Press Release

NEW ORLEANS, LA – April 9, 2024 - The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) today announced a new 10-year lease arrangement with The Kearney Companies, Inc. (The Kearney Companies), a subsidiary of Precision Terminal Logistics (PTL). This new lease marks a significant milestone in the longstanding relationship between Port NOLA, The Kearney Companies, and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB), which provides rail service to its facilities and connection to all six Class 1 Railroads (BNSF, CPKCS, CN, CSX, NS and UP).

The new, 10-year, consolidated lease agreement will allow The Kearney Companies to grow and invest with properties that have been continually leased for the last 20 years. The leased facilities include four rail-served transit sheds located on France Road and a rail-served storage facility at 3900 Jourdan Road, which The Kearney Companies originally leased and refurbished significantly in 2016.

“Our longstanding partnership with The Kearney Companies is a prime example of how Port NOLA delivers seamless, integrated logistics solutions between river, rail and road,” said, Brandy D. Christian, President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans and CEO of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. “We appreciate the continued commitment of The Kearney Companies and PTL and look forward to strengthening our partnership in future endeavors.”

As a requirement in the new lease, The Kearney Companies has committed to making capital investments through Port NOLA-approved facility upfits and improvements. This financial commitment emphasizes a shared commitment to investing in Port NOLA’s infrastructure to ensure these facilities can service existing customer needs well into the future, while also supporting cargo growth and fostering continued job creation in the region.

“Our longstanding partnership with the Port of New Orleans has been a great success story that we are very proud of as a local company with many ties to the Louisiana port community. The real success of this partnership with Port NOLA, however, is measured in terms of the competitive advantages we enable for each specific shipper’s supply chain and the sustainable jobs that we create in this process of using these terminals to support these customers’ various logistical needs. It feels great when you look back over the last 20 years and you see the growth in new customers that these facilities support. We have continually invested in our service capabilities and logistics capacity to facilitate cargo growth for Port NOLA and the NOPB Railroad. With the consolidated lease, we look forward to continuing to invest in these facilities so we can support our customers well into the future,” said David Kearney, President of The Kearney Companies, Inc.

The Kearney Companies’ operations with NOPB have reached 3,000 carloads per year and are continuing to grow. Additionally, The Kearney Companies handles close to 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units annually and supports approximately 65 full-time jobs across various roles, including office/clerical, trucking, and warehouse workers.