OWL Expands Operations in Houston as Texas Ranks #1 in US Exports

LAKE SUCCESS, New York – Ocean World Lines (OWL), a global, single-source NVOCC (non-vessel operating common carrier) and subsidiary of Pacer International, announced today the opening of a new office in Houston to service all cargoes moving to and from the region. In addition to containerized and breakbulk freight, OWL Houston will handle project and out-of-gauge cargoes too large for standard containers as well as logistics solutions specific to the petro-chemical industry.

“We are opening an office in Houston to support our customers’needs in the region and our mission to grow US exports. Texas is ranked number one in the nation by total value of goods exported, according to the latest US Census data, and Houston is the ideal location as it’s equipped to handle breakbulk shipments. It is a fast growing region and well-known for exporting drilling, petro-chemical related supplies and other large-volume products, such as resins,” says Dan Gardner, OWL’s CEO.

Gardner notes that growth at the Port of Houston also is being driven by the ongoing Panama Canal expansion, which is expected to increase Houston-bound containerized shipments by150 percent over the next two decades to 4.5 million TEUs annually. “The weak dollar is propelling exports right now as well, helping make the Port of Houston a major growth region in the U.S.,” says Gardner. Houston already is the busiest U.S. port in terms of foreign tonnage and is ranked second overall, he notes.

Heading the Houston team is Abel Edgington, a 16-year veteran of logistics operations and management in the Texas area. Edgington, who will serve as regional branch manager, was previously with Triton Overseas Transport, RCS Intermodal and Expeditors International.

“Abel brings strong regional expertise to the new Houston office and his team will be responsible for helping increase exports and developing new business. In fact, we recently hosted an Incoterms® seminar in Houston as part of our nationwide trade seminar series to educate importers and exporters about the challenges of the global marketplace and to make their job easier,” says Gardner.

OWL’s Houston office offers a full range of services including ocean and air freight, cargo consolidation, packing and crating, trucking and warehousing, and de-consolidation and distribution.

About Ocean World Lines

Ocean World Lines, Inc., a subsidiary of Pacer International, Inc., is one of the largest fully bondedNVOCCs in the world. OWL maintains more than 60 service contracts with the top ocean carriers and handles today’s most complex global supply chain requirements.

For more than 30 years, OWL has worked with importers, exporters and freight forwarders to move their goods and provide door-to-door/end-to-end service across the globe. OWL offers a single-source experience for its clients, coupled with the latest visibility solutions.

OWL received the President’s “E” Award for export service excellence and outstanding contribution to U.S. exports earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is the most prestigious award given by the U.S. government to companies that facilitate export trade and contribute to job growth and competitiveness. OWL was the only NVO to receive the “E” Award this year and the primary criterion was four years of successive export growth, accompanied by identifiable results of programs or activities contributing to export expansion.

OWL has over 200 employees worldwide with offices located in Hong Kong, Shanghai,Shenzhen, Qingdao, Singapore, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Long Beach, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, and Gdynia, Szczecin, Warsaw, Poland, as well as a network of agents worldwide. For more information, please visit www.oceanworldlines.com.

About Pacer International

Pacer International, a leading global door-to-door solutions provider, offers a broad array of services tofacilitate the movement of freight from origin to destination through its intermodal and logistics operating segments. The intermodal segment offers container capacity, integrated local transportation services, and door-to-door intermodal shipment management. The logistics segment provides truck brokerage, warehousing and distribution, international freight forwarding, and supply-chain management services. For more information on Pacer International visit www.pacer.com.