DC Velocity - January 2019

newsworthy

SOME PEOPLE THINK WE’RE IN THE WAREHOUSE BUSINESS.

UniCarriersAmericas.com

Warehousing-DCV half-pg vert-Split Ads-KYLN.indd 1 12/10/18 5:08 PM

Meat processing company Smithfield Foods recently held a grand opening for its 500,000-square-foot distribution center located in Tar Heel, N.C. The new facility will help the company optimize its transportation and distribution network to reduce fuel consumption, cut transportation costs, and improve delivery times.

… Real estate merchant banking firm Dekel Capital has arranged $34.3 million in construction financing on behalf of Texas-based industrial developer Xebec for a speculative 537,000-square-foot Class-A logistics facility in Lakeland, Fla. … Crane Worldwide Logistics, a supply chain solutions company, has announced the opening of a new facility in Savannah, Ga. The facility, which is strategically located near the Port of Savannah, will consist of two buildings totaling more than 500,000 square feet.

ground breakers

As autonomous vehicle technology moves closer to general use, researchers in Florida are nearly finished developing a test track where engineers can safely unleash driverless cars, business leaders said recently.

In an announcement at the Florida Autonomous Vehicle Summit, developers released the latest sketches of the planned 2.25-mile-long “Sun Trax” test track at a 475-acre plot in Polk County, located midway between Orlando and Tampa. The $42 million oval track represents a long-term partnership between the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, and Florida Polytechnic University.

The Florida track will be the latest site designed for unmanned car testing. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation designated 10 “proving ground pilot sites,” including the Michigan Technical Resource Park in Ottawa Lake, Mich., and GoMentum Station in Concord, Calif.

Slated for completion by spring 2021, Florida’s Sun Trax facility will be available for preliminary rental use this spring, offering what officials call the only high-speed autonomous vehicle testing facility in the Southeastern U.S.

Visitors testing their experimental cars at the site will be able to choose from various environments on the 200-acre infield area. The design is intended to challenge autonomous vehicles by requiring them to navigate obstacles like an urban area (with shipping containers used to replicate buildings), a suburban area, and an airport pickup/dropoff area, officials said.