A changing landscape of cargo carriers spurred by consolidation and realignment has fueled growth at the Georgia Ports Authority by playing perfectly to GPA’s advantages. A decade ago, ocean carriers began massive fleet upsizing to reduce fuel consumption and cost per container. This caused a major imbalance in supply and demand, particularly as the global economy fell into recession. The inability of individual ocean carriers to absorb capacity caused financial stress and led to the unprecedented carrier consolidation and alliance changes currently taking place. 

The Georgia Ports Authority received the Moving the Needle Award for its work at the Appalachian Regional Port (ARP) on Oct. 4 at the 2017 Atlanta E3 Awards. This award is presented by the Metro Atlanta Chamber to companies or projects that reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, increase fleet efficiency or achieve other transportation benefits for Metro Atlanta. 

GPA Hurricane updates

While the Georgia Ports Authority has five terminals, its container operation is handled in a single yard at the Garden City Terminal, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. For the first time ever, that terminal is expected to surpass 4 million twenty-foot equivalent container units this fiscal year (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018).

With the opening of the expanded Panama Canal, shipping lines are taking advantage of the improved route, and the Port of Savannah is moving more cargo than ever before.