Jaguar Transport gains two transloading opportunities to boost business
1/29/2026
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
A couple of recent transloading developments hold traffic-building promise for Jaguar Transport Holdings Inc.
The logistics and rail services company — which owns 14 short lines — has opened a transload facility in Spokane, Washington, that was developed through a partnership with Spokane International Airport. The facility is marketable and operational now, said Jaguar Transport Vice President of Industrial and Commercial Development Chris Richter in an email.
The facility connects to Jaguar Transport's Washington Eastern Railroad (WER), which interchanges with BNSF Railway. WER operates 108 miles of track between Cheney and Coulee City, Washington, which is the longest short-line system in the state. The railroad moves a lot of grain and offers storage space for 500 rail cars.
Located about two miles from Interstate 90, the transload facility features nearly 10,000 lineal feet of track (including two loading tracks and one running track), over 7 acres of paved surface and a bulk liquids transloading area with spill containment. It was constructed on a BNSF Certified Site and is designated as a foreign trade zone.
Kansas City West Bottoms Railroads transloads plastic resins for Plastic Express, which provides bulk trucking/terminal, packaging and warehousing services. Jaguar Transport Holdings Inc.“The airport purchased the land and developed the property and contracted with us through our Washington Eastern Railroad to serve and operate the facility,” Richter said.
The facility has the potential to handle such commodities as municipal solid waste, aviation fuel, biodiesel, fertilizers, steel and other metals, lumber, beverages and agricultural equipment. However, no specific lines of business have been determined yet, said Richter.
“Since it is a brand-new facility under our control, it is tough to say what commodities it may favor,” he said. “We are hoping to attract a plethora of commodities across multiple industries.”
Meanwhile, Jaguar Transport has expanded its business relationship with Plastic Express in the Kansas City, Missouri, area. Plastic Express provides logistical solutions to the plastic industry, including bulk trucking, bulk terminal, packaging and warehousing services.
The first rail cars carrying plastic resins for Plastic Express recently were transloaded at a facility served by Jaguar Transport’s Kansas City West Bottoms Railroad, which marked a significant step in the companies’ partnership, said Richter.
Early last year, Jaguar Transport formed Kansas City West Bottoms Railroad after leasing industrial trackage in Kansas City’s West Bottoms area — a central industrial district — from Union Pacific Railroad. The Class I leased 12 acres and 4 miles of track to Jaguar Transport in a move designed to enhance customer service and support regional economic growth.
“We are bringing in plastic resins for Plastic Express via Union Pacific. We then spot them at our transload site where Plastic Express is transloading and trucking the resins to various locations in the area,” Richter said.
