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Most people don’t think about how their car gets from an overseas manufacturing plant to their local dealership. In the case of asian import cars shipped to Canada they all come through two terminals on the Fraser River. One of those, Fraser Wharves, is the port of entry for every Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki built in Japan and Korea.

Storing, upgrading and shipping thousands of cars could be chaos. The Fraser Wharves operations team has turned a logistical nightmare into a smooth operation despite having to coordinate multiple actors including the shipping companies, longshoremen, Canadian Customs, CN Rail, the car companies and their own 140 employees.

Operations Manager, Jerry Duncan, and Assistant Manager, Daniel Mosquera make sure Fraser Wharves run smoothly, even when there isn’t a ship to unload.

The dock sat empty on a wet Friday morning last week, but workers shunted cars all over the lot. Cars and trucks in a variety of colours and models were sorted by destination. The hoods still adored with white protective wrap were scrawled on with black, red and green marker. City names and lot codes were on every vehicle. The cars ready to go were moved into the correct line and then driven on the train. Other vehicles requiring upgrades were sent to the shop for alterations. A handful of workers raced around installing leather seats, roof racks and new stereos.

80 per cent of the cars through the terminal are loaded on rail cars and sent across the country. Currently the CN track carries the trains on a long loop through Richmond, but this may change soon.

Terminal operations are tied to plans by CN to build a new spur line running parallel to the south arm of the Fraser River, from No. 9 Road to Fraser Wharves. There is some controversy about the location of the new route, as it will run directly beside the new Waterstone Pier condominiums. Mosquera acknowledged the controversy but said CN’s decision was independent of Fraser Wharves. As CN’s main customer is Richmond it is hard to believe that Fraser Wharves wouldn’t play a role in making the final decision about the location for the new track.

Security is another major issue for Duncan and Mosquera. The thousands of cars covering multiple lots are a significant target for theft and vandalism. The keys remain in the cars to make moving them at anytime easier, so concrete barriers had to be installed around the perimeter. This hasn’t stopped the odd thief from trying, but Mosquera made it clear that successful theft is very rare. Most people that break in are kids trying to get a closer look at the cool new model before their friends.

Sometimes even the best security and most efficient operations aren’t enough to protect all the cars. A couple months ago a beaver living in a pond adjacent to one of the lots fell a tree that crashed through the perimeter fence and crushed a Toyota.