North American importers and exporters will gain more cross-dock transload capacity in their Pacific Northwest (PNW) supply chains during the 2021 peak season.
That’s thanks to Maersk and Canadian Pacific’s construction of a new facility with strategic connectivity to the port of Vancouver via rail or truck directly into the warehouse. The 117,0000-square-foot, 103-door facility is expected to open Sept. 1, offering cross-dock services designed to make PNW supply chains more resilient, flexible and cost-effective.
The ability to cross-dock into 53-foot trailers enables customers to achieve overall cost savings per cubic meter for domestic distribution.
“We’re excited about adding more Pacific supply chain distribution capacity and expertise at a time when customers are looking to find new ways to keep pace with consumer demand and be more sustainable with their carbon emissions,” Omar Shamsie, president of Maersk Canada, said. “The logistics goal of this facility is to allow customers more time and flexibility in decision-making. They can now easily make destination routing decisions upon arrival at the discharge port instead of at origin.”
Maersk noted that the facility is a key pivot point in supply chain management. For example, Busan, South Korea, to Vancouver transit time is 16 days. When container loading at origin of seven to 10 days and drop off at load port of one to four days are added, the real transit can be 25 to 30 days transit.
During that time window, customer orders change all the time. With a cross-dock option, customers have much better response capabilities to demand fluctuations while reducing inventory costs of storage, the company said.
To support customer decarbonization goals, the Vancouver warehouse is designed to leverage the use of Canadian Pacific rail service direct from the port as a lower carbon emission choice than multiple trucks in the port complex and on local roads.
The new facility reflects Maersk’s strategic plan to grow logistics and services capabilities for customer supply chains by adding more capacity and flexibility for decision-making. Maersk Warehousing & Distribution operates 46 locations in North America designed to offer a seamless end-to-end customer experience.