Toyota Shipping Process

NorthStar · Mar 16, 2004

Since a high percentage of Toyota imports come through Portland I've looked for information about that process. Here is some pertinent info from an Online Insider article, Oct. 21, 2002 posted at this link: http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/special/sp021021.htm

Toyota's Process Green philosophy extends to the ships it uses as much as to its buildings and cars. The New Century ships it launched in 2001 carry 1,000 more cars than normal vehicle ships, but use 17 percent less fuel and emit 26 percent less nitrogen oxide.

The work that automakers perform at the port closely resembles an assembly line, adding on elements like running boards, audio systems, tow hitches and roof racks. Honda and Hyundai farm out this work to Auto Warehousing Co., which is not the only service provider firm benefiting from a critical mass of vehicles using Portland as a nexus. Toyota, however, does this work itself - only now that work will be performed on one continuous parcel, not four separate tracts. Â

Toyota automobiles are loaded into railcars for transport to the interior of the country.

The Port originally opened in 1919, and the first load of cars hit Portland in 1956 - a ship full of Volkswagen Beetles. Today, Portland handles the most automobiles of any port on the North American West Coast, and ranks third nationally, moving around nine percent of all imported and exported U.S. cars. A location 105 miles (167 kilometers) inland from the ocean makes it even more attractive to carmakers, limiting exposure to salt during loading and unloading. Â

Perhaps more important than the shipping channels are the truck and rail connections those ships make: Around 85 percent of all vehicles imported at the Port of Portland are immediately transported by truck or rail to the nation's interior. Â

Rail from Portland is especially attractive, as the route inland is the only one on the whole coast to follow the river grade, without having to traverse mountains. This geographical fact has induced major railroads to invest heavily in their own infrastructure and facilities there.

This info was published Oct 2002: Currently, Toyota processes its 160,000 new vehicles annually in a 67,000-sq.-ft. (6,224.3-sq.-m.), 26-year-old complex located on a hill above the Port's Terminal 4.

Consistent with company operating philosophy, many of the parts used at Toyota's North American manufacturing plants are U.S.-sourced. And Toyota imports fewer than 40 percent of its vehicles sold in North America. But about two-thirds of those imports come through two ports that use ILWU labor - Portland and Los Angeles/Long Beach. Toyota also exports vehicles to Japan and Taiwan, as well as Europe and other locations, having shipped out 10,575 vehicles in 2001. Â
Â Â Â Â \"On average, ships carrying our vehicles arrive every two to three days,\" said Smith. \"Typically, there are about 3,500-4,500 vehicles on each ship. Ships transporting parts arrive daily with approximately 25 containers per shipment.\"
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I previously reposted this link from schusterck at YG elsewhere but repeat it again here. It offers a little bit of information about actual shipping schedules:

Can't remember where I picked this up - but try:
http://www.toyofuji.co.jp/english/haisen/haise_f.html
- ChrisSilver '04 AM
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Of course these numbers reflect all Toyota lines and not only the Prius. Additionally the ships coming into Portland service Long Beach as well and possibly Oakland.

Mark

Toyota Shipping Process

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Toyota Shipping Process

NorthStar Junior Member