SAVANNAH, Ga. — The second portion of the Port of Savannah’s Mason Mega Rail Terminal is now in operation, increasing intermodal capacity at the port by more than 30%.
The second phase of the project adds nine new tracks to nine that opened in 2020 as part of a project that, overall, has added more than 24 miles of new track to the facility and doubled the port’s rail capacity to 2 million twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU) container units. The facility is served by CSX and Norfolk Southern.
“The added rail capacity, along with new container storage on and off terminal, are already serving as important tools to resolve the supply chain issues for Georgia and the nation,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a press release. Kemp was among those participating in a Friday ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility.
The port is preparing to open new off-site temporary container storage facilities to aid container flow. The first such facility could open as soon as today, less than 5 miles from the port.
“We’re setting up multiple inland locations that will be connected via truck or rail to the Port of Savannah,” Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said. “We’re working with both CSX and Norfolk Southern to provide inland and off-dock locations to move these long-dwell imports off the facility. We think this will make a huge difference for both importers and exporters as we clear out our yard.”
Ports that add the dock to rail capacity are going to keep their edge. No mistake that both Savannah on East Coast and Port of Long Beach on West Coast have invested heavily in rail capacity.
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Also, everyone says just send the big ships through the Panama. The biggest of the big ships still can’t go through the newest of locks built to expand canal capacity. In addition, added days to travel and shippers not only get charged based on the vessel but value of cargo. It is an expensive endeavor no matter how you look at. So shipping companies are playing a game that it is cheaper for them to park a ship off the big ports (no fuel cost sitting and minimal crew cost on big ships, a lot of automation) then it is to redirect them. Another self inflicted supply chain issue as everyone trying to game it for the biggest return.