The first Mitsubishi Fuso medium-duty truck imported from Japan through the Port of Tacoma rolled off the Maersk Taiki on January 11, 2007 and directly into the adjacent 146-acre Marshall Avenue Auto Facility. With the arrival of that truck, the Port of Tacoma, WA, joined Baltimore, MD, Jacksonville, FL, and San Diego, CA, as a port of entry for Mitsubishi Fuso cabover medium-duty trucks. According to Robert E. McDowell, president and CEO of MFTA, "The addition of the Port of Tacoma to MFTA's logistical resources will shorten time to delivery significantly for our dealers and customers in the Pacific Northwest, on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the border." Previously, the company had to move its vehicles to the Pacific Northwest from San Diego or Baltimore. Andre Elmaleh, director of the Port's auto line of business said, as he watched the first Mitsubishi Fuso truck roll off the ship, "We are honored to have Mitsubishi Fuso call Tacoma home. Through our alliance with Auto Warehousing Company (AWC), our labor and transportation partners, automotive and trucking customers are well-positioned to succeed in Tacoma." In 2006, Elmaleh noted, more than 160,000 vehicles were processed through the Port of Tacoma. Port servicing of MFTA vehicles at the Port of Tacoma will be handled by Automotive Warehousing Company (AWC), one of the largest full-service vehicle processing companies in North America. AWC handles nearly 4.35 million vehicles annually from 21 vehicle processing facilities in the United States and Mexico. The company will receive all Fuso trucks arriving at the port from Japan, store the vehicles, add any port-installed options, prep them for delivery, and coordinate shipment to their final destination. About Mitsubishi Fuso
Headquartered in Logan Township, NJ, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc., is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation, Tokyo, part of DaimlerChrysler's Commercial Vehicle Division (CVD). MFTA markets a complete line of diesel-powered, medium-duty cabover trucks through more than 185 dealer locations throughout the United States and Canada. Currently, there are more than 80,000 Mitsubishi Fuso standard, 4-wheel-drive and crew cab trucks in use in the U.S. and Canada, fulfilling the transportation needs of a wide variety of businesses and industries, including beverage, refrigerated and dry cargo delivery fleets, vehicle recovery, towing, pest control, plumbing, light construction and landscaping. For more information, visit www.mitfuso.com.