities to build a lasting career have been delivered upon. When you are looking for a career, those are important, but the management team here is what has kept me around. The leadership here is phenomenal, and I have the privilege of working with a wealth of knowledgeable people.”

The team is a strong balance of veteran leaders and aspiring up-and-comers, with a strong focus on safety, Paulsen added.

“We have culture, the good kind. Hard workers, attentive learners, leadership and a mind for being safe,” he said. “We have a fast-paced environment, but systems are in place, and our actions are methodic. There are opportunities at Rail to Road to build a career, especially if you broaden your search to include Knife River.”

The hope is to grow the team and show a career path from rail car material handler to equipment operator and leadership roles.

“We have an organizational structure that facilitates upward growth,” Powell said. “That’s something I’m working on defining, so when people come in, they can see the opportunities.”

There’s also a need to educate businesses about the benefits of transloading, he added.

“I don’t think people really understand the transloading market,” Powell said. “Sioux Falls is so truck-focused, and rail is largely unexplored, so there’s a lot of opportunity.”

Businesses that regularly truck in high-volume products from 300 miles away or more could find rail to be a fit, Meyer said.

“We get people all the time who say: ‘I’m bringing this in by truck. Is this something I can look at bringing in by rail?’ We have to vet it, but it can be most efficient, and we get inquires constantly. We see a lot of new opportunities.”

Rail to Road has been named a premier transloading business by BNSF Railway, “which is achieved after proven success and taking care of customers,” Meyer said.

Powell supplies multiple proposals weekly for businesses, lately with a lot of interest in transporting agricultural products.

“And it can go both ways,” he added. “You can be a local producer with trucks loading product onto rail cars that can go as far as Mexico. People are just beginning to understand how you can combine trucking with rail.”

To learn more about Rail to Road and its services, click here.