Lineage to open new cold-storage facility in at port of Long Beach
Lineage to open new cold-storage facility in at port of Long Beach
ORLANDO, FL — By the end of the year, Lineage Logistics is expected to open a new, 244,000-square-foot cold-storage facility at the port of Long Beach in Southern California.
The facility is designed specifically to handle the heavyweight containers often used in the importation of fruit, most notably from South America and Central America. John McGuire, vice president of produce for the San Antonio, TX-based company, said that the facility will be marketed for other temperature-sensitive products, but fresh fruit is expected to be the main utilizer of the space and services offered.
Representing Lineage Logistics at the recent PMA Fresh Summit convention were Scott Chapman, John McGuire, Carlos Silva and Tom Beduhn.
The facility will have 26,000 pallet positions and the capacity to handle 1,000 containers. There are 50 dock doors and six separate cooling chambers with the ability to hold multiple perishable products at the perfect temperature. The facility has a rail siding, allowing access to that mode of transportation. McGuire said Lineage will offer a suite of services including custom packing and reconditioning of troubled loads.
He told The Produce News that the impetus behind the addition of the facility was market demand. More fruit is being exported to the United States through the various Southern California ports and demand for cold storage continues to rise. He specifically mentioned avocados, citrus, tree fruit and grapes as potential early users of the facility, with exporters from both Chile and Peru already lined up as customers.
Lineage Logistics has cold-storage facilities throughout the United States, including at ports on both coasts and in close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. It also has commercial facilities in many different U.S. growing districts.
McGuire was hesitant to give an exact opening date, as the facility is in the Long Beach port zone and needs approval from several different governmental entities before opening its doors. He was confident, however, that the opening would occur before the end of this year.
