PCC Logistics’ Abastillas reaches for the future – American Journal of Transportation

Gabe Abastillas, Sales Manager, PCC Logistics/Oakland is reaching out to younger people in the maritime transportation and logistics business not just to encourage sales but also to encourage participation and job opportunities in the maritime and logistics industries.

Running

Abastillas told AJOT that in his spare time he coordinates a local running club in Oakland and had sought to increase membership through a website and word of mouth but was still only attracting 15-20 runners. Then he discovered an App called “Meet Up” which he utilized to announce running events. Suddenly, his participants rose from 15-20 to over 100: “social media is how younger people communicate and how we need to reach them.”

At PCC, he says: “I specialize in over-dimensional sales, covering all areas of the business; including finance, compliance, project management, marketing, strategy, business intelligence, and more.”

He said his passions for sales “can be traced back to my pre-logistics days. From selling gym memberships right out of high school, to marketing and developing the Bay Area’s largest running club, I’ve been on a sales path from the start. The reason? I like getting people excited about things I’m excited about. Right now, that’s providing transportation solutions at PCC!”

At his office at 2498 West 16th Street Building 803 in Oakland, PCC provides the only examination facility for containers requiring U.S. Customs inspections. The Customs and Border Protection offices are located next door to the PCC offices.

Slow Down

Agricultural exports are big business for PCC. PCC provides high velocity transloads from railcars and trucks to export containers for refrigerated and frozen protein.

Abastillas says there is concern that the U.S. trade conflict with China could hurt agricultural exporters, truckers, logistics managers and the ports.

Trucking executives at the Port of Oakland say they have seen a noticeable slow down in business over the last month as higher tariffs begin to impact agricultural exports to China.

PCC’s examination facility handles about 200 transactions per day while the company’s two other facilities handle an additional 300 transactions per day for a total of about 500 per day.

Oakland Facilities

PCC Logistics operates three Oakland facilities:

• The Oakland 803/Maritime Facility provides a wide range of services aside from examinations. PCC Logistics 803/Maritime utilizes “on-site cranes and heavy-lift equipment to transfer over-sized and over-weight cargo safely to the desired equipment.” In addition, PCC Logistics provides specialized services at this location: “Automobiles, bulk grains, emergency transloads, damaged containers and fumigations are a sample of services we provide at this facility.” The Direct Delivery facility offers local, and long-distance container drayage, flatbed, reefer capabilities as well as over-dimensional, overweight, and bonded trucking.
• The Oakland Bay Street location is the home of the USDA Import Inspection Station. This inspection facility “has the ability to inspect approximately 25 import meat containers per day with our on-site USDA Inspector. Bay Street offers a full range of warehousing and trucking services specializing in handling temperature sensitive cargo, utilizing our on-site cold storage and chill docks to ensure the integrity of the cold chain.” This facility has access to three major Northern California ports and is served by both the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroads.
• Oakland 7th St. location offers a full range of warehousing and trucking services and specializes in handling temperature sensitive cargo. This facility is served by both the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroads. The facility is adjacent to steamship terminals, and with easy access to all major freeways. The facility handles both refrigerated and dry cargo moves.