Florida vehicle-processing hub

Southeast Toyota Distributors has opened a new vehicle-processing center on Blount Island in Jacksonville, expanding how many Toyota and Lexus vehicles it can move through the Southeast. (jaxport.com) The facility was dedicated on April 22 at the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Blount Island Marine Terminal. JAXPORT said Southeast Toyota funded the project with a $170 million investment. (jaxport.com) Jacksonville Today reported the site spans 88 acres and includes a 340,000-square-foot processing facility. The outlet said the project brought 400 jobs and replaced a smaller older operation on Talleyrand Avenue. (jaxtoday.org) A vehicle-processing center is the stop between a ship and a dealership lot. Cars arrive from the factory, then workers inspect them, add port-installed accessories, handle minor repairs, and route them to dealers by truck or rail. (jaxport.com) JM Family, Southeast Toyota’s parent, said the Blount Island site can process up to 165,000 vehicles a year. Its press kit calls the Jacksonville operation the largest vehicle-processing center in Southeast Toyota’s network. (jmfamily.com) The Jacksonville Daily Record said vehicle processing at the new site began in October 2025 after more than two years of construction. The same report said a Florida Department of Transportation grant of about $19.78 million helped with terminal development tied to the move. (jaxdailyrecord.com) The new layout also changes how vehicles leave the port. JE Dunn said the project added on-site rail connections and truck loading areas, and that the center can process nearly 4,000 vehicles a week, about 6% more than the previous facility. (jedunn.com) That matters for Southeast Toyota’s dealer network, which the Jacksonville Daily Record said covers 178 Toyota dealerships in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. More processing space and direct rail access can shorten the handoff from vessel to dealer shipment when volumes rise. (jaxdailyrecord.com) JAXPORT said Southeast Toyota moved more than 120,000 vehicles through Jacksonville in 2023. The port authority also said the company’s broader Jacksonville operations support more than 800 jobs across processing, parts distribution, technical support and training. (careersourcenortheastflorida.com) The opening locks in a bigger Toyota footprint at one of Florida’s main auto gateways. After starting operations in late 2025, the Blount Island hub is now the company’s main Jacksonville processing site for vehicles headed across the Southeast. (jaxport.com)