RCR Rail Co., located in Hempstead, Texas, operates a rail-served logistics park designed to handle both light and heavy manufacturing, distribution, unit train services, and warehousing. With its connection to Class I Railroads, the park is perfectly suited for large-scale industrial operations, making it a prime location for pipeline contractors looking to move or store pipe for upcoming projects. One customer of RCR Rail Co., DUN Transportation & Stringing Inc., utilized their facilities to store steel pipes for future use. To efficiently unload and stack these pipes, DUN turned to the Vacuworx RC Series vacuum lifter, a key piece of pipeline equipment designed to handle heavy-duty materials.
The Vacuworx RC Series vacuum lifter is Vacuworx’s flagship product line, engineered for tough industrial applications. It boasts a lifting capacity ranging from 22,000 pounds (10 tonnes) to 55,000 pounds (25 tonnes), making it ideal for handling large steel pipes. For RCR Rail, this equipment has proven to be surprisingly useful, providing the reliability and efficiency necessary to meet the demands of their customer. Cody Poteat, Vice President of Operations at RCR Rail, has over 11 years of industry experience and has been with RCR for 1.5 years. He has played a vital role in managing the company’s material handling processes, which require equipment capable of handling complex operations. One of the new tools Poteat and his team has been introduced to is the Vacuworx RC Series vacuum lifter, which has proven to be a versatile piece of equipment.
Consistent Performance Under Fluctuating Demands
In a rail park environment like RCR’s, where the volume of material can vary significantly from day to day, having reliable equipment is essential to keeping operations running smoothly. The RC vacuum lifter consistently delivered the performance required to meet the demands of the park’s clientele.
Poteat noted the lifter’s ability to keep pace with varying workloads, ensuring that operations remain on schedule. “They had no issues with the equipment, it was able to keep pace whether that tide was high or low in terms of the actual throughput and volume that we tackle on a given day,” he shared.
RCR Rail’s has the capability to handle a wide variety of materials, from steel and ductile pipe to agricultural products, construction materials and more. This diversity necessitates equipment that can handle different types of materials efficiently and with minimal downtime.
“We deal with a lot of heavy equipment—everything from conveyors to telehandlers, you name it,” Poteat said. “We’ve never experienced a situation where Vacuworx equipment went down on the job. Whereas a lot of this other heavy machinery—it’s quite common, unfortunately.”
For Poteat, the reliability of the Vacuworx vacuum lifter has far exceeded expectations. “From my vantage point, the reliability of the Vacuworx machines has been far above the other types of heavy machinery we use,” he emphasized.
Vacuum Lifting Equipment
RC Series
The RC Series features a lift capacity of 22,000 to 55,000 lb (10-25 tonne) in conjunction with larger-capacity host carriers. These vacuum lifters are best suited for large diameter energy and infrastructure projects, material handling at port facilities, pipe mills, and storage yards.
