Industries we protect
Rail Yard, Inland Port and Transit Security
Contracted officers, patrol and remote guarding for the operators, shippers and warehouse tenants who work beside Arizona’s rail lines. We protect your gates, docks, containers and fence lines, and we work alongside railroad police, never in place of them.
When you need rail yard and inland port security
Rail yard and inland port security protects the private ground around the rails: transload yards, rail-served warehouses, intermodal container lots, team tracks and the cold-storage docks that receive cross-border freight. It is not railroad policing. Under federal law, railroads employ their own commissioned police officers to protect railroad property, employees and freight in the railroad’s possession. Honeybadger Solutions is hired by the businesses next to that property, the facility operators, shippers and tenants whose loads sit on their own pads waiting to be pulled, unloaded or trucked out.
That handoff is where losses happen. A railcar is switched onto your spur at night. A loaded container waits two days for a chassis. A reefer trailer idles at a dock in Nogales while paperwork clears. Nobody from the railroad is watching your lot, and nobody from your company is there either. You probably need coverage if:
- Seals, pallets or whole trailers go missing between delivery and pickup
- People cut through your fence to reach the tracks, or camp along your spur
- Copper, batteries or catalytic converters keep disappearing from yard equipment
- A lender, insurer or customer has asked for written security procedures
- Your night shift is one forklift driver and a dock light
What we cover
Most rail-served sites need a mix. We size it to your gate count, acreage and hours, not to a fixed package.
Gate and dock officers
Uniformed unarmed officers check drivers against appointments, log trailer and container numbers, and verify seals at the dock door. Where the risk or the cargo calls for it, licensed armed officers hold the post.
Perimeter and spur patrol
Marked vehicle patrols run irregular checks of fence lines, rail gates, laydown yards and parked railcars on your track, with time-stamped photos of anything cut, open or out of place.
Remote guarding for container lots
Live operators watch your cameras overnight and use on-site speakers to warn off people at the fence. Remote guarding suits large, quiet lots where a full-time post would be wasted.
Assessment and systems
A security assessment maps how freight moves through your site and where it sits unwatched, then sets lighting, camera, gate and fence priorities in writing.
How it works
- Request online. Tell us the site, the cargo, your hours and what has gone wrong. The request goes to the security team.
- Site walk. We walk your property line, gates and docks, and note where your ground ends and the railroad’s right-of-way begins.
- Written plan and quote. Posts, patrol frequency, camera coverage, reporting and escalation contacts, including the railroad police emergency line for anything on railroad property.
- Post orders. Officers get site-specific orders: what to log, which trailers and cars to check, who to call and what not to touch.
- Daily reporting. Shift reports, patrol logs and incident photos go to you, so a claim or police report starts with records, not memory.
- Review. We adjust coverage as volume shifts, for example ahead of the winter produce season.
Arizona rail and port facts that shape the plan
Arizona’s freight rail runs on two Class I systems with very different geography. The plan for a site in Tucson is not the plan for one in Winslow.
- Union Pacific Sunset Route. ADOT’s state rail plan describes UP’s Sunset Route crossing southern Arizona through Yuma and Tucson between Los Angeles and El Paso, carrying roughly 20 percent of the railroad’s total traffic. It crosses Pinal County near Picacho Peak, close to the Casa Grande and I-10 growth corridor.
- BNSF Southern Transcon. The same plan describes BNSF’s Transcon across northern Arizona through Kingman, Flagstaff and Winslow, carrying more than 100 trains a day, with a line into Phoenix from Williams Junction and the Mobest Yard in Phoenix.
- Port of Tucson. A privately operated inland port, rail yard and intermodal facility southeast of Tucson, next to the Union Pacific mainline and I-10, about 70 miles north of the Nogales border crossing on I-19. It reports more than 13 miles of its own track, more than 2.2 million square feet of buildings, and an active Foreign Trade Zone designation. Tenants there control their own buildings and yards, and that is the kind of ground we protect.
