Cordele Inland Port vows to cut Savannah truck traffic with rail service

GEORGIA's Crisp County Cordele Industrial Development Authority and Cordele Intermodal Services Inc have announced agreements on the construction and operation of an inland port 175 miles west of the Port of Savannah.

The Cordele Inland Port will provide direct container rail service to and from the Port of Savannah via Cordele, which is located on Interstate 75 in the central part of the state, reports the Savannah Morning News.

"As GPA [Georgia Ports Authority] expands to more than double its current container capacity, connectivity with the Cordele intermodal facility will help Georgia continue to lead the region in transportation and logistics," said GPA chief Curtis Foltz.

"By improving rail connectivity between the ports and south west Georgia, Cordele, Crisp County and their partners are further opening the region to trade with international markets," Mr Foltz said.

Under the scheme, containers from 350 miles south, west and northwest of Cordele will arrive by truck at Cordele and then railed on to Savannah to load on outbound ships. Containers from the Savannah docks will be railed to Cordele for later inbound distribution by truck within the same 350-mile radius.

Overnight service for container traffic moving between the Cordele Port and Savannah will be provided by two short line rail operations, the Heart of Georgia Railroad and Georgia Central Railroad. Final movement into the Chatham Yard at the Port of Savannah will be handled by CSX, said the report.

"I see this as a great enhancement to the customer service that we provide here at our warehouse," said Twyla Tolbert, general manager of Cordele's Union Compress Co, one of the largest cotton warehouses in the south east US.

"With Cordele becoming an extension of the Port of Savannah, this will eliminate the drayage and weight limit issues as well as truck availability for our merchants," said Ms Tolbert.

The project is a two-phase development. First is the 800-acre industrial park being developed by Crisp County IDA directly off I-75, which now includes facilities to provide 20,000 intermodal lifts a year. With the completion of the second phase of operations, CIS will have the capacity to handle 100,000 annual lifts, said the report.
(Source:www.schednet.com)