PHILADELPHIA-The Port of Philadelphia is about to get busier. Starting this month, about 150,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles will go through the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal annually.
The move is expected to generate about 100 new vessels going through the port each year and increase truck and rail traffic, says John Estey, chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. The vehicles will get processed at a finishing plant located at Pier 98 at Columbus Boulevard and Oregon Avenue.
Imported automobiles haven’t gone through the port in more than a decade, says Thomas Holt, president of Holt Logistics Corp., which handles leasing for the port. Glovis America, the logistics provider for Hyundai Motor Co., was formerly moving the vehicles through the ports of Baltimore and Newark.
The Hyundai development follows a deal by the port and a firm called Philly Ro-Ro Partners to make improvements to Pier 98 to make it suitable for automobile handling. Philly Ro-Ro, which is operating the 85-acre facility, pledged $3.7 million in improvements, while the port will spend $1 million.
Officials say the Hyundai traffic will create 276 full time jobs at the port and 415 jobs throughout the region. Hyundai vehicles are sold at about 800 dealerships throughout the country.
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