Port Productivity : Rail Connections
Special Report massive benefit to cargo owners seeking to reduce their carbon footprint .”
Originally proposed back in 2018 but delayed due to a lack funding , the new inland port will serve tractor and lawn equipment maker Kubota Manufacturing , which produces about half of its US-sold products in Gainesville . Other shippers near the Blue Ridge Connector include third-party logistics provider Tatsumi Intermodal , motorcycle equipment maker Fox Factory and auto components makers ZF and Auto Metal Direct , as well as several poultry and timber products processors .
Farther west , the Port of Mobile is redeveloping a portion of an existing CSX terminal in Decatur , Ala ., into a new intermodal container transfer facility ( ICTF ) in an attempt to grab more of the intermodal containers now going through Savannah and Charleston via NS .
“ The new facility ... will complete rail connectivity from the ICTF at the Port of Mobile to customers in the central and northern parts of the state ,” the Alabama Port Authority said in a statement Feb . 8 .
The project aims to make Mobile a more competitive intermodal gateway with the ports of Charleston and Savannah by reaching Huntsville , which is about 25 miles from Decatur and 350 miles from Mobile . NS serves
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Huntsville with existing westbound intermodal service from Savannah and Charleston . NS also provides eastbound service from its Memphis ICTF , where it connects to the West Coast Class I railroads .
Mobile ’ s main intermodal draw has been its interstate service , with Canadian Pacific Railway offering a three-day rail trip to Chicago . The port ’ s intermodal facility handled 29,131 container lifts in 2023 , down about 8 % from 2022 but more than double the number of lifts in 2021 .
Mobile is now looking to boost its intrastate service . The port is in the process of finishing another project with CSX to build an intermodal container facility near Montgomery that could open in late 2024 . NS was also looking to boost its Alabama service with a plan to double stack containers on its north-south tracks from Mobile but was unable to secure federal grants needed to complete the project .
Second time around
After several failed attempts since 2010 to boost intermodal service with new connections in Houston , BNSF and UP are stepping back up to the plate and believe there is enough demand from cargo owners currently to sustain intermodal service from the Port of Houston .
March 25 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 37