Freight volumes are growing, while road traffic and CO2 emissions are decreasing, officials say
In little more than a half-year of operations, the $45 million South Carolina Inland Port appears to be right on track.
Located in Greer, the 212-mile extension of the port in Charleston has seen its volumes grow each month, while continuing to garner attention and field requests from companies interested in using the facility, said Matt Tomsic, external affairs manager of the SC Ports Authority.
The port was designed to raise the freight efficiency between the coast and companies located throughout the region while lowering their carbon footprint by utilizing the existing Norfolk Southern Railway.
“We estimate the inland port will save 25,000 trips each year along I-26,” Tomsic said.
An air model based on data retrieved from the Environmental Protection Agency showed companies could expect a 70 to 85 percent reduction in emissions from fewer truck miles.
Although the Inland Port cannot reveal its entire list of customers, the facility serves five global clients and is expecting that number to increase as it further establishes its presence in the region, said Erin Pabst, spokeswoman for the SC Inland Port.
Customers of South Carolina’s ports are typically the shipping lines, she said. A sales and marketing team will work with those companies to identify their needs and determine which terminal could best accommodate their cargo.
BMW, the inland port’s launch customer, moves approximately 25,000 containers annually through the port and estimates a 60 percent reduction in yearly CO2 emissions as a result of using rail instead of trucks, said Sky Foster, department manager for corporate communications at BMW Manufacturing.
Adding convenient access to an inland port improves BMW’s just-in-time deliveries on imported parts, she said. The inland facility is an accommodating service to BMW’s future expansion plans and new model production.
Currently, the luxury carmaker has expanded its export operations to a 413,000-square-foot facility next to the Upstate port.
The South Carolina Ports Authority has three facilities statewide: the Port of Charleston, the Port of Georgetown and the Inland Port in Greer.
Serving as an extension of the coast and offering customers a new method of moving goods, the SC Inland Port provides access to North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, western Virginia, eastern Kentucky and 94 million consumers within 500 miles.
Stan Nutt, director of the intermodal division of G&P Trucking, expects the inland port’s use of rail to aid the business of trucking companies within a 500-mile radius of the Upstate.
The port’s ability to move rail cargo should enhance existing business, he said. “We want new industry to come through South Carolina and the inland port will help.”
Pabst said the construction of the Upstate facility and the efficient use of rail travel delivers quick access to cargo shipped from the coast to the port in Greer.
Today, when the trains leave Charleston or Greer, they run overnight and arrive at the terminals the next day, she said. “Greer provides a great location to springboard goods shipped directly from Charleston to major hubs throughout the Southeast.”
