Oakland port to get boost with new cold-storage unit
Facility expected to broaden ability to handle frozen foods
OAKLAND » A huge new Oakland port depot for cuttingedge cold storage will add jobs and dramatically broaden the shipping hub’s capabilities, officials said Thursday.
The 280,000- square-foot facility is expected to greatly broaden the Port ofOakland’s ability to handle frozen and chilled foods.
The new cold storage warehouse, which will be able to handle up to 1 million tons of product annually, was created through a partnership of Lineage Logistics, whose expertise is in temperaturecontrolled supply chains and logistics; and Dreisbach Enterprises, which provides refrigerated warehousing facilities.
“We believe this is a gamechanger for the supply chain at the port,” said Mike Zampa, a spokesman for the Port of Oakland. “It is the biggest development the port and its partners have brought on-line in years.”
The Lineage Cool Port facility has a direct railway connection at one of its entrances, which creates access to an array of rail lines.
“Cool Port is now one of the fastest, most cost-effective and quality-controlled-means of transporting perishable foods internationally,” said Greg Lehmkuhl, president of Lineage Logistics.
Among the new customers that are expected: suppliers of frozen meats and other perishable goods that are located in the Midwest that might be delivering to recipients in Asia.
“We’ll more efficiently connect U.S. producers to Asian markets and in the process create hundreds of jobs in our own backyard,” said Jason Dreisbach, president of Dreisbach Enterprises.
About 150 to 200 new jobs are expected to be created, Zampa said.
“The hiring will increase as volume ramps up,” Zampa said.
“Cool Port is now one of the fastest, most cost-effective and quality-controlled means of transporting perishable foods internationally” — Greg Lehmkuhl, president of Lineage Logistics