Terral RiverService, Inc. recently started doing business with Nucor Corporation, one of the largest steel producers in the United States. Jeff Jeffcoat, Traffic Manager at Nucor, says the decision to partner with Terral RiverService came after his general manager asked him to look into more cost-effective modes of transportation.
“I received an email from our general manager saying we had spent a lot of money on freight, and he asked if I could look into other shipping options,” he said. “I was initially looking into modifying our existing rail system and using direct truck, but once I started looking into shipping via barge with Terral, I was sold.”
Jeff was impressed by the monetary and fuel savings that would come with shipping by barge, but he was most impressed with how easy the process was to get things started with Terral.
“It’s been a phenomenal venture,” he said. “The team at Terral has made it so easy on us every step of the way.”
Neil Martin, Terral’s Vice President of Services, worked with Jeff and the team at Nucor on their initial planning. “When we first met with Jeff, he had no river transportation history. His enthusiasm in trying to find a way to reduce his companies freight costs steered us to make him aware of what the inland waterways of Louisiana had to offer,” Neil said. “We all knew early on it was going to be beneficial for both companies to put this move together.”
Gabe Gattle then began working on the logistics of the move.
“Neil Martin and Gabe Gattle have been the easiest people to work with throughout my career. You instantly feel like you know them, and they’re so welcoming,” he said. “They were so transparent and straightforward with us throughout the whole process, and it couldn’t have been easier.”
Jeff says overall, they feel like they have more control of the entire shipping process than they did previously. “We have so much more control with our product in comparison to our previous process, which was truck on the front and rail on the end,” he said.
As far as future opportunities go, Jeff says he’s excited to see how their company can continue to utilize the river.