Major New Air Cargo Center for Southern California

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners has approved a 40-year lease agreement with Aeroterm to develop and manage an international air cargo center at the Ontario International Airport, located in Southern California’s Inland Empire.

The Ontario airport currently handles more than 600,000 tons of airfreight each year-a figure that is expected to increase for 2007. It is located between three major freeways and boasts two runways in excess of 10,000 feet and a 24-hour operating environment.

Under the agreement, Aeroterm will construct approximately 1 million square feet of facilities, the first phase of which will be operational within two years of the lease commencement.

With cargo in the Southern California region expected to triple over the next 25 years, the 94-acre site provides a consolidated location for interlining, line-haul, forwarding, ground handling and many other cargo-related business models.

U.S. Agricultural Shippers Facing Container Crunch

Just when U.S. exporters of agricultural goods began celebrating brisk sales due to the weak dollar, a serious shortage of ocean containers is threatening to ruin the party.

Exports of farm goods, in particular specialty grains from the Midwest, are up due but there’s a shortage of containers to move the product. And, Midwest shippers are already dealing with this problem because of the huge volume of containerized shipments that come into the country, which means containers tend to end up at distribution centers or near seaport gateways. Making the problem worse has been the recent rate hikes charged by ocean carriers for containers that are moved inland.

Some shippers are dealing with the situation by moving product by truck to where the containers are, and paying higher costs to do so, or agreeing to pay higher overall ocean carrier rates.