By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTNot many companies are able to benefit from a major seaport when they are located 220 miles inland, close to a mountain range. However, when Ozburn-Hessey Logistics (OH Logistics) chose Winchester, VA, near the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains for a warehouse site, it found surprising advantages. The biggest advantage was the Virginia Port Authority’s inland seaport in the neighboring city of Front Royal. The Virginia Inland Port (VIP), just west of Washington, DC in Warren County, VA, is 220 miles inland and effectively brings the benefits of the Port of Virginia 220 miles closer to US markets. Five-day-a-week rail service between the VIP and the marine terminals in Hampton Roads allows direct access to the trade routes of 75 international shipping lines. OH Logistics was searching for a location to construct a new warehouse that would offer good access for its client to key markets on the eastern seaboard. The company began the site selection process with its internal partner ProVenture Commercial Real Estate in early 2005 and was particularly interested in a site that offered rail service. “We searched in a number of locations in the Northeast—New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania off of Interstate 81, as well as Norfolk, VA,” recalls Martin Meyer, senior vice president of ProVenture. While exploring locations in and around Norfolk and its Port of Virginia, Virginia Economic Development officials suggested Stonewall Industrial Park in Winchester, a site in close proximity to Interstates 81 and 66. The location is in the red-hot Northern Virginia logistics market an hour or so outside of Washington, DC. “They pointed out that if we located in Winchester we could import containers through the Port of Virginia in Norfolk where they could be shipped by train to the Virginia Inland Port, then hooked to a chassis and driven directly to the warehouse,” Meyer says. VIP is an intermodal container transfer facility located within a Foreign Trade Zone in Front Royal, 15 miles from the Winchester industrial park. It sounded good to OH Logistics, which ended up committing $15 million to construct a 300,000 square-foot built-to-suit multi-client distribution center in the Winchester industrial park. Developed as Class A space with a flexible design, the building can be expanded to 450,000 to 500,000 square feet when needed. “Not only were the land prices lower there than Norfolk, we found there were labor differences as well,” Meyer adds. “Plus, Norfolk has such waterfront with many tunnels and bridges that makes it difficult to traverse. If there’s a traffic jam in a tunnel or bridge, it can be held up for hours. A truck with a load for delivery needs to be able to get on the road quickly.” With Winchester’s location away from congestion, and the inland port offering the benefit of rail access, OH Logistics’ client can direct ship its products from its manufacturing site in Europe to the Winchester facility in a timely, dependable manner. That’s important since its client needs to replenish stock quickly. Meyer describes OH Logistics’ customer as “an importer of consumer goods similar to a canned drink sold in convenience stores.” “The particular product for the Winchester facility does not require refrigeration or cooling, but does require the building to be of food grade quality,” Meyer says. From its location in Winchester, OH Logistics transports its client’s product via less than truckload (LTL) shipments. “We drop off shipments at convenience stores, restaurants, Sam’s Clubs, Wal-Mart’s and do multi-type shipments from there,” he says. The company also operates other satellite locations for the client in Southern California, Florida and New Jersey. A huge benefit, Mr. Meyer adds, is that VIP makes it possible for shippers and logistics managers to deal in known quantities. “This is a nice feature for companies that locate in and around Front Royal,” Meyer states. VIP provides an interface between truck and rail fo