The City of Memphis has filed a request to expand the Cummins Inc. Foreign Trade Subzone to include two additional sites to the existing site at 4155 Quest Way in Memphis.
Cummins Mid-South LLC is an affiliate of Cummins Inc., which specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of diesel engines.
The first location is a 19.9-acre site with a 400,000-square-foot facility at 5800 Challenge Drive. It sits across from the existing facility. The application states that activities and services will mirror warehousing and distribution operations already occurring at the existing Cummins facility.
The second location is a 20.9-acre site with a 371,250-square-foot facility at 4650 Quality Drive that is about four miles from the existing facility. It is operated as an FTZ site for Cummins, which is proposing to move from a user to operator.
The application states that the primary function is to warehouse and distribute diesel engines and related products with activities including admission, displaying, inventory management, order fulfillment and “other activities necessary to perform receipt and shipment of merchandise.”
Foreign Trade Zones are secure areas under U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervision that are considered to be outside its territory. They usually are located in or near ports of entry, and serve as the United States’ version of what are known internationally as free-trade zones.
The special custom procedures in Foreign Trade Zones allow domestic activity that involves foreign items to take place prior to formal Customs entry.
The city of Memphis is the grantee of what is known as Foreign Trade Zone No. 77 that includes sites at the Port of Memphis, several sites in Southeast Memphis and the Memphis Depot Business Park.
“The Memphis area is an important location to support Cummins’ integrated, global distribution network for aftermarket diesel engines and related parts,” states the FTZ application submitted by the city. “This division of Cummins Inc., Cummins Global Logistics, is growing and had a great need for additional employees and square footage in the Memphis market.”
Public comments is invited by Oct. 20.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.
Lance is a veteran journalist with more than 16 years of experience in newsrooms in the Memphis area as a reporter and editor, including most recently as managing editor of The Daily News. He regularly contributes to The Daily News, including a biweekly travel column, The Daily Traveler.