Georgia ports report growing business in 2022

Capitol Beat ^ | 1/17/23 | Dave Williams

[CFW]

ATLANTA – The Georgia Ports Authority handled a record 5.9 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) of cargo during the last calendar year, an increase of 5% over 2021.

The Port of Savannah achieved four of its top five months for container volume during the year, peaking in August with an all-time high of 575,500 TEUs.

“It was a challenging year, but collaborative effort across Georgia’s supply chain ensured cargo movement remained fluid,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director. “I want to thank our board for approving new infrastructure that allowed us to handle more cargo.”

[CFW]

As California imposes more restrictions on truckers and the shipping industry, the east coast is working hard to manage the record number of containers being redirected to the east coast. The western ports could find that those ships that decided to reroute to the east to ease off-loading delays during the supply chain problems, may decide that fewer regulations is worth the extra time it takes to make that change, and therefore refuse to return.

[georgiarat]

Several Counties around Central Georgia have become warehousing centers where containers go and then contents sent to various suppliers. among those are Lauren’s (Dublin) Peach, and Forsyth. The number of trucks on the interstates and connecting highways have risen noticeably.

[GaltAdonis]

Image-5-Port-of-Savannah-Expansion.jpg -

[mass55th]

"Georgia ports report growing business in 2022"

From what countries?

[datura]

Container volume from China is down 40% YonY.

[mass55th]

"Container volume from China is down 40% YonY."

For how long I wonder.

[stationkeeper]

Lots of volume from all over Asia, to be sure, but also from every other part of the globe that exports or imports.

[CFW]

“The number of trucks on the interstates and connecting highways have risen noticeably.”

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They certainly have. And, many of those trucks are taking back-roads they really shouldn’t be on at all. We see them in my rural county non-stop on small through-roads. These small towns are going to have to come up with a lot of money, that wasn’t previously in their budgets, on road maintenance.

So, it is a trade-off. More jobs for those in the trucking, port and related businesses, which is an economic boon, in addition to lower prices for goods in the area, but more costs for road and other maintenance. In addition there is higher rents for homes as new workers seeking jobs move in to the eastern portion of the State.

[CFW]

https://capitol-beat.org/2023/01/talmadge-bridge-project-in-savannah-gets-green-light/

A related story at the above link. Georgia is looking ahead at future increased use of the Savannah ports. (excerpt below)

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ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation is moving forward with its first project involving a new contracting option the General Assembly authorized two years ago.

The State Transportation Board voted Thursday to proceed with a plan to replace the cables on the Talmadge Bridge in Savannah and raise the structure to more easily accommodate cargo ships calling at the Port of Savannah. The work will be done without closing the bridge to traffic, at an estimated cost of $150 million to $175 million.

The bridge was built in the late 1980s, Andrew Hoenig, construction program manager for the DOT’s Office of Alternative Delivery, told members of the board’s Program Delivery Committee.

“There have been a lot of upgrades in cable technology since then, and you also have 40 years of wear and tear and degradation on the cables,” he said.