The Competitive
Weskan Grain is the only grain company that has a dedicated rail line, The Colorado Pacific Railroad. With the acquisition of 160 grainers, Weskan is able to load and transport grain at costs lower than those offered by trucking companies.
Prior to the construction of the Weskan facility, local farmers who needed operations / equipment capable of handling unit trains were required to send their trucks to Cheyenne Wells, Sharon Springs, or Coolidge. However, none of these facilities are served by both BNSF and Union Pacific, which left farmers without choice and leverage.
The Weskan Grain facility is the only trainloader within reasonable trucking distance of its tributary territory which offers access to both of the Class 1 railroads at Weskan and Avondale. Apart from the new facility, all of western Kansas and Eastern Colorado is captive to either one or the other of those railroads, and rail shippers from the Kansas state line east to Great Bend have no access to heavy axle weight grain cars.
The greatest advantage gained by area farmers using the Weskan Grain facility is utilizing the fastest unloading system from Western Kansas to Eastern Colorado. During harvest times, long waits for truck unloading are deadly for efficient utilization of grain trucks traveling from field to elevator. Long distances and long waits for unloading require a larger truck fleet in order to speed harvest to safe storage, and truck drivers are in increasingly short supply in the 2020s. Concrete storage alongside heavy axle weight tracks at facilities which can offer unit train service and connections to dueling class one railroads offer the gold standard for farmers.
Stockton Siding is close to the crossroads of Highways 385 and 96, offering paved roads in all four compass directions, and therefore an additional competitive advantage over facilities with highway access in only two directions. The facility offers a variety of grain contracts tailored to any particular farmer’s level of risk tolerance, and solicits the business of local farmers.