J.B. Hunt to open West Coast transload facility
by July 13, 2022 1:00 pm 1,444 views
Lowell-based carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced Wednesday (July 13) that it will open its first transload service facility to support international cargo on the West Coast and streamline its inland transportation for customers.
The Los Angeles area facility, minutes from Interstates 5 and 710, includes a 91,000-square-foot warehouse and 8 acres of parking for up to 300 containers. It will provide port drayage and transloading services and access to outbound rail and highway transportation.
The new facility is expected to complement the company’s new long-term, multi-vessel agreement with carrier Swire Shipping Pte. Ltd., allowing customers to ship overseas freight from Asia.
“The increase in import activity over recent years has created a bottleneck at the port, resulting in inefficient delays and rising costs,” said Shelley Simpson, chief commercial officer and executive vice president of people and human resources at J.B. Hunt. “We are providing customers with a complete solution that not only alleviates those challenges, it can accelerate their ability to meet domestic demand by offering a seamless port, transload and domestic outbound move.”
J.B. Hunt will have a company fleet dedicated to transporting inbound ocean freight from the port to the new facility. This is expected to minimize demurrage and per diem costs and increase turn time to prepare freight for domestic transport. Cargo containers will be loaded directly onto company-owned marine chassis and arrive at the J.B. Hunt facility for transloading to domestic equipment.
“A transloading model provides customers with a more efficient flow of international containers through the supply chain by eliminating imbalanced moves and turning boxes faster,” said Darren Field, president of intermodal and executive vice president at J.B. Hunt. “Having optionality between domestic intermodal and interior-point intermodal services will be important for our customers when uncertainties remain pervasive.”
In November, J.B. Hunt opened its first transload service in the New York metro area. It offers port drayage, transloading and inland linehaul services.
Shares of J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) were trading Wednesday afternoon at $162.54, down $1.57, or 0.95%. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has ranged between $153.92 and $218.18.