Maersk Canada targets landside logistics asset with new Vancouver facility to solve North American supply chain woes
Maersk and Canadian Pacific (CP) opened the new 117,000 square foot, 103 door Pacific Transload Express facility designed to make Asia/Pacific Northwest (PNW) supply chains more resilient, flexible and cost-effective, according to Maersk's release. The ability to transload international containers into domestic 53-foot trailers enables customers to achieve overall cost savings (per cubic meter) for domestic distribution, while reducing storage costs related to port demurrage and inland detention.
Supply chains flowing through the facility will be fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the retail and lifestyle segment that need agile response capabilities to consumer demand fluctuations. FMCG will comprise 80-90% of the volumes and auto parts 10-20%.
Bringing this new supply chain asset into play today marks an important new Asia/PNW gateway chapter for customers looking for faster order fulfillment achieved through integrated logistics.
Construction of the facility and rail infrastructure was completed last month with Maersk commencing the transloading operation of the facility on Sept. 1. The first containers arrived at the facility earlier this week.
CP will shuttle containers by rail from the three major Vancouver container terminals to the Pacific Transload Express facility. CP built the facility on CP land adjacent to its Vancouver Intermodal Facility to offer optimal transload services with fewer handoffs and better accountability of service.
Currently, transit times range from 35 to 75 days from Asia to North America from factory at origin to a distribution center at destination. With such a big variation, it is difficult for companies to plan supply chain management well while meeting the heightened expectation of cargo delivery to the end consumers. As a result, most companies buy products in advance and build higher safety stock to mitigate the transit time fluctuation, positioning storage solutions closer to their customers.
To support customer environmental social governance (ESG) goals, the Pacific Transload Express facility specifically integrates and extends the use of CP rail service direct from the port of Vancouver as a lower carbon emission choice than multiple trucks in the port complex and on local roads. The new facility will eliminate over 100,000 truck trips per year in the Vancouver area (almost 60,000 round trips per year), and save over 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions /year which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions of 9,261 barrels of oil consumed. The reductions have two sources: First the shorter direct rail connection between Centerm, Vanterm and Deltaport and the transload facility vs. a triangle route by truck, reducing miles the cargo is moved, and second, the energy efficiency of rail, which is 3-4 times more energy efficient than trucking.
Maersk Warehousing & Distribution will be the exclusive operator of the Pacific Transload Express facility which integrates with the company’s 45 other locations in North America designed to offer a simple, seamless end-to-end customer experience.
About A.P. Moller - Maersk
A.P. Moller - Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs 80,000 people.
