jimm

My ‘08 will arrive at the Jacksonville Port this Thursday.
Was just wondering if anyone has ever watched new cars
being unloaded from a boat.

That might be kinda interesting. Probably they drive them
a down a ramp of some kind. They surely don’t use a crane
to unload them one at a time.

Wonder how many cars the average boat holds and how
they are protected enroute.

I’d like to watch it once. But, Jax is 300 miles north of here
so I won’t be making the trip.

Probably in a secure place anyway where public is shut out.

jimm

==========

On Order: 08 E350 Sport, P2, Black/black,
Parktronic, Voice, Bluetooth, Burl Walnut,
Split rear seat, Rear mud flaps

BudC

Jimm,
I believe there are multiple terminals at Jacksonville but the one that handles roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) cargo is the one on Blount Island. That port also handles huge amounts of container freight.

RO/RO ships can hold over 7,000 vehicles and load and unload by driving them on and off the ship. They appear to unload cars destined for a port in less than 24 hours.

I don't know about protection but I believe that these RO/RO ships have an unusual amount of ventilation for their cargo (cars, etc.).

It may be possible to see your ship unloading but it might be in the middle of the night and the area where the cars are placed would surely be fenced off.

The cars would then go through Customs and then on to the VPC (Vehicle Preparation Center). I don't know where that is in Florida but I assume the cars would stay there until released by MBUSA. Once that happens, they would be trucked to your dealer.

MARK CUMMINS

The Mercedes Benz Jacksonville Florida VPC is located at 8813 Western Way
They have done tours with the Mercedes Benz Clubs ....Its Interesting how the cars are prepped for the dealers...Great Body Shop also !

Barry45RPM

Go to Google Maps. Type in " Jacksonville Florida 8813 Western Way ". Select Hybrid view, then zoom in. You can even see the cars in the storage lot.

Just like being there.

The ships have huge weather tight "doors" on the sides which open up to drive the cars off thru the side. If you've ever been on a cruise, chances are at the home port, you didnt enter onto the main deck, but thru a weather tight door on the side of the ship, possibly 7 stories (decks) below the maint "walking around deck" of the ship. At the little "stop off" ports, the debarkation door is much closer to the water line, for more primitive piers & gangways at hose ports.

Diesel Benz

Not sure if you would really want to see your own car driven from the boat. I once saw new cars loaded in Northern Europe at winter when it was extremely cold, -28 Celsius or so (-20F?). The cars were cranked without any pre-heating and then driven like rally cars. It is amazing how cargo generally is handled, they just count on insurance to take care of the damage. But the insurance must be extremely high, a company that would take good care of the transported stuff could make a lot more money. Perhaps it is impossible to find trustworthy employees these days for that job.

jimm

Thanks Barry. Very interesting. And, I’ve learned a new mapping skill.

Is this the procedure Google used when it showed the girl’s underware
a couple of days ago? What all do you use it for Barry? You do appear
to have an uncanny exploratory mind.

The rest of you who contributed here have made me further interested
in seeing this unloading - with body shop nearby, etc. Maybe someday.

Last Question: The Google Close Up .. is it live or old?

jimm

==========

Landing: ‘08 E350 Sport, P2, Black/black,
Parktronic, Voice, Bluetooth, Burl Walnut,
Split rear seat, Rear mud flaps

csumt76

Yea, just think... they use temp. agencies to find the guys/girls that shuffle the cars around!!!

abomb

As I understand it all the longshoremen are union and suffer no consequences if they happen to total a car coming off the boat.

Shipping is such a profitable business I don't think the owners care if a couple cars go overboard. Besides, they're not paying for it, you and I are in the form of higher shipping costs = higher vehicle costs.

Barry45RPM

Basically, they try to unload & make another trip. That's how they make money.

jimm

In reviewing the Google pic at max blow-up,
for Jacksonville, Florida 8813 Western Way,
I don’t see any waterways to the ocean.

Do I have the right address?

I don’t know how to post pics. Can any of you
take a blow-up for the right site and post it
to confirm that I'm looking at the right place?

Thanks.

jimm

Barry45RPM

It looks to me like its about 5 miles as the crow flies. Probably loaded onto trucks, & not driven off the boat & into the MB lot.

