The United States Trade and Development Agency is apparently a big believer in intermodal transportation – so much so that it is granting a Latin American logistics firm $750,000 to plan the construction of a $52.1-million intermodal terminal in Toluca, Mexico.
The grant is going to Grupo Transportacion Maritima Mexicana (TMM), a Latin American transportation and logistics company that controls an interest in TFM, one of Mexico’s largest railways. TMM wants to build a large intermodal rail erminal to integrate an automotive ramp for loading and unloading unfinished automobiles, an intermodal ramp for container and trailer movements, a cross dock and coil steel facilities.
Operations of the first phase of the terminal are scheduled to begin in August 2002, TMM said. TMM added that this terminal at Toluca will generate an estimated $100 million in potential services and equipment exports from the U.S. to Mexico, of which approximately $85 million corresponds to additional rail freight movement.
"Considering the potential demand for intermodal transportation of auto parts, we estimate that in its first year of operations, the terminal will handle over 16,250 imported containers from the U.S. into Mexico with an estimated value of $1 billion," said Jose Serrano, chairman & CEO of TMM and TFM.
