A new statistical analysis shows that the Quonset Business Park's Port of Davisville is now in the top five auto importers in North America. The ranking is indicative of the rapid growth and success of auto importing the Port. The statistics compiled by PIERS Maritime Research Services and the Quonset Development Corp. (QDC) analyzed the top 37 auto importers in North America for the time period November 2007 to October 2008.
The analysis showed the Port of Davisville imported more autos than other busy ports across the country, including ports in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Savannah, among others. North America's top auto importer is the Port of New York and New Jersey, according to the PIERS data, with almost 219,000 autos in the 2007/2008 data. Portland ranked second followed by Jacksonville and San Diego. Of 1.37 million cars imported to North America each year, the Port of Davisville accounted for 91,000 autos or about 7% of the total.
And that number is expected to increase since the most recent expansion at the Port of Davisville is not reflected in the PIERS analysis. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008, VW moved its auto import business from Wilmington, Del., to Quonset putting the port on pace to receive 125,000 cars in 2009. North Atlantic Distribution (NORAD) receives Subarus, Audis, VWs and Bentleys from Germany, Japan and Mexico.
The Port, which has no docking delay and is one day closer to Europe than any other port south of Rhode Island, is competitively attractive for companies that import autos to North America. With no harbor maintenance fee, secure access and a sheltered harbor, the Port has several other advantages including competitive tariffs, dockage and wharfage fees which position Quonset for ongoing growth.
The Port of Davisville offers 4,500 linear feet of berthing space, consisting of two piers (each 1,200 feet in length), a bulkhead, 29 ft controlling depth - mean low water, on-dock rail, and a 14 acre lay down area. 
The growing auto import business at the Port has already created new jobs at the waterfront and we anticipate further increases. Quonset-based auto importer NORAD employs 300 people, having added over 50 new jobs in the last three months.
The Business Park infrastructure improvements, including rail and highway upgrades have also created a climate for ongoing growth. Internal rail improvements and the freight rail improvement project (FRIP) now mean that cars can travel triple-decked via rail. For road traffic, the recently completed Rte. 403 project provides for direct highway access from the Business Park.
The news of the Top 5 placement comes on the heels of other good news for Quonset, which has seen 2,400 new jobs in the business park in the last four years. In the same time frame, there has been $170 million in private investment at Quonset, with another $126 million in the pipeline.
Steven King, P.E. is the managing director of the Quonset Development Corp., North Kingstown.