By Robert L. Wallack, AJOT What do computers and roller coasters have in common? These are just two of the items Pacific Coast Container, Inc. moves through their Port of Oakland, California, and other West Coast container freight stations (CFS). General, temperature-sensitive, and overdimensional cargo are conveyed through PCC’s facilities for import and export customers. TransPacific intermediaries can rely on PCC’s transloading, consolidation, and inspection services as well as their Direct Delivery trucking division for on-time supply chain needs. The company began in 1988 and currently has three facilities within the Port of Oakland harbor area. All are no more than two miles from any ocean carrier pier. The largest, and main PCC facility is on 2.5 paved acres with 100,000 cubic feet of frozen storage capacity and 6,000 square feet of chilled space. There is also 58,500 square feet warehouse on the site. The second facility is the Pacific Transload System with about the same yard space, frozen/chilled storage capacity, and warehouse space. These two operations make use of port area rail connections and major interstate and state highways. Each facility has numerous truck doors, reefer plugs, and Railcar capacity for Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) service. In addition, PCC is government approved as a Central Examination Station at the main facility and both can handle USDA inspections and are US Customs bonded warehouses. Maintaining the cold chain chain Pacific Coast’s reputation is built on their capacity and their skills in direct transload or consolidation of refrigerated shipments. Frozen foodstuffs, meat, poultry, or produce arrives from the Mid-West or Southeast in refrigerated railcars or trucks to the Port of Oakland. PCC’s enclosed chilled storage areas hold the goods and handle terminal trucking via their Pacific Coast Transportation for awaiting of Mitsui OSK, APL, OOCL, Hanjin, Hyundai or Maersk vessels. Michael J. McDonnell, President and Jean Paul Weber, Vice President of Sales, Pacific Coast Container, Inc. explained to the American Journal of Transportation how loads go out as direct transload from truck to ocean containers for export, or are consolidated. “From trucks or railroad cars, we gather and store components to a consolidation load for shippers. For a supplier of pork, bacon or any refrigerated items, we will hold until all items arrive, handle program temperature settings, and even manage USDA inspection services, if not already performed at origin,” Weber explained. Frozen food items are bound for Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan. A major challenge for PCC is to keep a temperature-controlled environment for “continuity of temperature” from the time the pork or beef is trucked into the storage areas. For example, Japan represents a growing segment of the business for chilled and temperature-controlled goods. “We must maintain the cold chain,” said McDonnell. Transit time to Japan is twelve days. PCC operates other container freight stations on the West Coast serving ports in Seattle, Tacoma,and Olympia, Washington and Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. Ports in San Francisco and Richmond, California are also served from Oakland. Pacific Coast Container Northwest began in 1995 and has 23,000 and 18,000 square foot facilities within the Port of Seattle. Another full service facility is located at the Port of Tacoma with 40,000 square feet of warehousing. Lastly, Pacific Coast Container Southwest and Pacific Transload Systems Southwest began business in 1998 in Carson, California. All of these facilities have truck doors, railcar capacity, and reefer plugs and are served by either Union Pacific or BNSF. Full service includes USDA, US Customs and in-house trucking for importers and exporters. “The Pacific Northwest operations are the same as what we do here (in Oakland). A huge amount of fish as well as meat, poultry, and pork,” said McDonnell. Fish comes from Alaska for do