WINDSOR, Ont. — The city is expected to announce today the creation of a freight hub at Windsor International Airport, with one of North America's transport leaders committing to a multimillion-dollar cargo handling centre that could employ 360 workers, The Star has learned.

Landstar Systems Inc., based in Jacksonville, Fla., is expected to announce that 10 of its client companies are prepared to sign long-term leases with the city-owned airport leading to a freight operation that will handle shipments tied to trucking, rail, air and sea transport, said sources.

They say the facility will be on a 150-acre parcel of land at the airport's northeast, between Jefferson Boulevard and Lauzon Parkway and immediately south of the CP Rail tracks.

The freight operation could be up and running within 18 months.

Landstar's operations are experiencing congestion at major inland ports like Toronto and Montreal, and Windsor is seen as an ideal border location with easy access to highways, ships, trains and planes, the sources said.

A news release Tuesday said Mayor Eddie Francis and city councillors will make "an important economic development announcement" at the airport terminal building today at 11 a.m.

The announcement comes just three months after the city heralded the "birth of an industry" with the setting up of a major solar panel manufacturer on airport lands for which the city is supplying the building housing the operation. A new business and industrial park focused on solar energy companies is being developed on a 300-acre site along County Road 42 east of the terminal.

With 2,000 acres of available land to develop, the city has been marketing and pushing for other industrial partners to set up shop at the airport, which the mayor, airport and local development commission have been touting as key to the local economy's diversification.