BudC

Your car will be unloaded at Blount Island Marine Terminal which is one of the terminals at Jacksonville. Take a look at a map of the Jacksonville area and you will see Blount Island sitting prominently in the middle of the water north east of downtown Jacksonville.

BudC

According to my trusty MS Streets & Trips program, it looks like it's 19 miles by road.

jimm

I called the Jax Port to get more specificity on the address.

It’s: 9620 Dave Rawls Bl., Jacksonville, Florida, 32226.

I pulled it up with MapQuest using the “aerial” .. which
I would have never thought of until you guys told me.
(Couldn’t get Google to work with that address.)

It looks like there are thousands of cars there.
The girl I spoke to said that they further prep a lot of
the new cars there, like putting in leather seats, radios,
etc, etc.

Very interesting.

jimm

Barry45RPM

Wow what a facility... you have to enter the address like this on Google Maps "9620 Dave Rawls Boulevard Jacksonville, Florida, 32226" then it comes right up.

konigstiger

In 09 the Jacksonville facility will be moving to Brunswick GA – better railroad and highway access and room for expansion, expected to process more than 50,000 vehicles annually.

Google Earth
http://earth.google.com/earth.html

DWP

Windows Local Live has the usual overhead photos of the Jacksonville terminal, but also has closeup "birds-eye" views of same:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v...3923&encType=1

("Birds eye", as in "everyone but Mercedes has a navigation system with a birds eye view.")

BTW, I don't think that those cars are really all white. They seem to be in various colors, with some kind of white protective film on their hood, roof and trunk.

jimm

Thanks Barry. That does work just fine for Google. In fact, Google gets
you closer-up than MapQuest.

Funny tho: MapQuest shows a boat at the dock with two ramps down
and just a couple of cars on the dock. Google shows NO boat and
several cars on the dock. ALSO .. MapQuest shows a LOT more cars
waiting in the parking lot. Obviously the pics reflect different times.

So, what IS the “time” deal on these pics? How does that work?

jimm

cyclerider

Judging from the new construction around my neighborhood, the Google pictures are about one year old, and the MapQuest pictures are closer to two years old. I don't think you are going to see your ship at the dock.

Barry45RPM

Yup, they're NOT live pictures. They're taken whenever the cartographers feel that an update is necessary for their maps. I believe they are satellite shots, as the picture of my workplace shows a very small private plane over my building, and the airport where the plane either took off from is is going to land at, is only 5 blocks away... therefore the camera taking the shot had to be very very far away for the plane to look so small.

So big brother IS watching. The picture of my home shows my '04 Benz on the driveway, so that had to be between 12/03 and 10/05, because the previous pic didn't show any car.

jimm

You guys introducing me to satellite pics has made me think.

I’m not sure, but, as I think back - when I was considering a
Lexus 460, one of the things I LOVED, was the Nav as I have
stated numerous times.

It seems to me that their Nav would do satellite pics. I’m not
sure about that. I was so Dazzled .. and mesmerized by it as
the salesman was zipping through its features but it “seems”
to me that he pulled up a satellite pic.

Am I crazy or does the Lexus Nav actually do that? If it WAS
just a dream, wouldn’t that be a GREAT NAV feature ... since
the Navs are already satellite oriented?

jimm

==========

Arriving U.S. tomorrow: ‘08 E350 Sport, P2, Black/black,
Parktronic, Voice, Bluetooth, Burl Walnut, Split rear seat,
Rear mud flaps

DWP

Don't know about Toyota/Lexus, but I know that Infiniti nav systems can display 3-D outlines (in birds-eye view) of major buildings for some downtown areas. It's similar to the ability of Google Earth to display 3-D building outlines. Seems to me that a straight-down satellite image would be more confusing than useful in navigating; seeing the roof of a building or an overhead view of an interchange wouldn't tell you much about how it looks from ground level. Also, I have to wonder if even a DVD could store high-resolution satellite imagery for the whole country.

jimm

You’re right. I didn’t really mean to use it for navigation.

I just meant for a “general overview” of certain areas. And,
to use it for Google, MapQuest, etc.

jimm