Re-opened line allows business to make tracks

Cost-saving and time-saving are two key elements in a well-run business and the repatriation of the Castlecliff rail line has allowed Ali Arc Logistics to tick those two boxes.

The branch line, which runs from Taupo Quay out to Wanganui's port, had been mothballed in 2004 but the arrival of Open Country's milk powder plant on Heads Rd was the catalyst for change.

Ali Arc Logistics saw an opportunity to provide storage for the milk powder so refurbished an old wool store on Heads Rd.

The storage facility was opened three years ago and initially relied on trucks bringing the milk powder to and from the site.

But when Port Taranaki leased land for an inland port terminal off Gilberd St, that created the opportunity for Ali Arc Logistics to open up its warehouse to the rail siding.

Ali Arc Logistics manager Brendon Bartley said they had created two undercover loading bays where forklifts loaded the bagged powder into the containers.

A train brings the containers in each day and these are unloaded off the wagons and stacked. The same mobile containers crane shifts the containers onto the loading pads.

Mr Bartley said it had streamlined the process immensely. Before the branch line re-opened, trucks would bring containers from Taupo Quay one at a time, a round trip that took about 45 minutes.

"It means it's taken one truck off the Heads Rd route which used to make 12 or more trips a day out here.

"Before we were waiting for the truck, but under this system we're never waiting. The containers are all here and all we need to do is load them. Then they're taken back to Taupo Quay and later railed to ports of New Plymouth, Wellington or Napier," Mr Bartley said.

The size of the mobile container crane at the depot means more space is available because it can stack containers three-high.

The containers are shunted out to Ali Arc Logistics' warehouse in the morning and collected about mid-afternoon.

"We'll load a container in 15-20 minutes so it's a quick turnaround," Mr Bartley said.

The peak milk season ran through October-November so that meant the warehouse was at its busiest during this pre-Christmas period.

"We've got a lot of powder stored here at the moment and a lot to load in the last two weeks of the year. Milk powder from the warehouse goes global," he said.

All the shipping arrangements are handled by an office in Auckland but it can mean tight turn-around times.

"We have to make sure the containers are here on time and loaded out on time."

The warehouse employs five storemen, an administration person and Mr Bartley. Casual workers are also used.

"Westgate Port (Port Taranaki) are operators of this inland port so there's huge opportunity for local companies to put work through the New Plymouth port," Mr Bartley said.

On the whiteboard timetable in Mr Bartley's office and on the schedule for the fortnight leading up to Christmas, things look hectic, but that's why reopening the Castlecliff branch line has proved so successful.