Special Warehousing and Storage, NEC

The special warehousing and storage industry is a heterogeneous group of companies serving a variety of niche-oriented markets. Businesses in this industry serve clients with both specific and unique storage needs. Because of this diversity, changes in the types of firms in operation occur frequently. In 2008, there were approximately 7,000 establishments engaged in this industry, which generated just over $20 billion in revenue and employed 400,000 people in various capacities. Spurred by expanding international trade, the industry grew at a steady pace into 2010.

The majority of special warehousing and storage businesses have traditionally been involved in petroleum bulk storage and oil and gasoline storage. Most of those warehouses were located in the vicinity of oil refineries in Texas and Oklahoma. A growing trend in the industry, however, was indicated by the steadily rising number of firms offering storage services at foreign trade zones. These facilities had expanded their services in the early 2000s in response to increasing international trade. Frequently, these foreign trade zone warehouses are operated by companies whose primary business is custom house brokerage, classified in SIC 4731: Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo.
In the early twenty-first century, the special warehousing and storage industry sustained growth by expanding storage for a variety of goods, including records storage, automobiles (particularly processing sites for imported vehicles), and chemical products. Industry leaders demonstrating the diversity of activities in this industry include Iron Mountain Inc., based in Boston; Auto Warehousing Company (AWC), of Tacoma, Washington; and Vopak Terminals North America, based in Houston, Texas.

One of the largest records storage and information management companies, Iron Mountain Inc., was involved with storing paper documents, computer disks and tapes, microfilm and microfiche, audio and videotapes, film, X-rays, and blueprints, among other items, for more than 235,000 customers. Iron Mountain had 2008 sales in excess of $3 billion, a little more than half of which was derived from storage (the other portion was derived from service), and employed 5,500 people.

Auto Warehousing Company (AWC), one of the largest auto import processors in the U.S., stored and processed more than 3 million vehicles annually. In 2005, AWC signed a long-term lease with the Port of Portland, Oregon, to further expand its operations.

Vopak Terminals North America operated a network of terminals in major deep water ports, offering more than 14 million barrels of storage capacity for liquid and gaseous chemical and oil products. A division of Netherlands-based Royal Vopak, the world's largest independent tank terminal operator, Vopak Terminals North America in Houston formed a hub with the ports of Rotterdam/Antwerp and Singapore for a worldwide network of 75 tank terminals with a total storage capacity in excess of 20 million cubic meters.