Cargo movement through the Port of Mobile skyrocketed through the first half of 2022, making the Alabama coast a lucrative market for truck drivers.
“The Port of Mobile is uncongested, fluid and continuously investing to ensure we maintain and increase the rate of growth we have experienced so far this year,” director and chief executive officer John Driscoll reportedly said.
According to a recently released report by the Alabama Port Authority, certain types of cargo doubled while others tripled compared to 2021. The port’s eye-raising growth has largely been attributed to an intermodal container transfer facility.
The Port of Mobile moved 263,562 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), which kept it on pace to surpass 500,000 for two consecutive years. Dry freight improved by a rate of 8.7 percent and refrigerated goods experienced 25 percent growth. The port enjoyed an overall increase of 118.6 percent compared to the first six months in 2021.
The stunning container movement has reportedly been driven by consistent facility management and a robust partnership with APM Terminals. Truck times average an efficient 51 minutes for offloading and loading turnarounds.
“APM Terminals has been an incredible partner for the Port Authority, and we are thrilled to have recently announced our third expansion in six years which will nearly double the terminal’s throughput capacity to one million TEUs per year by 2025,” port chief commercial officer Beth Branch reportedly said.
Lacking the bottlenecks plaguing some Top 10 ports, Mobile continues to garner interest from shippers and logistics outfits. The Port of Mobile anticipates completing a channel deepening and widening project in 2025. Funded almost entirely by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Alabama, the channel would provide a 50-foot draft, making it the deepest port on the Gulf of Mexico.
Many of the world’s largest container vessels require such depths when transporting upwards of 14,000 TEU. The Alabama State Port Authority also leverages five Class I railroads, about 15,000 miles of inland waterways, and air transport solutions.
Truckers can anticipate exponential growth and freight-hauling opportunities at the Port of Alabama. Adding to the incentive of taking a good-paying position there, Forbes magazine ranks Alabama as having the third least expensive cost of living.
Sources:
https://ajot.com/news/mid-year-volumes-show-double-and-triple-digit-growth-at-port-of-mobile
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