Robert Peek, Chief Commercial Officer, Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT)

In an interview with Invest:, Robert Peek, chief commercial officer for the Jacksonville Port Authority, talked about the importance of the Jacksonville Port for job creation and economic development in Florida. He also discussed the port’s diversification and expansion strategies as well as the challenges it faces.

How does the strategic location of the Jacksonville Port Authority help attract development, prosperity and economic opportunities to the Greater Jacksonville area?

Our strategic location is key to our growth and development. Florida is now the third most populous state in the United States after California and Texas. That factor provides a massive consumer base, particularly for imported cargoes. The state also has more than 130 million visitors every year who do not produce anything and who need to be provided for as well.

Our strategic location also means we can reach a massive consumer base of almost 100 million people with a one-day truck drive, thanks to the fantastic interstate highway network that intersects in Jacksonville. That includes I-10, which begins in Jacksonville and runs all the way to California, and I-95, which runs all the way to Maine. Our transportation network of interstate highways and rail providers encircle a massive population base. 

What is the role of the Jacksonville Port in making the city one of the hottest labor markets in the United States?

We call ourselves an economic and a job engine. We own, manage, and build out facilities that attract private investment and companies to Jacksonville to establish operations here. That includes both physically at the port to load and unload ships, for example, but also to create jobs and economic opportunities outside of our gates.

There is approximately 130 million square feet of industrial and commercial warehouse space in Jacksonville, and 1 million of that is on port property. The remaining 99% of that space is in Northeast Florida. Most of those companies are involved in either import, distribution, or manufacturing and they need a nearby port to either import raw materials, export their finished products, or to import finished products for distribution. A lot of the economic impact that is credited to the port is not physically on the port grounds but outside of our gates.

We have had a massive amount of recent construction in Northeast Florida, particularly of commercial and industrial space but also for manufacturing to some degree, by companies that are using the port to either import or export products. We are a major hub for companies to come in, invest in our community, create jobs, and use the port as an asset. Moreover, we do an economic impact study every few years, and we have determined that there are over 28,000 port-dependent jobs in Northeast Florida. Those are not just jobs located physically at the port, such as longshore labor (dockworkers) or truck-driving jobs, but also the port’s ripple effects around Northeast Florida.

How has the Port Authority diversified the regions it exports to and imports from?

Our vehicle cargoes have been truly global for decades, but for much of that time our container trade was focused on North-South partners, primarily in South America, and the Caribbean. Around 20 years ago, we also started focusing this business line on East-West trade, primarily North and Southeast Asia. Now we have had direct container business with those regions for the past 15 years. More recently, we have developed a new container business with Europe. 

One of our global shipping lines also started a new service in June 2024, giving us our first container service with India and Pakistan. South Asia is an emerging market both as a consumer market as well as a manufacturing center. Therefore, it is critical for us to be in that trade lane. 

What are the most important challenges that the Jacksonville Port faces?

Volatility is one of the main challenges facing our industry. The world kind of understood how things were going to transpire until the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a delineation between pre and post-pandemic, with a tremendous amount of volatility in our industry post-COVID-19. People were staying home during the pandemic, and for a short period nobody was shipping much. Then, there was a sudden, massive amount of shipping. In other words, there was a little valley followed by a huge peak of shipping that started falling in 2023. That is spiking again today in terms of demand for shipped goods, and pricing has followed that. Shipping costs have followed those peaks and valleys, so it is difficult to forecast because of the volatility. Much of the volatility is driven by global issues such as terrorist attacks in the Red Sea to a drought impacting ship traffic through the Panama Canal, as well as the Mideast war, and economic issues like stubborn inflation and high interest rates. Most companies have reported difficulties forecasting for the next budget cycle because there is so much uncertainty that has been thrown at international trade.

How does the Port Authority work to ensure safety and security in its operations?

Security is a shared responsibility involving several law enforcement agencies as well as the Port Authority security office. It is an extensive network of security apparatuses to keep the port safe. On the land side, the Jacksonville Port Authority has a gate system where every truck and car is checked for a federal identification badge. Additionally, every tenant that leases space from us must develop a security plan approved by the federal government. 

We also have our own security present 24/7 on the facilities, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for the integrity of the cargo that comes in and out of the port, so they can do inspections anytime. Finally, the U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for the channel itself and for ships coming in and out. 

In terms of safety, we have people dedicated to and responsible for that. We have safety officers responsible for ensuring that people wear their safety gear and have appropriate safety training, for example. Safety is an important part of our culture at the Jacksonville Port Authority.

What are the top expansion priorities of the Jacksonville Port Authority?

We project that our three main cargo types – containerized, vehicles, and breakbulk – will increase over the next few years. Along with our tenant partners, we are investing millions of dollars in new facilities and equipment to handle more of these cargo types. That means more containers, vehicles, and breakbulk (non-containerized warehouse goods) will move through Jacksonville’s port over the next few years. We want to ensure that we have the capability and facilities to handle this increase. 

On the container side, our largest private terminal operator tenant is investing tens of millions of dollars to double their throughput capability at JAXPORT. And the port is investing millions of dollars more to expand the docks that handle automobile vessels so that imported and exported vehicles can continue to efficiently ship through our port. 

On the breakbulk side, companies that turn forest products such as wood pulp into things like paper towels and napkins are increasing their production in the United States, so they need more raw materials. The Jacksonville Port Authority and several tenant partners are about to build new warehouse space that is needed to handle that and similar product. Because those forest products cannot get wet and must be protected, warehousing is needed. There is not a lot of empty warehousing on ports on the East Coast, so we are investing to build a few hundred thousand square feet of warehousing space to accommodate that demand so that product can be transported throughout the Southeastern United States for manufacturing. 

Additionally, we will continue looking for regions in the world where we do not have direct ship services, and identifying vessel owners and shipping lines that can introduce new services to the Jacksonville Port. That will allow us to plug those holes and ensure that we truly are a global port.