CSX Corp. delays container facility
CSX Corp.’s plan to build a new container transfer facility has been pushed back six months to a year due to the international container trade slump.
The terminal, which originally was expected to be open as soon as 2011, will be built near Dames Point to handle containers handled by the newly opened TraPac Container Terminal and Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd.
Once traffic through the TraPac and Hanjin terminals hits its stride, the transfer facility is expected to handle about two 280-container capacity trains per day, said Adam Bridges, assistant vice president of CSX Intermodal Inc. About 1.8 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent, a container measurement standard) are expected to pass through the terminal annually once trade ramps up.
The use of intermodal, which uses more than one type of transport, is expected to increase as more customers realize the economic and environmental benefits of moving materials via rail.
Bridges said the cost of the facility isn’t known, nor is the location. The rail company and the Jacksonville Port Authority are looking to build the facility near the docks of the nearby TraPac and Hanjin terminals, much like CSX’s transfer facility at the Port of Savannah. The Savannah facility allows trains to transport containers directly to and from the port without any need of drayage, or use of trucks to transport containers to and from the terminals. Intermodal transport will still be economically feasible if the transfer facility is built several miles from the terminals, Bridges said.
By building a “heavy-haul road,” or a road exclusively for trucks, from the terminals to the facility, trucks wouldn’t have to stop as frequently, reducing fuel consumption, said Bridges. The road would also be able to handle vehicles that normally aren’t used to haul containers.
Plus, neighboring communities would be less affected by port-related traffic. CSX (NYSE: CSX) is also looking at diverting its line through downtown Jacksonville away from the city center.
Currently, Talleyrand Terminal is the only port authority-controlled terminal with direct rail access, said Doug Menefee, the terminal’s director. The on-site rail allows Hamburg Sud and Crowley to transport materials directly in and out of the terminal.
He said acquiring land nearby at Dames Point for an intermodal transfer facility site isn’t on the “backburner” but isn’t a priority, either. Attempts to purchase land owned by Zion Jacksonville Limited Partnership and the Botswick Family Trust have not progressed, said Menefee
The increased demand for drayage is expected to draw large transportation companies to the area. Port officials expect about 30 percent of the container handled by the terminals will be drayed to local rail yards, while others will go to area warehouses, cross docks and container yards.
The country’s largest truckload carrier, Schneider National Inc., recently set up shop in the “untapped” and “undersold” market, said Roger Berry, the company’s regional client manager.
The Green Bay, Wisc.-based company has 15 trucks devoted to the Jacksonville and Savannah markets and expects to add more as demand increases, he said. The growth won’t just be in moving containers to and from the port but also warehousing them.
Berry pointed to PenserSC as an example of a local company positioning itself for the need for cross-docking, or transloading. Jacksonville is well positioned for intermodal transport because it is part of CSX’s eastern triangle, which connects Jacksonville to Chicago and the New Jersey/Baltimore area. CSX has built up the triangle’s capacity and eliminated stops so that rail service can move goods as fast as if they were moved via truck, Berry said.
Many of the smaller trucking companies are shrinking or shuttering due to the recession, creating a larger demand for drayage.
“Intermodal will stay valuable if fuel prices go up,” he said. “If it stays stable or goes down, [trucking companies that handle short distances transport], will beat us.”
The terminal, which originally was expected to be open as soon as 2011, will be built near Dames Point to handle containers handled by the newly opened TraPac Container Terminal and Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd.
Once traffic through the TraPac and Hanjin terminals hits its stride, the transfer facility is expected to handle about two 280-container capacity trains per day, said Adam Bridges, assistant vice president of CSX Intermodal Inc. About 1.8 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent, a container measurement standard) are expected to pass through the terminal annually once trade ramps up.
The use of intermodal, which uses more than one type of transport, is expected to increase as more customers realize the economic and environmental benefits of moving materials via rail.
Bridges said the cost of the facility isn’t known, nor is the location. The rail company and the Jacksonville Port Authority are looking to build the facility near the docks of the nearby TraPac and Hanjin terminals, much like CSX’s transfer facility at the Port of Savannah. The Savannah facility allows trains to transport containers directly to and from the port without any need of drayage, or use of trucks to transport containers to and from the terminals. Intermodal transport will still be economically feasible if the transfer facility is built several miles from the terminals, Bridges said.
By building a “heavy-haul road,” or a road exclusively for trucks, from the terminals to the facility, trucks wouldn’t have to stop as frequently, reducing fuel consumption, said Bridges. The road would also be able to handle vehicles that normally aren’t used to haul containers.
Plus, neighboring communities would be less affected by port-related traffic. CSX (NYSE: CSX) is also looking at diverting its line through downtown Jacksonville away from the city center.
Currently, Talleyrand Terminal is the only port authority-controlled terminal with direct rail access, said Doug Menefee, the terminal’s director. The on-site rail allows Hamburg Sud and Crowley to transport materials directly in and out of the terminal.
He said acquiring land nearby at Dames Point for an intermodal transfer facility site isn’t on the “backburner” but isn’t a priority, either. Attempts to purchase land owned by Zion Jacksonville Limited Partnership and the Botswick Family Trust have not progressed, said Menefee
The increased demand for drayage is expected to draw large transportation companies to the area. Port officials expect about 30 percent of the container handled by the terminals will be drayed to local rail yards, while others will go to area warehouses, cross docks and container yards.
The country’s largest truckload carrier, Schneider National Inc., recently set up shop in the “untapped” and “undersold” market, said Roger Berry, the company’s regional client manager.
The Green Bay, Wisc.-based company has 15 trucks devoted to the Jacksonville and Savannah markets and expects to add more as demand increases, he said. The growth won’t just be in moving containers to and from the port but also warehousing them.
Berry pointed to PenserSC as an example of a local company positioning itself for the need for cross-docking, or transloading. Jacksonville is well positioned for intermodal transport because it is part of CSX’s eastern triangle, which connects Jacksonville to Chicago and the New Jersey/Baltimore area. CSX has built up the triangle’s capacity and eliminated stops so that rail service can move goods as fast as if they were moved via truck, Berry said.
Many of the smaller trucking companies are shrinking or shuttering due to the recession, creating a larger demand for drayage.
“Intermodal will stay valuable if fuel prices go up,” he said. “If it stays stable or goes down, [trucking companies that handle short distances transport], will beat us.”