Port of Savannah speeds rail cargo

The Georgia Ports Authority officially opened a new $18 million rail transfer facility today. Officials are counting on the rail facility to increase port market share.

The Port of Savannah already is the nation's fourth-busiest port and its fastest growing. The recession has slowed imports and exports, but Thursday the G.P.A. unveiled its latest weapon to lure new business to the port.

Ports Director Doug Marchand says an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility will make the port more attractive to shippers "It makes it cheaper for the importers to be able to import their goods and deliver it to their distribution centers and ultimately to their stores," says Marchand. "If we reduce their costs, theorhetically, the costs to the consumer would be lower as well."

Now more shippers won't have to go off-port to transfer their goods to rail. They can do it dockside and ship their goods faster, overnight to most of the country. The port opened a rail transfer site seven years ago. This second site makes Savannah the only port on the East Coast with two such facilities.