- Nogales and the produce corridor. The GSA describes the Mariposa land port of entry in Nogales as the primary port of entry for winter produce from Mexico, processing over 5 billion pounds of fruit and vegetables in a year. Loaded reefers and cold-storage docks along that corridor hold perishable, resellable freight that thieves can move fast.
Trespass law. A.R.S. 13-1502 makes it criminal trespass in the third degree to knowingly enter or remain unlawfully on a railroad’s track right-of-way, storage or switching yards or rolling stock. On your own property, the same statute covers people who stay after a reasonable request to leave or after posted notice. Good signage and documented warnings make that enforceable.
Who has authority where. Rail police officers commissioned under 49 U.S.C. 28101 enforce the law on railroad property and protect freight in the railroad’s possession. Our officers are private security. They observe, document, deter and report. They do not board trains, inspect cars on railroad property, direct train movements or go onto the right-of-way unless the railroad authorizes it in writing and they have completed the railroad’s safety requirements.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming the railroad covers your spur. Once a car is placed on your track and released to you, protecting what is inside is usually your responsibility. Check your rail contract.
- Logging seals after the fact. A seal number written down from memory at the end of a shift proves very little. Record it at the door, with a photo.
- Lighting the dock but not the fence. Thieves come in where it is dark and leave through the gate you thought was locked.
- Ignoring heat and dust. Cameras facing west into summer sun, or caked with dust after a monsoon haboob, stop being useful. Plan mounts, housings and cleaning.
- One phone number for everything. Officers need to know when to call local police, when to call railroad police and when to call you. Write it down.
Who this is for
- Transload and rail-served warehouse operators
- Tenants at inland ports and rail-served industrial parks
- Produce importers and cold-storage operators in Nogales and along I-19
- Shippers with railcars or containers staged on private track
- Short-term construction and expansion projects beside active rail
- Property managers of rail-served logistics parks in Pinal and Maricopa counties
How it is priced
We do not publish rates, because acreage, gate count, hours and armed or unarmed posts change the answer. We quote in writing before any work starts, and nothing is billed until you accept.
| Included | Quoted separately |
|---|---|
| Site walk and written post orders | Armed posts |
| Shift reports and patrol logs | Remote guarding camera hardware |
| Incident photos and written incident reports | A full written security assessment |
| Escalation contact list, including railroad police | Surge coverage for peak season or holidays |
Frequently asked questions
Are your officers railroad police?
No. Railroad police are commissioned officers employed by or contracted to a rail carrier. Our officers are private security working for you on your property. We report what we see to railroad police and local law enforcement and support their investigations with our records.
Can your officers go onto the tracks?
Not without the railroad’s written permission and its safety training. Active track is dangerous, and Arizona law treats unauthorized entry onto railroad right-of-way and yards as trespass. Our officers stay on client property unless the railroad says otherwise.
Do you cover sites outside Arizona?
Our officers and patrols work in Arizona. For a site in another state, we coordinate vetted, locally licensed partner agencies and keep the same reporting standard.
What about freight once it leaves our yard?
Loads on the road are a different problem. Our transportation and cargo security service covers escorts, seal custody and in-transit coverage for shipments that need it.
Can you help after a theft has already happened?
Yes. Our licensed private investigators can review footage, interview staff and trace how a load left the site, and we can tighten coverage the same week. Report active crimes to police first.
Related services
- Transportation and cargo security
- Warehouse and logistics security
- Security systems and technology
- Access control and security system installation
- Agriculture and ranch security
- All industries we protect
Related guides
- The enemy in the warehouse: internal theft and cargo crime
- Warehouse security services in Casa Grande, Arizona
Sources: ADOT Arizona State Rail Plan Update, Port of Tucson, About Us, GSA, Mariposa Land Port of Entry, A.R.S. 13-1502, Criminal trespass in the third degree, 49 U.S.C. 28101, Rail police officers.
Request this service
Tell us what you need in a few lines. Your request goes straight to the right team, and you get a written quote before any work starts.
Put eyes on the freight nobody is watching
Tell us about your yard, your docks and the cargo that sits there. We will walk the site and send a written plan and quote. If you have an active theft or break-in, call police first, then use our urgent intake form.