The railroad work OmniTRAX does with the Port of Cleveland has increased substantially since 2019, when the company purchased the Cleveland Port Railway.

“We handled a total of about 199 (railroad) car loads in 2023,” said Nate Mazo, General Manager at Cleveland & Cuyahoga Railway, Cleveland Port Railway, Newburgh and South Shore Railroad and Northern Ohio and Western Railway, all part of OmniTRAX. That compares to 75 to 80 car loads prior to COVID. “Any time you are able to double rail traffic at a location, that’s a huge accomplishment.”

Cleveland Port Railway manages all rail switching services at the Port and is an affiliate of OmniTRAX Inc., one of the largest privately held rail-centric transportation and logistics service companies in North America. The Port of Cleveland is one of several Ports OmniTRAX is working at.

Mazo said steel is the primary cargo they work with at the Port of Cleveland, but they have also handled the recent addition of palm oil shipments going to a Lake County-based manufacturer. They occasionally do dimensional — or oversize — shipments, most recently several large transformers heading to a power generating station in Lordstown.

“We have a great relationship with the folks at the Port of Cleveland,’’ he said, noting that they are constantly talking with them about new opportunities and projects.