Location is everything, except when it's not.

Just ask the Port of Baltimore, which is ideally situated on the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Its inland location also means there's less distance between the manufacturer, the port, and the marketplace. Exports are one day closer to the port from manufacturing plants, while imports benefit from the shorter distance to dealers and consumers in the Baltimore-Washington region-the fourth largest consumer market in the U.S.

While geographical advantages have helped the port position itself as the top U.S. port for automobile exports and a leading port for two-way trade, auto shippers are attracted by a host of other features.

IT Drives Customer Satisfaction . . .

One of the Port of Baltimore's newest quality control tools is a bar code scanning system designed to capture detailed information about every vehicle that moves through the port.

"The driver is scanned too," says Mel Bafford, automobile and project cargo general manager for the Port of Baltimore. This, Bafford explains, allows the port to help pinpoint the source of any damage to a vehicle. But damage is rare. Indeed, the port boasts some of the lowest damage rates in the country. The bar code scanning system also assists manufacturers and carriers in keeping track of inventory.

Complementing this system is the Port of Baltimore's nationally recognized "white glove" service, which ensures that each vehicle receives the utmost care from the moment it leaves the ship through its processing and all the way to dealer delivery.

The movement of vehicles and cargo within the port is facilitated by the Maryland Port Administration Terminal Operating System, called NAVIS, which services customers through the fully integrated NAVES EXPRESS/ SPARCS system.

EXPRESS manages all terminal business transactions, such as billing, import/export processing, bookings, EDI support, gate activity, and equipment management. EXPRESS enables streamlined EDI with terminal customers and can be configured to support each customer's unique procedures and business rules. Built-in interfaces to various gate techniques enable instant data input, which gets trucks moving through the gates faster.

SPARCS integrates real-time terminal planning and operational control, optimizing utilization of labor, yard space, and handling equipment to achieve maximum productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

Meanwhile, the port also supplies portable, hand-held radio frequency mini-computers to longshore workers so they can enter vital information directly into the port's computer system and review critical cargo data at the worksite.

. . . and Superior Facilities Shift it Into High Gear

The Port of Baltimore has several auto processing facilities. One of the newest is the 55-acre Masonville Auto Facility. Masonville has the capacity to handle up to 125,000 vehicles annually, with an option to add up to 70 additional acres to the facility.

Dundalk Marine Terminal is the largest terminal at the port. Earlier this year, Volvo Cars of North America, a member of the Ford Motor Company, signed a three-year agreement with the Port of Baltimore to handle the import of Volvos to the Northeast U.S. During the first year of operation, Volvo will process up to 33,000 vehicles through the port.

"Our projections for sales growth in North America makes it necessary and viable for us to reconfigure our port operations in the Northeast," commented Mark LaNeve, president and CEO for Volvo Cars of North America. "Baltimore has the capacity and geographical location to let us grow with our market and, at the same time, offers significant efficiencies in inland transportation."

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, uses the port's 50-acre Fairfield complex. The facility's buildings house a car wash, body shop, and accessory shop for installing options such as air conditioning and stereos. Toyota, which signed a 15-year lease when the terminal opened, processes autos and trucks bound for its more than 100 dealers in the mid-Atlantic region. Fairfield's custom design and layout have enabled Toyota's Baltimore operation to record some of the lowest damage rates of any of the company's U.S. facilities.

In addition to Volvo and Toyota, the Port of Baltimore has substantial business from other auto manufacturers: "Ninety-seven percent of Chrysler's exports go through our port," Bafford says.

And that's not all. Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines signed a 20-year contract with the Port of Baltimore last January to make the port its North Atlantic hub. The carrier is the world's largest provider of ocean transportation for autos and roll on/roll off cargo. According to Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the contract is the "largest shipping deal for the Port of Baltimore in its nearly 300-year history."

Three months later, the port signed another contract with the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)-a 10-year deal that rates as the largest container agreement on record for the Port of Baltimore. Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy identified the port's skilled labor force as key to the deal.

"This business is significant because it increases the volume of containers moving through the Port of Baltimore," Kennedy says. "Handling this type of cargo is labor intensive and this expansion of business by MSC proves once again that Baltimore has the most efficient, skilled labor force of any port on the East Coast."