Industry Terminal & Salvage Adds Railyard For Loading Barges

Industry Terminal & Salvage Company’s purchase of a new railyard means new opportunities for its barge customers.

The company purchased the former Mol-Dok in Leetsdale, Pa., in May following its closure in December after about 30 years of service.

Since then, ITS has been focusing on repairs and refurbishments at the facility, which is located at Ohio River Mile 14, President Brad Busatto said.

Busatto said a customer approached him about whether the company might have interest in purchasing the railyard, which it had used for transshipping products.

“At first I was hesitant because I have no rail management experience at all, but I also know how capable our team is of learning and adapting and just rolling our sleeves up,” Busatto said.

He became more confident after speaking to others with rail experience.

“Just like the barge industry, there are plenty of friendly people in it who are willing to lend us a hand and some of their institutional knowledge,” he said.

The yard, now named ITS Leetsdale, can hold more than 100 railcars and load a barge in four hours. The company is investigating whether to add barge-to-rail capabilities, for which it has had some inquiries. The railyard provided those services in the past, but it has been several years since it has done so, Busatto said.

The railyard is located just across the river from the ITS Aliquippa facility, which extends from Mile 15.5 to Mile 17.2. Because of its nearby location, it can make use of the existing workforce for now, although more could be added in the future as demand rises. About 60 of the company’s 90 employees work out of the Aliquippa facility.

The railyard includes 10 different track sidings for sorting as well as a shaker/dumphouse for car emptying.

“We’ve been in the terminal business for many years, and this is just a new twist,” Busatto said. “It’s synergistic with the barge business that we currently operate.”

ITS is bringing in Tyler Checkan as its yard foreman/manager. Busatto described Checkan as an expert mechanic with extensive maritime experience on towboats and barges. He is also the nephew of ITS vice president Don Checkan.

While refurbishment at the railyard is ongoing, team members successfully have loaded barges from railcars already, both retaining existing customers and bringing in two new ones, Busatto said. He added that ITS is in negotiations with other potential customers as well.