Lineage Logistics, Dreisbach Open Cool Port Food Warehouse at Port of Oakland
Lineage Logistics and Dreisbach Enterprises opened a modernistic cold storage and logistics facility at the Port of Oakland to handle food imports and exports.
“Cool Port is a game changer for global trade and the local economy,” said Jason Dreisbach, president of Dreisbach Enterprises, a warehouse and logistics services provider based in Oakland, Calif. “We’ll more efficiently connect U.S. producers to Asian markets and in the process create hundreds of jobs in our own backyard.”
The 280,000-square-foot facility with 90 truck dock doors will move up to 1 million tons of meat and other perishable food products through the port each year. The 25-acre site includes rail transload and truck cross-dock operations, frozen and refrigerated storage, and on-site U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection and labeling capabilities.
The Cool Port facility will use 100% electric-powered cargo-handling equipment and lightweight chassis and tractors to transport goods on the site to save energy and minimize emissions.
“Cool Port is now one of the fastest, most cost-effective and quality-controlled means of transporting perishable foods internationally,” Lineage Logistics CEO Greg Lehmkuhl said in a statement Nov. 1.
Port of Oakland Executive Director Chris Lytle said the Cool Port facility will employ about 200 people while enhancing the port’s position as a hub for ocean transport of chilled and frozen meat products.
“The jobs created, the cargo added and the sustainable operation Lineage and Dreisbach support mean we all benefit from Cool Port,” Lytle said.
Dreisbach Enterprises, founded in 1953, provides warehousing and distribution services throughout Northern California. Logistics services include drayage and shuttle transportation, overweight container hauling, order fulfillment and freight brokerage. Dreisbach Freight Services operates a fleet of 56 tractors and 60 trailers, according to registration data filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Lineage Logistics ranks No. 18 on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of largest logistics companies in North America and is the second-largest operator of refrigerated warehouses.
Based in Novi, Mich., Lineage Logistics was formed in 2012 and is controlled by Bay Grove, a San Francisco investment firm.
In July, some early investors in Lineage sold their stake for $700 million to Stonepeak Partners LP, D1 Capital Partners and other current investors.
Lineage Logistics operates warehouses in every state except Alaska and Hawaii. It has facilities in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium.
On Nov. 12, Lineage Logistics bolstered its operations in the U.K. with the purchase of Yearsley Group Ltd. Yearsley operates a network of 12 cold storage facilities with a fleet of 300 trucks.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but included in the deal is Yearsley Food, which supplies frozen food to retail, food service, food manufacturing and export markets.
Altogether, Lineage Logistics now offers more than 800 million cubic feet of combined storage space in 105 facilities.
