7/8/2006 2:00:00 PM Tank-washing company set to break ground in M'town Morristown Express to build 12,000-square-feet complex Katie Powalski Staff writer MORRISTOWN - The Morristown Express trucking company will break ground Monday to begin construction of a facility that will employ between 20 and 25 truck drivers, mechanics and truck washers. The company is locating on five acres of property at 455 N. 500E. The property is situated between the now-unused sewage treatment plant and the Detroit Steel Co. The estimated completion date is in late October. Morristown Express is a dedicated service company of Bunge North America, located at 700 N. Range Line Road. In an agreement with Bunge, Morristown Express expects to move 80 to 90 loads of material to and from the plant each week. The tanker trucks have carried edible oil to food processing companies across the Midwest for 2-1/2 years and have plans to expand the current routes. Morristown Express will use the facility to clean its own tanks, which currently must travel up to 100 miles to be washed after a dropoff. The wash facility will allow trucks to drop off their dirty tanks and pick up clean ones before beginning another run. "We provide an on-time service to Bunge," said Scott Holinsky, terminal manager with Morristown Express. Holinsky emphasized the inefficiency of transport by rail and explained that the trucking company is trying to improve its own expediency by building the new facility. The truck-washing building will have an "industrial look," according to Jake Gibson, project manager for Runnebohm Construction and will be set back 180 feet from County Road 500 East. The facility will be 12,000 square feet and have two wash bays and two service bays inside. Business offices also will be part of the construction project. Gibson predicts that the trucking company will use between 12,000 and 15,000 gallons of water each day. The water will run through the town's main sewer line, a move that is welcome because it will increase the flow through the sewer system, according to Gibson. Hans Schaup, president of Morristown Express, said he is excited about the expansion. "We approached Bunge with our service, and it turned out to be a great fit," Schaupp said. Edward Ebert, merchandising manager at Bunge, sees the addition of the tank-washing company as a natural progression. "A few years ago, we were still just shipping crude oil, but now our products are much more refined, and tanks require more washing," Ebert explained. Though Bunge uses other entities for product transport, Ebert confirmed that Morristown Express will be the prime edible-oil carrier. The Morristown Town Council approved a tax abatement on June 26 for the initial $5 million property value for the company. The amount of property taxes that will be abated start at 90 percent and decrease by 10 percent annually over 10 years.