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Tampa's goal: top car port
By ANITA KUMAR and STEVE HUETTEL TALLAHASSEE -- The Port of Tampa has ambitious plans to become a distribution center for as many as 400,000 new cars a year, and it wants state aid to make it possible. "It would be a major gateway," John Thorington, director of government relations for the Tampa Port Authority, told legislators Wednesday. "It would put Tampa and Florida into a much more central role." Some of the cars would arrive by ship from assembly plants in Mexico for distribution throughout the Southeast and East Coast by rail, port officials say. They now move across the border on trucks or trains. But most of the vehicles -- as many as 250,000 a year -- would be brought by train from U.S. manufacturers for processing before being sent to dealers, mostly in Florida. The Tampa Port Authority is asking the state for $10-million to construct a facility on Hooker's Point that could be used to unload cars arriving by ship, rail or truck. Construction on the 53-acre center would take about six months. Chrysler already sends 26,000 of its Mexican-built Dodge Ram Trucks and retro-styled PT Cruisers through the Tampa port each year. DaimlerChrysler used to ship the vehicles by rail from Mexico to Jacksonville, then distribute them to dealers throughout the state. The move reflects the continuing effort to cash in on lucrative Mexican markets made more accessible by the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and its gradual elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers. Bulk cargo makes up more than 98 percent of 52-million tons that move through the Tampa port annually. Nearly half is fertilizer and the materials used to manufacture it -- phosphate rock, sulfuric acid, and anhydrous ammonia. Petroleum products destined for west and central Florida make up the rest. Lorenzo Alexander, manager of the seaport office of the state Department of Transportation, said the new deal would put Tampa in a better position to later serve South American countries, perhaps by exporting used cars. "I'm always in support of additional commerce coming into Florida," Alexander said. "It's one of the best ways to get vehicles here. . . . It'll be tough to compare to Jacksonville, though." Moving cars and trucks is a big business for Jacksonville's port. It handled nearly 580,000 vehicles last year, ranking as the nation's No. 2 gateway for cars and trucks in the nation behind the Port of New York/New Jersey. The trade supports about 1,000 jobs, mostly at three large auto processing companies, Jacksonville port spokesman Robert Peek said. Auto processors clean, inspect and fix any defects before new vehicles are shipped to dealers. They also install optional equipment such as roof racks, mud guards and side stripes. The Port of Tampa's auto distribution plan has received letters of support from General Motors, Gulf Caribbean Transport and Volkswagen, and the port has been in touch with two processors, International Auto Processing in Brunswick, Ga., and FAPS of Port Newark, N.J. FAPS touts itself as one of the largest processors in the biggest car-shipping port. The company handles about 400,000 vehicles a year and employs about 400 people, says Gary Love, sales and marketing director. If Tampa gets money for the distribution center, its next job will be convincing manufacturers to route their vehicles through the port, Love said. Getting vehicles shipped from Mexican plants through Tampa, rather than across the border over highways, could be an easy sell, he said. But processors in Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami already handle domestically manufactured cars headed for Florida dealerships, Love said.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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