With Florida East Coast Railway shut down since Saturday, Norfolk Southern has embargoed intermodal traffic destined for FEC, along with Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., where ports are closed. NS officials are advising shippers of possible storm-caused traffic delays along the mid-Atlantic coast.
CSX Transportation officials are concerned about traffic delays or re-routings in Florida Wednesday, and in Georgia and the Carolinas through Thursday.
On Aug. 29 the Federal Railroad Administration deemed Dorian as an emergency situation which would allow railroads to ask for exemptions from specific safety regulations in order to cope with the emergency.
At 8 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, Dorian’s center was about 60 miles north-northeast of Daytona Beach, Fla., with winds of 105 mph and the storm was moving north-northwest at 8 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Besides Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority officials report the Port of Brunswick closed. South Carolina port operations are suspended until Sept. 6 at Charleston and Georgetown and at the inland ports of Greer and Dillon, officials say.
North Carolina ports of Wilmington and Morehead City are scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
In Florida, Ports of Miami and Everglades have reopened, while Palm Beach, Canaveral and Jaxport at Jacksonville are closed.
Dorian has tightened up truck capacity as companies such as Walmart and Home Depot have prepositioned materials from Florida to Alabama for possible disaster relief, according to FreightWaves.
