Hamilton Logistics: Rail, Road, Air and Port
Hamilton is one of the prime North American Gateways for global goods movement, logistics and distribution, and has few rival cities that can offer all four modes of transportation – rail, road, air, and port – with lower costs along with efficient and uncongested global connections to serve external markets.
Recent infrastructure investments in the new Red Hill Valley Parkway and terminal expansion at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport are but two examples that have facilitated business investments.
Hamilton’s location, infrastructure, and amenities provide cost-effective movement of both residents and industries alike, according to a December 2008 Metrolinx report: Cost of Road Congestion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA); Impact and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Metrolinx Draft Regional Transportation Plan, which indicates that Hamilton has the lowest Travel Time Index and the lowest increase in travel time due to congestion. The report goes on to suggest that Hamilton also has the lowest cost of excessive congestion within the GTHA as experienced by commuters.
“Between our physical location and existing infrastructure, we’re a good fit for the movement of goods. We are one of the few Canadian cities where you can have access to everything regardless of the mode,” says Sue Rimac, Business Development Consultant with Hamilton’s Economic Development Division. “We’re populated by companies that rely on this infrastructure to move their products,” she explains. “As an example, Canada Bread required a location where from start to shelf it needed to be an eight hour time frame and because of this they chose Hamilton because of the advantages of our transportation infrastructure.”
This degree of success continues to bring growth and investments into Hamilton.
In March 2014, Cargojet and the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport announced a partnership in the Airport’s $12 million Air Cargo Logistics Facility. Cargojet will occupy approximately half of the 77,000 square foot facility for both office and dedicated warehouse space.
“This initiative will allow Cargojet to enhance efficiency when handling our customers’ products in a safe, secure, and temperature controlled environment,” said Ajay K. Virmani, President and CEO of Cargojet. “We look forward to strengthening our relationship with the Hamilton International Airport as we grow our overnight air cargo network significantly with the recently awarded major new contract by Canada Post and Purolator that will potentially double the size of our business.”
Hamilton’s logistics industries continue to see growth and new investments because of its long-term planning and infrastructure investments including the availability of a variety of convenient development and business park spaces. The most recent addition currently in development is the privately owned Aeropark, within the city-owned Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD). The project has the potential to bring 588 hectares of new land for factories, offices, and warehouses into service.
“We’re really seeing growth in this area and I’m sure we’ll see more movement in the future. In the last four months I’ve had two companies looking at Hamilton as a transportation hub for distribution in Ontario,” says Rimac. “We’re getting a lot of people looking at Hamilton as the next gateway to Canada. We have one of the busiest ports, a 24/7 airport, highways, rail, and intermodal services all within the city.”
If you’re looking to advance your Goods Movement trade, business-to-business introductions, cross referrals, site selection, organization memberships, information and resources sharing, visit www.investinhamilton.ca/key-industries/goods-movement.
