Port of Savannah Improvements 

The Port of Savannah had a very busy summer, although experts predict a slowdown for quarter four of 2022. Overall imports continue to increase by roughly 9% each year.  

The Port of Savannah is undergoing major improvements to accommodate additional shipments and move larger amounts of consumer goods through the port.  

The first change is that the port is expanding the Garden City Terminal to handle six 14,000-TEU ships simultaneously. As the third-largest container gateway in the U.S., this will allow the port to funnel a much higher volume of Asia imports into the U.S. The entity making the changes is the Georgia Ports Authority which is in charge of the Garden City Terminal 

1

and works in conjunction with the Class I railroads, Norfolk Southern Railway, and CSX Transportation.  

Additional changes include adding new rail and berth projects to boost the total number of ship-to-shore cranes. The expansion plans will improve efficiency and expand the port’s ability to handle more freight and quickly move higher volumes of goods through the gateway. Additionally, the port authority is changing its rules about storing empty containers (lowering the number of allowed empty containers) to use the limited space more efficiently. 

For the past twenty years, the Port of Savannah has grown to become the third largest port in the world by attracting big box retailers and product distributors. The proposed expansion will continue to allow the Port of Savannah to dominate within the realm of e-commerce and intermodal rail, making it an essential link in the global supply chain.  

The post About the Port of Savannah appeared first on Southern Companies.

What are Railroad Sidings?

Railroad sidings are low-speed railroad tracks situated near but separate from high-speed tracks. They may connect with other sidings or through main tracks that carry cargo. The rails are lighter weight, meant for lower speeds and less traffic.

Often railroad sidings are used to unload and load railway cars. They are also used for stabling and storing vehicles and storing rolling stock. Additionally, railroad siding warehouses are used in conjunction with these rails and store goods for transportation. Logistic companies can use railroad sidings to transfer goods from point A to point B with warehouse stops in between. 

The Benefits of Railroad Sidings

Because these railroads are separate from commercial railways, they can be used specifically for the transfer of goods very economically without using other modes of transportation. As a result, the process is simpler and more affordable. Additionally, fewer truckers on the road mean less congestion, lower fuel costs, and less road damage to roadways and highways. 

It’s a streamlined method of transporting goods quicker and easier without the usual hassles. Railway sidings have been underused because trucking, shipping, and air freight took precedence. However, with the economic downturn and rising costs, railroad sidings are re-emerging as a viable solution. 

Using railroad sidings also positively impacts the environment because it uses fuel-efficient trains, reducing greenhouse gases by 75%. A single locomotive can carry as many goods as hundreds of trucks. It’s a cost-effective, incredibly efficient mode of transportation for merchandise. 

Contact Southern Companies today if you want to learn more about using railroad sidings to move your products.

The post What are Railroad Sidings? appeared first on Southern Companies.

Features of the Port of Miami

For starters, PortMiami is one of the largest commercial freight/cargo and passenger ports in the U.S. It is located on Dodge Island and Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. 

In 2021, the port of Miami experienced record-breaking figures in terms of cargo. The increase came from Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The port’s total TEU’s (twenty-foot equivalent unit), was 1,254,062, up 18% from 2020. 

Additionally, the port provides more than 334,000 jobs annually. It is one of the world’s busiest ports bringing $43 billion into the community each year. 

According to Miami-Dade County, World Bank Group and S&P Global Market Intelligence Container Port Performance Index for 2021 ranked PortMiami as “the #1 port in Florida for efficient container performance.”

To become this impressive world-class gateway, the port invested $1 billion in capital improvements for cargo, including a deep-water channel (-50/52 ft depth) and new super Post-Panamax gantry cranes, as well as upgrades to its on-dock intermodal rail allowing the port to easily connect to more than 70% of the U.S. population in roughly four days. Additionally, the port added a fast access tunnel link to the U.S. interstate highway system. All of this combined has turned the port of Miami into one of the most desirable ports to use for shipping goods. 

The infrastructure changes have allowed the port of Miami to welcome 300+ post-Panamax vessels requiring a -39 ft draft or deeper into the port. 

The Port of Miami Future

These improvements have led to the port surpassing the 1 million TEO mark for seven consecutive years, and for 2021, the number soared to 1.25 million TEUs. The Miami port expects this trend to continue well into the future. 

PortMiami has future improvements planned that will help build more accommodations for cruise ships and cargo vessels, including state-of-the-art cargo facilities. Additionally, the port plans to further enhance its security technology, policies, and procedures to keep people, assets, and property safe. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the port of Miami a $16 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for its NetZero: Cargo Mobility Optimization and Resiliency Project. The plan is to convert the entire cargo chain operation to a carbon-neutral operation from PortMiami to its final destination. 

What Does PortMiami Mean to You?

If you want to learn more about the port of Miami and how it can support your cargo imports/exports, contact Southern Companies today!

The post About the Port of Miami appeared first on Southern Companies.

What is Drayage?

Drayage refers to transporting goods a short distance between two intermodal points. An intermodal point is a trucking location, train station, warehouse, or seaport. Often, drayage refers to frozen or refrigerated goods, and the loads are usually quite large, sometimes more than 1,000 tons. The containers used for drayage are extremely large. Therefore, drayage is a specialized type of transportation requiring very specific equipment and staff. 

How Does Drayage Work?

The process of drayage transports goods quickly over short distances. It usually involves more than one mode of transport, such as trucks, ships, planes, and trains. 

An example might be a shipment of new vehicles that arrives at a port in Boston. These vehicles need to be moved to dealerships across the United States via train. Drayage takes over and collects the containers from the seaport and then transports them to the train station. Once each container reaches the next train station, drayage again comes into play as a truck picks up each vehicle and drives it to the individual dealership that purchased it.

Drayage moves shipments along their intermodal stages and helps them reach their final destination by stepping in when necessary. Because each gap may vary, drayage must be very flexible to handle the complexities of each shipment. Drayage helps to iron out the logistics since some portions of a single shipment might need to continue by ship, railway, or truck headed for different locations.

Drayage also includes loading and unloading cargo from one mode of shipment to the next. The new vehicles used in the example above may need to be offloaded from the cargo container and driven onto a double-decker vehicle transport truck or moved onto a train car for their continued journey. Drayage takes care of all of that. 

Types of Drayage

Drayage consists of more than one type of transportation. Some of the most common classifications of drayage include:

Inter-Carrier – When a drayage company transfers goods from one mode of transport to another. Such as above with the shipping container to the train.

Intra-Carrier – This is when a company uses the same carrier to handle all the separate steps during intermodal transportation which may include planes, ships, trucks, and trains. 

Expedited – Drayage that relies on the quick transportation of goods that require speedy delivery.

Pier – Pier drayage is when a drayage company uses trucks to transport goods to and from a pier.

Door-to-Door – Transports products from shipping containers to the end-user, usually via trucks (think Amazon).

Shuttle – To avoid overcrowding at intermodal hubs, a drayage company will temporarily move goods to a secure location and then back when they are ready to move onto their next stop.

The post Everything you need to know about Drayage appeared first on Southern Companies.