Inbound Logistics | March 2023

PROPELLED BY LOGISTICS

The Center of Innovation annually hosts the Georgia Logistics Summit, bringing together speakers from prominent shippers and leaders in the state’s infrastructure and economic development communities, as well as speakers from some of the world’s most prominent supply chain focused companies. Moreover, the state’s logistics network is both powered and utilized by more than 15,000 logistics establishments. It is from this community of colleagues that Georgia ultimately derives its denition as the logistics state. Gµ¶·¸¹º P¶·»¼ A½»¾¶·¹»¿: PORT LEADERSHIP A principal player in the extraordinary

digital marketplace,” says Cliff Pyron, the GPA’s chief commercial ofcer. “As more consumers have adopted online shopping, the supply chain has begun a long-term shift to better serve e-commerce. This involves greater warehouse capacity closer to population centers, with these distribution centers carrying a wider array of SKUs than traditional warehouses. “Additionally, more cargo owners are diversifying their ports of entry into the United States as a hedge against delays caused by port congestion,” he says, adding that many cargo owners are now discovering the efciencies of landing freight closer to major population centers east of the Mississippi River. TAPPING INTO LARGE MARKETS The main differentiator for East Coast ports is proximity to most of the nation’s largest markets. Some 44% of the U.S. population is within a 5 to 16 hour drive of the Savannah deepwater port. These trends have resulted in greater demand for port services at GPA. The GPA has instituted an aggressive expansion plan to ensure cargo uidity. In November 2021, the GPA commissioned the nal set of working tracks at the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, boosting GPA’s rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year, an increase of 30%. Additionally, the Port of Savannah’s Peak Capacity Project added 1.2 million TEUs of annual capacity by expanding container yard space at Garden City Terminal. GPA also is conducting renovations to Berth 1 at Garden City and the signicant expansion of container storage there. The Authority is establishing two large-ship berths at Savannah’s Ocean Terminal and renovating that 200-acre facility into an all-container terminal. These projects will double Savannah’s capacity to handle 16,000-plus TEU vessels. The Savannah Transload Facility, slated to open at Garden City Terminal in July 2023, will speed the transition of cargo from containers to over-the-road delivery trucks.

Savannah is poised to increase and expand services across an arc of inland markets, from Atlanta to Memphis, extending to St. Louis, Chicago, and the Ohio Valley. Georgia’s resources enable the state to handle and haul more than $900 billion in cargo each year. EMPOWERED BY EXPERTISE Geographical and infrastructure strengths notwithstanding, the true power behind Georgia’s logistics throne is expertise. Specialized programs in the state’s colleges and universities, as well as professional associations, combine to place Georgia at the leading edge of logistics thinking and innovation. In addition to Georgia Tech and Emory, logistics programs at Georgia Southern and numerous other universities and technical colleges are among the most respected and best endowed in the world. A particularly notable example of government-based logistics resources is the Georgia Center of Innovation, a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, which offers logistics as one of its six areas of assistance and expertise.

logistics success of Georgia is the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA),

which directly employs 1,800 logistics professionals and oversees the state’s two deepwater ports and three inland terminals. The GPA is committed to making Georgia a national leader in the response to challenges brought about by the supply chain issues of the past few years. “The recent challenges have powered a transition toward a more

The Georgia Ports Authority handled a record 5.9 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in 2022, an increase of 5% over 2021. The Port of Savannah is set to increase annual capacity from 6 million to 7.5 million TEUs in 2023, and to 9 million by 2025.

60 Inbound Logistics • March 2023