Honda uses new Richmond auto facility

Honda uses new Richmond auto facility    The Port of Richmond and Auto Warehousing Co. have opened a 100-acre automotive distribution facility at the port's Point Potrero Marine Terminal, with Honda using the terminal as a Northern California gateway for vehicle distribution.
   The revamped facility includes an extension of rail access directly into the port facilities, new road construction, truck loading facilities, paving and deepwater ship berth renovations.
   Honda said last year it would shift a significant portion of its imported vehicle volume from the Port of San Diego to Richmond. The manufacturer trucks vehicles to Northern California dealers and ships autos to points east using the BNSF Railway. In past years, Honda would truck its new vehicles from San Diego to Northern California dealers.
   Vehicle imports over the contract period are expected to generate more than $85 million of revenue for the Port of Richmond.
   'There is plenty of capacity available for other users — and that applies to rail infrastructure as well as terminal space,' said Todd Strever, director of BNSF's consumer products business unit, at the terminal's opening.