Georgia Ports Authority has installed a new system that helps process breakbulk cargo more quickly and provides real-time freight tracking for the port and its customers.
Breakbulk cargo is non-containerized and usually transported as individual pieces, often because of unusual shape, large size or weight. Examples include construction equipment, forest products, wind-energy equipment, iron, steel and pipe. GPA handles breakbulk in Savannah at Ocean Terminal, just west of the Talmadge Bridge.
The General Cargo System software shows cargo headed to the Port of Savannah and its current stage in transit, enabling GPA to prepare for and expedite handling of shipments, down to the item level.
The new tracking system results in faster truck turn times and improved cargo visibility for both the GPA and its customers, while enabling GPA to detect and route cargo as it becomes available at a Savannah rail yard, according to Ports Authority Director Curtis Foltz.
“It’s one more step in our constant effort to improve GPA operations and ensure the seamless flow of cargo across our docks,” Foltz said.
To create the new General Cargo System, GPA brought together a diverse team of operational, technical and financial personnel. The system streamlines business, improves communications and brings technology to the warehouse floor.
Facets of the system include automated communications for advanced shipping notices, railcar availability and stuffing orders, as well as improved on-terminal inventory control.
“A primary goal was to
collect shipping data prior to cargo arrival,” said Bill Sutton, GPA director of information technology. “GCS makes field operations more efficient by recording in real time cargo reception, inventory and stuffing orders. The result has been dramatic time savings. Railcar ordering that used to take two hours of manual processing is now completed in 15 minutes.”
The move also greatly reduced manual data entry and data lag, while providing information access for management, administrative and field personnel. The new tracking system aids planning through early notification of incoming trucks and railcars, as well as the cargo each is carrying.
GDOT talks harbor deepening
Todd Long, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, was the keynote speaker for an engineers’ luncheon last week at Mercer University in Macon. His topic: the state’s transportation infrastructure needs created by the upcoming Port of Savannah expansion.
The Georgia DOT, along with the Georgia Ports Authority, comprise the state partners on the $700 million–plus Savannah Harbor Expansion Project to deepen the river channel from 42 to 47 feet to better serve growing trade demands. The construction phase of the project is now underway, and GDOT wants to be ready with infrastructure when the project is complete.
“We’ve got a plan. We know exactly what needs to be done, because the Panama Canal is going to open in about two and a half years,” Long told the group of 100. “We are going to see a big uptick in trucks coming through this state.”
That means getting the GPA’s “Last Mile” projects completed will become even more critical. In the works for more than a decade, the Last Mile projects will create a freight corridor that will allow truck traffic to move directly into the three main Garden City Terminal gates from interstates 16, 516 and 95.
The $120-million-plus Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Connector and the $32 million Brampton Road Connector are both Georgia DOT projects, as was the Ga. 307 overpass, which was completed in 2012 and has already cut road and rail transit times while boosting safety for communities around the terminal.
“Once all three of these Last Mile projects are completed, we will truly have a one-of-a-kind freight corridor that will allow for long-term expansion of the port without a loss of efficiency,” said GPA executive director Curtis Foltz.
The Savannah Port is the largest single container terminal in North America, Long said, with on-terminal service by Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, access to Interstate 16 and Interstate 95 and the greatest concentration of import distribution centers on the East Coast. Products — 3.3 million containers’ worth last year — enter the port of Savannah and leave on freight trucks or rail.
Despite an increase in intermodal carriers, nearly 80 percent of cargo still reaches its destination on “rubber tires,” Long said.
“The truth of the matter is that rubber tire transport still offers the best and most efficient method to get product out there,” he said.
From the deepwater port, trucks travel to inland ports throughout the state. Atlanta operates the fifth largest inland port in the country, he said, adding that smaller inland ports such as in Cordele and Augusta are bulking up in anticipation of receiving more product through the Savannah port.
“Our state is going to be full of these strategic locations,” Long said. “We must have a road network to support that.
Currently, Georgia boasts the tenth largest road system in the country, yet ranks 49th in per-capita transportation funding.
The DOT agrees that increased transportation-related investment is a key to keeping Georgia’s economy competitive, he said. For every $1 spent on transportation infrastructure, an economic return-on-investment of $4 to $7.80 can be expected.
“I think we’ve got a plan and a desire,” Long said. “We have to have a willingness to get to that next step to find some more money.”
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.
TERMINAL VESSEL ETA
GCT ZIM BEIJING Today
GCT MAERSK KAWASAKI Today
GCT CMA CGM DON GIOVANNI Today
GCT YM ENHANCER Today
GCT ZIM ONTARIO Today
GCT ZIM QINGDAO Today
GCT NYK FURANO Today
GCT EVER CHARMING Today
GCT APL TOURMALINE Today
GCT NYK RUMINA Today
GCT MSC SAO PAULO Today
GCT CPO CHARLESTON Today
GCT MOL MAXIM Today
GCT MSC FLAMINIA Today
GCT LANA Today
GCT MAERSK KENSINGTON Today
GCT AL FARAHIDI Today
GCT CSAV HOUSTON Saturday
GCT ADRIAN MAERSK Saturday
GCT DUBAI EXPRESS Sunday
GCT HS BRUCKNER Sunday
GCT MSC JUDITH Sunday
GCT ATB FREEPORT Sunday
GCT EVER LEADING Sunday
GCT DURANDE Sunday
GCT BUDAPEST EXPRESS Sunday
OT TIJUCA Sunday
OT THORCO ASIA Sunday
GCT MSC LUDOVICA Monday
GCT MAERSK CHICAGO Monday
GCT HYUNDAI VOYAGER Monday
GCT NEVZAT KALKAVAN Monday
GCT YORKTOWN EXPRESS Monday
OT BAHRI JEDDAH Monday
OT SAM HAWK Monday
GCT CONTI MADRID Tuesday
GCT MSC LUISA Tuesday
GCT OAKLAND EXPRESS Tuesday
GCT ZIM CONSTANZA Tuesday
GCT NYK METEOR Tuesday
GCT VICTORIA BRIDGE Tuesday
GCT YM SINGAPORE Tuesday
GCT SEALAND WASHINGTON Tuesday
GCT ASIR Tuesday
GCT CMA CGM AUCKLAND Tuesday
GCT HANJIN MONTEVIDEO Tuesday
GCT APL SCOTLAND Wednesday
GCT MOL EXPEDITOR Wednesday
GCT NYK DAEDALUS Wednesday
GCT SHIPPAN ISLAND Wednesday
GCT ZIM PIRAEUS Thursday
GCT PORTUGAL Thursday
GCT HANSA AALESUND Thursday
GCT NYK ROMULUS Thursday
OT MORNING CHRISTINA Thursday
OT MIGNON Thursday
OT FIDELIO Thursday
OT PALAU Thursday