By Daniel Ford
You’re a site selector with a port-dependent project. You’re the guy every state, local development authority, and port wants to know, and wants to impress.
For the site selector, no two projects are ever the same; every project has its own unique list of criteria that can quickly shift attention from one site to another with the blink on an eye. How close is the site to the port? Are there existing or available buildings? Is the site on interstate frontage? Is there good connectivity to the port? Why does one port have on-terminal rail and you don’t. Does the port have a green program? Is your port a ‘single’ or multiple terminal operation? Is there room to expand? Does the incentive package include this or that? The requirements can go on and on.
We live in an age where the motto of the day is, “we want it now”. While there’s a temptation to embrace questionable incentive packages in exchange for immediate, short-term gains, the majority of savvy site selectors are in tune with the “bigger picture”. They understand the long-term ramifications an inadequate site, or a port, have on their company’s future ability to grow, to remain profitable, and to compete.
Three important questions should remain at the forefront throughout the site selection process. Is this decision in the long-term best interest of my company? Is this where my company needs to be ‘today’? What about 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years from today?
At the same time, the port must demonstrate its ability to function as a seamless link in the supply chain. Can the port grow with the customer’s business today, and tomorrow? Can the port stay ahead of the growth curve in terms of expansion, terminal fluidity, equipment acquisitions, information technology R&D, customer service, intermodal capabilities, and ocean carrier services? Equally key, does the port embrace the importance of long-term strategic planning as part of its corporate culture?
Beyond having proven through long-term strategic planning to handle current and future throughput capacity demands, the Port of Savannah’s ability to expand infrastructure, increase freight velocity, decrease delivered cost, provide seamless market access and offer a global carrier portfolio unmatched in the U.S. Southeast, has combined to place the Port of Savannah at the top of the site selector’s list.
GPA executive director Curtis Foltz is relentless in his staunch support of long-term planning. “While most organizations plan 5 years out, the nature of our business dictates we plan a minimum of 10 years out. Long-term strategic planning has, and will, continue to play a key role in our success. What continues to separate our organization from others is the projects identified under our strategic plan are not pipeline dreams, they are viable projects approved and funded with a timeline for completion.”
Added Foltz, “The proven ability to remain flexible is a strategic part of our long-term planning success. We can push infrastructure improvements, as well as equipment acquisitions, forward to accommodate customer needs. Or, we can delay a project or purchase for the same reason. Either way, at the heart of strategic planning is the customer.”
For those unfamiliar with the site selection process, here’s some general information the site selector needs as the site selection process takes shape:
- Details on available sites or existing warehousing
- Port proximity
- Proximity to interstate, rail and major population centers
- Port growth capabilities and longterm planning
- Incentives
- State and local support for the project
- Workforce demographics
- Utility and infrastructure capacity
- Education and training programs
- Quality of life
Ready Today: ‘Port Retail’
How did Savannah grow to become the fourth largest U.S. container port? Why has Savannah for more than a decade ranked as the fastest growing U.S. container port?
Simple. It’s no coincidence that distribution centers representing some of the biggest names in retail and manufacturing have elected to call Savannah home. A conservative 600,000 TEUs are annually generated by Savannaharea import distribution center activity and remain in close proximity to the terminal.
Equally important, it’s no coincidence why the world’s largest ocean carriers include Savannah on their vessel rotations. For ‘retailers’, as well as ‘manufacturers’, Savannah is a strategic link for seamlessly delivering fi nished product from the source to store shelves.
For beneficial cargo owners, or BCO’s, the Savannah success formula begins with the availability of construction-ready sites, as well as large-scale warehouse operations, in close proximity to Garden City Terminal. Port proximity shrinks drayage costs (dollars) and helps optimize equipment and freight turn-around.
GPA’s General Manager of Economic and Industrial Development, Stacy Watson, believes the Port of Savannah operates in a very enviable environment. “A number of distribution center operators without the foresight to look ahead 10 to 20 years today operate in competing ports and struggle in an environment of limited options. What separates Savannah from our competitors is the overwhelming number of port-dependent sites within close proximity of the terminal. Beyond Savannah, Georgia as a whole has earned a reputation as a magnet for distribution center development. Communities and leadership across Georgia understand the economic impact of portdependent investment and are extremely proactive in targeting this business.”
