A corporate decision was made in the 1980s by Murphy Warehouses of the Minneapolis- St. Paul region to obtain and preserve facilities with rail connections. The company believes intermodal access to be a competitive advantage. Consequently, rail has become a locating requirement for facilities. Each of their six rail-served facilities is served by Class I railroads including: BNSF Railway, Canadian National (CN) Railways, Union Pacific (UP) Railroad, and Canadian Pacific (CP) Railways. Rail facilities can accommodate up to 18 rail cars indoors at a single facility. Smaller facilities can house 12, 6, or 4 rail cars indoors, with the remaining two rail facilities operating outdoors.

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