Last month, American Honda Motor Company announced the opening of a third West Coast port facility in Richmond.
By Patrick Burnson
Published: December, 2009
The new 80-acre facility, known as the Point Potrero Auto Center, will allow American Honda to greatly decrease shipments of vehicles by tractor trailer from Southern California to Northern California, helping to reduce emissions associated with new-vehicle distribution. The facility will also support efficient east-bound rail shipments critical to Honda’s overall logistics network.
“Establishing these operations in Richmond will help us secure and balance our long-term logistics needs,” said Dennis Manns, assistant vice president of logistics for American Honda. “This additional port not only ensures future rail and port capacity, but it also has a net environmental benefit—a key goal for Honda in all of its operations.”
American Honda’s port expansion is estimated to eliminate 1,720 truck trips from San Diego to northern California, totaling more than 1.5 million miles of truck travel each year. This will result in an annual reduction of approximately 3,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide from American Honda’s logistics operations in the region.
In addition to ports in Richmond and San Diego, American Honda operates a port facility in Portland, Oregon.
West Coast Ports and Railroads Collaborate to Improve Trade
Last month, the Port of Oakland joined five other major U.S. West Coast ocean cargo gateways and two western railroads at the World Shipping Summit in Qingdao, China to announce a new collaboration. The new entity, the U.S. West Coast Collaboration (USWCC), is composed of the major container-ports on the U.S. West Coast—Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles—along with BNSF Railway Company and Union Pacific Railroad. At the summit, the USWCC addressed leaders and customers of the maritime industry—including ocean carriers, beneficial cargo owners and marine terminal and intermodal operators—in an attempt to showcase the benefits of the U.S. West Coast as the premier zone for trans-Pacific trade.
“Today’s economic conditions have compelled all of us to take a closer look at how we conduct our business to discover new approaches that yield improved results,” said Omar Benjamin, the Port of Oakland’s executive director, who chaired the session that included the USWCC panel. “This is happening throughout the entire supply chain, and U.S. West Coast ports and railroads are no exception. Our mission is to further strengthen the U.S. West Coast ports’ position as the preferred gateway for Asia cargo to and from Asia.
The concept behind this collaboration began earlier this year, when the top leadership of the ports met to discuss ways to take advantage of their combined resources, experience, and proximity to Asia. They also recognized that the participation of the two largest U.S. railroads, Union Pacific and BNSF, was absolutely critical given the interdependency between port and rail to connect American markets with global markets.
Members of the USWCC traveled to Washington, D.C. this past summer to convey the following message: A national goods movement plan is essential for sustaining America’s role in global trade, and more federal resources are necessary to maximize the advantages of moving goods from Asia through the U.S. West Coast.
Signs of Life in Oakland Cargo Demand
Meanwhile, trade analysts reported that outbound cargo from the Port of Oakland is on the rise, and a UCLA white paper produced for the East Bay Economic Development Alliance suggests that agricultural goods will be more in demand next year. Oakland, which has trouble attracting imports, is the leading export port on the West Coast.
Export growth has been driven by recovering economies in Asia and Europe. The report’s author also noted that East Bay manufacturing may be rebounding as a consequence of new “green” companies finding funding for startups.
