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Lehigh Railway, LLC The company that will be discussed in this paper is Lehigh Railway, LLC (LRWY). LRWY is a company which provides freight rail transport via 56 miles of track in North Central Pennsylvania running from Athens, PA to Mehoopany,PA (Lehigh Railway LLC , par 1). Their railway line is being leased from Norfolk Southern through a long term lease contract. An analysis of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will be presented in this paper.
A study of the company reveals that its major strength is its experience in hauling a wide variety of freight including sand, drill cuttings, propane, sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide, wood products, feed products, and fertilizers (Lehigh Railway LLC , par 1). Moreover, they also boast of a full range of transloading services through their in-house manpower or through their reliable transload service sub-contractor. Railway is also proud of the quality of their highly-skilled employees.
LRWY has weaknesses too which they are currently addressing. This includes their problem with the lease contracts with Norfolk Southern. They are also beset with problems of locomotive power shortages.
A key opportunity of LRWY is the presence of Marcellus Shale in its location. Marcellus Shale formation is considered by some geologist as a major source of natural gas (Geology.com , par 2). People in the natural gas industry believe that the Marcellus can be a major contributor for the supply of natural gas for the United States. This development presents possible new business opportunities for LRWY.
The threats being faced by the company is the presence of other railroad companies in the area. However, the main threat that confronts them is the possible cancellation of their lease contract with Norfolk. As in any infrastructure, they are also aware that their railway may be damaged through Acts of God such as earthquakes, floods or hurricanes.
Presently, LRWY’s advantage over its competitors is its location or geography. Its line encompasses a large area from Athens to Laceyville, Mehoopany, Meshopen, Presswood, Rummerfield, Sayer, Skinners Eddy, Towanda, Ulster, Wyalusing, and Wysox (Lehigh Railway LLC , par 1).
The strategic issue that will challenge LRWY is the probability of a high growth rate in its business as against their capability to meet the demands of a growing market. The company must be able to gear up for this future growth in its business if it wants to remain competitive. In the next five years, aside from coping with this expansion, the company will also face the challenge of negotiating for a renewal of their lease contract with Norfolk.
Works Cited
Geology.com. “Marcellus Shale – Appalachian Basin Natural Gas Play .” 2011. geology.com. 9 August 2011 .
Lehigh Railway LLC. “Services.” 2011. lrwy.net. 9 August 2011 .
—. “Welcome to Lehigh Railway in North Central PA.” 2011. lrwy.net. 9 August 2011 .