To assist site selectors, the GPA continues with the phased development of one of its most successful interactive products. The “Georgia’s Commercial Corridors Tool” is an easy-to-use on-line product that identifi es portdependent sites and warehouses along the major corridors feeding Georgia’s two deepwater ports in Savannah and Brunswick.
Added Watson, “The information housed within the ‘corridors tool’ is updated on a regular basis through open lines of communication between the Authority and our local resources, the state, area development authorities, Georgia Power, and other utilities. We take a very proactive approach to gathering and maintaining this data. The current version provides site selectors with a 50,000 foot overview of what’s available. During second quarter 2010 we will launch an enhancement to the tool that will allow site selectors the opportunity to request customized reports and dig even deeper into the weeds.”
The “Georgia’s Commercial Corridors Tool” is an easy-to-use online product that identifi es portdependent sites and warehouses along the major corridors feeding Georgia’s deepwater ports.
Ready Today: Garden City Terminal
Savannah’s Garden City Terminal is home to North America’s largest ‘singleterminal’ container operation. With the GPA functioning as owner and operator, all boxes are handled via one massive dedicated container facility, thus minimizing costs. Containers are spotted, tracked and retrieved with the fl uidity only possible within a single-terminal confi guration. Centralization of manpower, information technology, and handling equipment translate into unparalleled levels of effi ciency and productivity. So no matter which ocean carrier is specifi ed, truckers enter and exit the same facility via three interchange gates.
Ports operating ‘multiple terminal’ operations force their customers to do the ‘terminal tango’. This ‘two left feet’ approach leaves shippers using several ocean carriers faced with retrieving freight from multiple terminal locations. In these cases, truckers have to wrestle with balancing and dispatching tractors to the correct terminal.
Utilizing Savannah’s ‘single-terminal’ design, truckers can bring containers in for one ocean carrier and leave with a container for another ocean carrier. No empty miles!
Ready Today: Workforce
Savannah’s workforce plays a critical role in attracting long-term business to the port. “Savannah’s workforce gets it. A pro-business workforce means increased volumes and additional jobs. Equally important, Savannah's workforce understands its critical role in the supply chain. That understanding is refl ected in our ability to team with labor to attract and keep business. Taking a team approach has proven to be in the best interest of all the players - shippers, carriers, service providers and the thousands of others moving the cargo. Simply stated, Savannah focuses on what more we can do for our customers instead of what we won’t,” stated Foltz.
Ready Today: Market Access
A population of 215 million, or 70% of U.S. consumers, live east of a line drawn from Chicago to Dallas. Among East Coast ports, the Port of Savannah is recognized as the most strategic to serving 44% of U.S. Consumers.
Within one to five days of Savannah lies 70% of the U.S. population, or 215 million consumers. As a strategic gateway, virtually all of the fastest growing U.S. population centers are effectively served via Savannah.
While connectivity between the terminal and the interstate is a challenge that hampers similar retail development in other Southeastern ports, Savannah’s two major interstates are within minutes, not hours, from its gates.
Garden City Terminal is within close proximity to Interstate 95 (north/south) connecting Savannah south to the Florida Keys and north to Maine. A second interstate, I-16 (east/west), provides a direct route to Atlanta, the 9th largest metropolitan area in the United States, as well as the largest transportation hub in the U.S. Southeast. Adding to Atlanta’s long-term strategic importance, with a population of 4.9 million consumers, the Atlanta-metro area is projected to add 100,000 new residents each year between 2010 and 2020.
While the rest of the South Atlantic reports rail service “near” the port, Savannah provides the unique advantages of “on-terminal” rail. Two on-terminal intermodal container transfer facilities, or ICTF’s, are incorporated into the Garden City Terminal’s ‘single-terminal’ design. Both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railroad provide port-users with the option of two Class 1 service providers operating on-terminal.
