MUSTANG, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rail industry veterans Kevin Goins and Don Walsh announced today that they have formed Freedom Railcar Solutions, LLC (“Freedom Railcar”) to provide mobile railcar repair and maintenance services for crude-by-rail shippers, operators and other railcar lessors in the Bakken Shale and Powder River Basin. Freedom Railcar will enter the market by providing on-site and mobile repair and maintenance services in North Dakota and Wyoming designed to minimize railcar downtime.
When railcars are sent to full service repair shops, time out of service can average 90 days because most third-party repair shops are located out-of-state and provide limited mobile service. The total cost associated with a crude oil tank car that is out of service for 90 days is an estimated $100,000 per car, including lost revenue, cleaning, repair and freight charges. To address this problem, Freedom Railcar’s state-of-the-art mobile repair units will be strategically located to ensure rapid response times directly to the railcar’s location. Repair services will be conducted by carefully selected, highly skilled, certified technicians. Services will include the repair and replacement of vacuum relief valves, manway lids and eyebolts, load valves, bottom outlet valve handles, brake parts, stencils, AEI tags and safety appliances. Freedom Railcar expects to begin serving customers in North Dakota and Wyoming by July 1, 2014.
Freedom Railcar is led by Kevin Goins, the company’s co-founder and president, and Don Walsh, co-founder and vice president of business development. Both are veterans of the rail industry with extensive experience in transload operations and railcar repair. Mr. Goins has more than 20 years of experience in the rail and transload industry with a focus on operational efficiency. He also serves as president of Strobel Starostka Transfer, a national leader in operating transload facilities for the energy industry. Prior to joining SST, Mr. Goins served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Watco Transload & Intermodal Services. Before Watco, Mr. Goins directed CSX Corporation’s North American and international transload divisions.
Mr. Walsh has been in the railcar industry for 17 years and has deep expertise in operational efficiency and customer service. Before he joined Freedom Railcar, he served as a director of operations for Transco Railway Products Inc., where he added tank car mobile repair services to Transco’s operations in Iowa and Montana. His diverse experience brings a unique and valuable perspective to Freedom Railcar. Mr. Walsh has management experience as a railcar owner and lessor with GE and a railcar lessee with Loders Croklaan. He has also managed railcar repair services for Rescar Companies and Greenbrier Rail Services. He has long-standing relationships with Class I railroads, short line railroads and railcar owners and lessees across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“We are very pleased to announce the formation of Freedom Railcar Solutions,” said company President Kevin Goins. “We formed Freedom Railcar to address the increasing demand for dependable, high-quality railcar services in the Bakken and other rapidly emerging crude-by-rail markets. We are a next generation company with a customer-driven approach to railcar repair and maintenance. We believe in measuring our success by our customers’ success. Our first objective is to ensure that we minimize railcar downtime by providing safe, reliable and rapid service when and where our customers need it. This is just the beginning. We expect to expand our area of operations and offer additional services as the Freedom Railcar executes its growth strategy.”
About Freedom Railcar Solutions, LLC
Freedom Railcar Solutions was formed in 2014 to address the increasing need for on-site and mobile railcar repair and maintenance services in the Bakken Shale and other crude-by-rail markets. The company is led by Kevin Goins, president, and Don Walsh, vice president of business development. Both are rail industry veterans and bring Freedom Railcar a total of 37 years of experience. Freedom Railcar is based in Mustang, Oklahoma, and maintains strategically located, state-of-the-art mobile repair units equipped to respond directly to locations in North Dakota and Wyoming. Repair services will be conducted by the most highly skilled, certified technicians. Services will include the repair and replacement of vacuum relief valves, manway lids and eyebolts, load valves, bottom outlet valve handles, brake parts, stencils, AEI tags and safety appliances.
Please visit www.freedomrailcarsolutions.com for more information.
