Jacksonville Port's auto handling to power through Japanese disruption

15/04/11

April 15, 2011 – Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville-based Amports processes about half of vehicles imported and exported.

Port’s auto handling to power through Japanese disruption.

Premium content from Jacksonville Business Journal by Mark Szakonyi, Staff Writer

Date: Friday, April 15, 2011, 6:00am EDT

Related:  Logistics & Transportation

The Port of Jacksonville — the nation’s second-largest handler of trucks and autos — will experience a slight, short-term decline in vehicle processing due to disruption to automakers’ supply chains caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The dip, however, will be offset by the ramp-up in increased handling during the rest of the year and new business gained by Amports to handle 15,000 Honda vehicles this year and about 30,000 vehicles next year. Amports CEO Steve Rand said his business at Blount Island Marine Terminal hasn’t been affected, but it can take months before the supply chain ripples reach his docks.

“Everything we’ve heard is that it will be a short-term impact,” said Andy Eccher, Southeast Toyota Distributors LLC ’s vice president of vehicle processing. “By June or July, we will begin to get back on track.”

Because of the disruption, he said the company’s terminal at Talleyrand in April will receive three calls instead of five ship calls, meaning about 1,000 fewer vehicles to handle. Southeast Toyota’s three processing centers in Northeast Florida and South Georgia handle about 20,000 vehicles monthly.

Considering the robust handling in March, the company has revised its estimates to expect 4 percent to 5 percent more handling than its original annual projection of about 260,000 vehicles due to increased business in recent months. Before the disasters in Japan, the Jacksonville Port Authority expected to handle about 550,000 new and used vehicles this year, which is still about 100,000 fewer vehicles than it handled in 2008 but 20 percent more than in 2010.

Roy Schleicher, the authority’s executive vice president, said he expects handling to experience a slight drop-off and then have a surge to make up for lost handling.

The slight drop in port auto handling affects not just port operators, but also trucking companies and railroads that deliver the vehicles. CSX Corp. provides service to Blount Island, and the Jacksonville-based railroad and its competitor Norfolk Southern Corp. Serve Talleyrand Marine Terminal, which is about 25 minutes from regional railroad Florida East Coast Railway LLC’s yard.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics spokeswoman Inna Getselis declined to comment on how the Blount Island vehicle handler would be affected. In a company news release March 16, WWL said there have been few delays of the company’s vessels and most of the Japanese ports are open.

Roughly 125,000 imported and exported vehicles will be handled by Amports Inc. at the Blount Island Marine Terminal. The Jacksonville-based company, which has five other U.S. operations and five in Mexico, does more than load and unload, as this virtual tour reveals.

Amports Inc. recently received a contract to handle Honda Motor Co. vehicles. The Arabic on the pictured Honda Accord’s sideview mirror says, roughly, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”

General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. makes arrive at the terminal via the CSX Corp. rail lines. Aside from the vehicles for export, Amports handles imported vehicles from Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Isuzu and Mitsubishi Fuso trucks. The majority of the exported vehicles go to South America and the Middle East.

After being scanned, washed and inspected, GM vehicles headed to the Middle East are sprayed with a protective undercoat that prevents rusting during transport.

If a vehicle has been damaged during transport, Amports fixes errors ranging from minor pings to the need for a repainting. Following repainting, vehicles are cooked in this drive-in oven at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes and then allowed to dry for 45 minutes.

As part of its handling services, Amports also provides and installs special features, such as spoilers, electric starting equipment and rear video cameras on imported vehicles. The company adds sirens, laptop stands and prisoner cages to fire and rescue vehicles headed to the Caribbean. Plus, Amports lasers the vehicle identification numbers to all glass parts in vehicles headed to Brazil because the country’s law mandates it.

For more information, please contact:

Debra Henry
Executive Administrator
AMPORTS
Tel: 1-904-751-4391 / Fax: 1-904-751-6130
Email: dhenry@amports.com