“No other port on the U.S. East Coast can match the intermodal service levels enjoyed by Savannah’s customers. Our ability to move seamlessly from vessel to rail, together with service frequency and carrier options, has allowed the Port of Savannah to expand our hinterland westward, serving many markets traditionally served only via the U.S. West Coast,” stated GPA’s chief commercial offi cer, Cliff Pyron.
Added Pyron, “With the exception of Savannah, South Atlantic ports continue to struggle with moving boxes from the dock to remote rail yards. Hampered by traffi c, some are drayed from as far as 12 to 20 miles (19.3 to 32.2 km). Savannah’s on-terminal rail capabilities eliminate the extra dray. We put 26,000 ft (7,925 m) of on-terminal track to use every day.” For shipments destined to hubs such as Memphis, Nashville, Dallas, New Orleans, and of course, Atlanta, Savannah offers expedited, Class I delivery.
GPA Senior Director of Trade Development, John Wheeler, looks to bigger growth in Savannah’s intermodal volumes as greater sourcing opportunities for retailers continue to emerge in China, as well as South and Southeast Asia. “Today, Savannah’s truck to rail ratio is split 80% to 20% respectively. We expect that gap to tighten. While other ports strive to fi gure out how to increase their intermodal capabilities due to demand increases, Savannah already has the infrastructure in place to meet this demand today, and future expansion designed to keep ahead of the curve 20 years from now.”
Ready today: Global Carrier Services
As for ocean carrier options, every major ocean carrier serves the Port of Savannah with Savannah offering more Asian services than any port south of New York. For example, of the 16 all-water Asia-USEC services moving via the Panama Canal during fi rst quarter 2010, 15 call Savannah. At the same time, of the 10 Suez services calling the U.S. East Coast, 8 directly link Savannah with the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Added Wheeler, “You’ll hear others talk about how many ocean carrier services they’ll have when they start and complete their latest infrastructure projects, or when Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014. However, the ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy is less than a proven planning strategy in the supply chain business. Through long-term planning, Savannah is ‘ready today’.”
Savvy vessel operators look at port options through the eyes of their customer— the shipper. They inevitably reach the same conclusion; the Port of Savannah is ready today, ready for the next 20 years.
As the result, Savannah’s ocean carrier portfolio offers unparalleled advantages in terms of markets served, transit times, competitive pricing, and day of the week options.
GPA’s Global Carrier Services Tool is an on-line, interactive product providing up-to-date information on Savannah’s ocean carrier services, as well as inland transit times. The Port of Savannah provides more weekly carrier options than any U.S. South Atlantic port. gaports.com/learnmore.
The Carrier Viewpoint
Carriers also share the shipper’s long-term perspective. Certainly, rotation decisions hinge on which ports offer the most effective access to major markets now, and the fastest growing in the future. While Savannah’s large and growing distribution center base is a key attraction, port and inland infrastructure, as well as trade balance weigh heavily as well.
The advantages of Savannah’s history of balanced trade include lower ocean carrier costs, better equipment utilization and no ‘empty’ miles. Source: GPA Marketing
Consistently, Savannah earns top marks by its ocean carrier customers. The following summarizes from the ocean carriers’ perspective why Savannah ranks as one of only three global gateways on the U.S. East Coast:
- A single, consolidated container terminal which allows pooling of personnel and equipment at one location;
- The capacity to triple current throughput to accommodate long- term trade growth;
- Export / Import trade balance;
- Nine contiguous berths guaranteeing dock availability regardless of vessel arrival time. Nine berths… No waiting;
- A modern crane fleet totaling 23 container cranes (12 super post-Panamax & 11 post-Panamax Cranes) and 71 RTGs (Rubber-tired Gantry Cranes);
- On-dock rail operations with both Class I railroads - CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railroad;
- Within minutes of two key major interstates: I-95 (north/south, 5.6 miles (9 km)) and I-16 (east/west, 6.3 miles (10 km));
- Pro-port, pro-business workforce in tune with the needs of the customer;
- GPA’s ‘WebAccess’, an easy-to-use online product provides 100% freight visibility throughout the shipment cycle (webacess. gaports.com).