International Auto Shipping Hub Breaks Ground At Port Everglades; AutoTerminal America is First Tenant of Southport Expansion
11 October 2000
International Auto Shipping Hub Breaks Ground At Port Everglades; AutoTerminal America is First Tenant of Southport Expansion
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--Oct. 11, 2000--AutoTerminal America broke ground today at its new Port Everlades facility that will be its main distribution point for the shipment of an estimated 3,000 vehicles a month between Asia, Europe and the Middle East and the free-trade zone in the Caribbean and Central and South America.
AutoTerminal is an international company serving large-scale vehicle wholesalers. It provides a complete range of transportation services to ensure its customers' goods are delivered on time and in excellent condition. It has terminals in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the South Pacific, and ships cars, buses, heavy equipment and other vehicles worldwide. The company plans to have terminals in every major shipping hub in the world, including Korea, Japan, New Zealand, the Americas, the U.K. and Belgium.
AutoTerminal, which has a seven-year lease with Broward County, is the first new major tenant in the Port's Southport area, located in the southwest corner of the port property near the proposed railroad hub. The company will move an estimated $300 million worth of vehicle stock through Port Everglades on an annual basis. AutoTerminal will have 25 full-time employees and provide ongoing jobs for the Port's longshoremen.
The 10-acre site is scheduled to be completed by mid-December and will house AutoTerminal's 45,000-square-foot headquarters and repair and customization facility. The site will also have a paved lot large enough to hold thousands of vehicles awaiting shipment. The company is already handling several hundred vehicles per month using borrowed parking space while construction takes place.
Stephen Magee, AutoTerminal vice president of operations & ocean service division, said: "AutoTerminal is making a major commitment to Port Everglades by making it our home base for the United States, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. We expect this to become one of our busiest shipping hubs in a matter of just a few months."
Magee said cars would be shipped from Port Everglades to numerous countries in Central America and the countries of Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico.
Port Everglades Director Paul DeMariano said: "We are delighted with AutoTerminal's venture here at Port Everglades. For years, automobile cargo has identified ports north of Fort Lauderdale, primarily in spots such as Jacksonville, Fla., and Brunswick, Ga., where the availability of large land tracts and wide distribution networks are available. South Florida has had little or no auto business until this creative group arrived with their export program, which further diversifies our growing cargo base. We wish them well and plan to help however we can."
AutoTerminal's unique, interactive, business-to-business Internet web site--www.autoterminal.com--allows customers to place orders, track shipments and conduct virtual examinations of the exterior and interior of specific vehicles. Its terminals are fully secured.
The company guarantees damage-free delivery of customer vehicles, and has the facilities to repair and accessorize any vehicle according to customer demand at all of its worldwide terminals. AutoTerminal is the only independent auto shipping company with these comprehensive capabilities.
For more information about AutoTerminal America, contact Will Putnam at 954/331-1444, P.O. Box 22750, 4401 Macintosh Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33335