World Distribution Services (WDS), a Cleveland-based warehouse logistics solutions provider, on Oct. 10 announced the opening of a new 300,000-square-foot Tacoma, Washington distribution facility. The new facility is the company’s first on the West Coast and its fourth new location in less than two years.
Fully staffed and operational, the WDS Tacoma facility offers cross-dock and transload services, distribution and fulfillment and e-commerce capability.
“With a 36-foot clear height, 46 dock doors, a state-of-the-art warehouse management system and parking for trailers, the new location offers a variety of storage and distribution solutions to the region and acts as a gateway to the U.S. interior for importers using the ports of Seattle and Tacoma,” WDS said in a statement.
“Responding to market demand, as well as the specific needs of our customers, WDS has been aggressively growing, opening four facilities, totaling over one million square feet of warehouse space, over the last 24 months,” World Distribution Services Vice President Dale Young said.
“With this facility, we not only provide support for the Sun Chief express (ocean) service, we also firmly establish WDS as a player on the West Coast,” he added.
In addition to providing warehouse capacity to the Seattle-Tacoma region, the new facility offers cross-docking and inland distribution service, helping move freight further inland while avoiding the congestion that can occur at other West Coast ports, according to WDS.
Combined with a recent announcement from the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) about its expansion of domestic intermodal capacity, customers can count on freight moving quickly, WDS said.
World Group, the Ohio-based parent company of WDS, offers differentiated brands that deliver industry-leading products, including across ocean drayage and domestic trucking, freight forwarding/NVOCC, air freight, chartering and customs house brokerage.
The new distribution facility, World Group said, would support WDS’s freight forwarding sister company, UWL, which has contracted with Swire Shipping to launch the Sun Chief express ocean service from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to Seattle.
“By opening this new facility, WDS has helped push World Group’s companies into every link of the supply chain, providing an end-to-end, streamlined package to deliver high-value, seamless solutions for customers,” the company said.
“As our customers diversify their operations, they are looking to us as their partner to provide warehouse support in a variety of port markets throughout the U.S.,” Young added. “Our goal is to continue to swiftly respond to our customers’ needs, offering more than just warehouse capacity, but top-notch service and creative solutions.”