BNSF Logistics has boosted its service profile with the acquisition of a pair of transportation companies that specialize in the handling of over-dimensional cargoes such as wind turbine blades and energy generation components.

The company, a subsidiary of the BNSF Railway, procured Transportation Technology Services (TTS), a Texas-based engineering, design and logistics planning and service provider, that provides specialty services such as rail-car design, loading, inspection and management of complex project cargo shipments.

TTS and BNSFL have collectively developed and managed 50 unique project cargo transload sites across the U.S.  over the past six years.

“Currently managing a fleet of nearly 2,000 rail cars for various clients, of which 1,200 are equipped with patented fixtures designed to handle wind turbine components including blades, tower sections and nacelles, TTS is a significant addition to the more than 9,700 rail shipments BNSF Logistics currently manages,” the company said.

The acquisition follows an earlier major investment by BNSFL in the emerging wind energy market.

In April, the company took over the wind energy related assets and contracts of Vectora Transportation, a Chicago based third-party logistics provider specializing in bulk commodities and over-dimensional cargo transport solutions.

Vectora Transportation “has been performing ground breaking work in the wind logistics industry with their exclusive adjustable saddles that accommodate multiple tower sizes,” said BNSFL in a statement.

BNSFL will fold the operations of both TTS and Vectora into its Blade Runner service, which implements proprietary technology “to offer fixtureless blade transportation via rail and ocean thus reducing wind logistics costs, accommodating the new generation of longer blades via cost effective rail & ocean transport and making the moves easier to manage.”

Announcement of both acquisitions did not detail the exact financial details of either transaction.