Key to the metro’s high ranking is the Port of Oakland, established in 1927 as an autonomous department of the city of Oakland. The port oversees Oakland International Airport, the Oakland seaport and 19 miles of waterfront.

Honolulu-based Unicold Corp., a freight consolidator of food products to Hawaii and Guam, opened a new loading facility at the port earlier this year.

The 20,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility has 30 truck bays on one side and rail siding that can hold up to 12 boxcars on the other. Both the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads serve the facility.

By using the overweight route, the container loads can be maximized, holding more product and reducing the number of truck trips.

“This facility in Oakland will not only allow us to enhance the business we handle between Oakland and Hawaii and Guam, but positions us to expand our freight consolidation business to the growing Asian and Pacific Rim markets as well,” said Darryl Kawano, general manager for Unicold.

Unicold expanded its operations to Oakland in 1978 and has been at the Port of Oakland for 12 years.

The new facility is on the port’s overweight route that can support up to 95,000 pounds gross.

“It’s temperature controlled and significantly larger than Unicold’s former facility at the port,” said Jerry Bridges, maritime director for the port.

The Oakland seaport, which handled more than 1.9 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2003 and is the fourth busiest container port in the United States, moves about $26 billion worth of goods annually through the maritime facilities. The seaport is responsible for more than 9,000 jobs in the region and contributes $1.7 billion to the area economy.

China Trade Spurs Seattle Port

Trade with China has resulted in record growth for The Port of Seattle. The port expects to handle 1.72 million TEUs in 2004, breaking the previous annual record for cargo containers moving across its docks of 1.54 million TEUs in 1998. Cargo growth for 2005 is projected at between 4 percent and 8 percent.

Seattle was ranked as the No. 4 logistics metro in the western United States.

An economic impact study issued in September showed that Seattle’s seaport generates 34,500 jobs, $2.13 billion in payroll, $2.39 billion in business revenue, $431 million in local spending and $211 million in state and local taxes.

“We’ve invested close to $1 billion in our container terminals, waterways and inland transportation projects during the past dozen years,” said M. R. Dinsmore, CEO of the Port of Seattle. “Our facilities are larger, more efficient and well equipped to handle our customers needs now and into the future.”

The growth in cargo is driven largely by trade with China, which became the Port of Seattle’s largest trading partner by container volume, tonnage and dollar value in 2003.

Import distribution centers operated by major importers such as Target, Wal Mart and The Home Deport also have opened in the Puget Sound in recent years, adding cargo growth.

“As economies around the world recover and grow, we need to be ready to meet the challenges and opportunities,” Dinsmore said. “Investing in our trade and transportation infrastructure is essential to our success as a port and as a region, competing in a global economy.”

Inland Logistics Hubs

When most people think of West Coast logistics, they think in terms of foreign trade with Asia. Major ports are located up and down the coast from San Diego to Seattle, serving as centers for commerce with Asian trading partners.

However, the western United States also represents a major market in and of itself, and inland logistics hubs are expanding every year as low-cost alternatives to the more expensive coastal cities.

Just as Arizona once sold itself as a low-cost alternative to California, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., metro (No. 9) has positioned itself as being a low-cost logistics alternative to the coastal counties of San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles.

Located just east of Los Angeles, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro sits at the crossroads of the rail and highway routes leaving from the major coastal ports. It is also one of the fastest growing metros in the United States, with a population of more than 3 million.

The metro, which markets itself as the Inland Empire, has five airports with runways at least 10,000 feet: Ontario International Airport has two (12,200 feet and 10,200 feet), as does the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville; the Greater Los Angeles March Global Port (joint use with the U.S. Air Force Base) in Riverside; San Bernardino International Airport & Trade Center; and Palm Springs International Airport.

The Southern California Logistics Airport and the San Bernardino International Airport, as former military bases, both qualify as Local Military Base Recovery Areas and, therefore, offer California enterprise zone incentives to companies choosing to locate a facility on airport property.

In addition, UPS’ Western headquarters is located adjacent to the Ontario airport and offers direct cargo flights to China.