Fast. Flexible. First-class.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRADE AND LOGISTICS
Q: NWSA is a significant asset to the region. How is the alliance prioritizing infrastructure investment right now?
A: There are three different buckets. One is our investment in our terminal assets, and our second bucket is our waterway. The third has to do with working with others on the road investment, as well as our private partners committed to investing in equipment.
In Seattle, I consider Terminal 5 a success in public and private partnership. Together with SSA Marine Terminals, we invested more than $ 600 million into Terminal 5, and today it can handle two 18,000-TEU vessels simultaneously. We also put in shore power and, most recently, celebrated completed work on an additional 860 reefer plugs— so a lot of focus on terminal-on-terminal investment.
An example of some private investment happening at our gateway includes our Washington United terminal in Tacoma, which just announced hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure modernization to support their long-term goal of servicing larger vessels. Along with that, they’ re looking at purchasing new cranes to bring into our Tacoma harbor in the next few years.
We already have pretty deep waterways at 51 feet, but we’ re looking at deepening to 57 feet. We’ re committed to making that happen, working in partnership with Army Corps of Engineers and our home ports.
We’ re also nearing the conclusion of the SR 167 Completion Project, which will provide direct access between our Tacoma facilities and the Kent Valley— a central location for warehouse activities in the Puget Sound, located between Seattle and Tacoma.
Outside the Puget Sound, we are working in partnership with inland ports on rail hubs to increase market access and opportunities for agricultural exporters via our gateway.
Q: The Pacific Northwest’ s geography and climate can pose an array of challenges. How does this impact your operations?
A: The Pacific Northwest is actually one of the more temperate areas of the country. Severe weather events such as hurricanes or blizzards that can shut down ports for days are very rare.
Exporters in Eastern Washington may have some challenges getting shipments over the Cascade Mountains in the winter months. Inland rail hubs in Pocatello, Idaho, and Wallula, Wash., are great alternatives to truck transport during this time.
Climate change is real. We are taking a proactive approach and planning for these eventualities, with a goal of delivering consistent, reliable service for our customers.
email: amywunderlin @ gmail. com
Fast. Flexible. First-class.
A marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, the Northwest Seaport Alliance’ s( NWSA) combined terminal facilities, carriers and ports of call provide unlimited options and flexibility for shippers using the NWSA gateway.
NWSA is a major container load center in North America. Strategically located in the northwest corner of the US, NWSA offers shorter transits from Asia and the first and last ports of call for many trans-Pacific liner services. NWSA is also a major gateway to Alaska and Hawaii; more than 80 % of trade between Alaska and the lower 48 states moves through NWSA harbors. In addition to containers, NWSA is also a center for bulk, breakbulk and project / heavy-lift cargo, and automobiles.
Fast
The Seattle-Tacoma gateway offers fast, flexible, first-class port solutions for today’ s complicated supply chain challenges. Market-leading ocean transits from Vietnam and several other Asia ports of call, congestion-free berths, and fluid marine terminal and intermodal operations make NWSA the perfect choice for timesensitive cargo headed for Midwest, Ohio Valley and East Coast markets. Shippers have access to over 40 weekly international rail departures to 13 inland locations via NWSA.
Flexible
NWSA’ s on-dock rail, international and domestic rail service options from two Class I railroads and close proximity to the second-largest concentration of warehousing on the West Coast make Seattle-Tacoma an ideal location for warehousing, fulfillment and transload operations. Over 100 transload service providers operate within minutes of NWSA marine terminals, and with transload costs 25 % cheaper than Los Angeles-Long Beach, shippers can add flexibility and savings to their supply chains.
First-class
NWSA’ s dedicated team of business development and operations professionals is focused on delivering a best-in-class customer experience. Its commitment to working together with supply chain partners to provide cost-effective, innovative shipping solutions is unparalleled in the industry.
Make NWSA’ s competitive advantages yours:
• Fast transits from key sourcing origins
• No berth congestion with consistent low terminal and rail dwells
• Enhanced cargo security and rapid rail connections
• Cheaper and faster transload alternative to LA / LB
• Multimodal options top nearly any inland point( IPI / domestic, TL / LTL)
• Award winner for ease of doing business
48 Journal of Commerce | April 6, 2026 www. joc. com