S.C. Inland Port rail moves for fiscal 2016 are up 63% percent since July 1, a Wednesday report shows. S.C. State Ports Authority reports the rail-truck terminal at Greer has had 49,588 rail moves. The year-to-date total includes a 32% increase in January to 7,457 rail moves, compared with a year ago. Overall, the report shows a nearly 5% increase in the Charleston agency’s container volume in the seven month span.
The agency moved 145,092 TEUs in January. TEUs are 20-foot equivalent units, a common industry measure. Fiscal year-to-date volumes reached 1.12 million TEUs in January, an increase from 1.07 million during the same period last year.
Pier container volume, or boxes handled, totaled 81,993 containers in January. Pier container volume is up 3.1% fiscal year over year, with 633,167 containers handled to date, the report shows.
Jim Newsome, the agency’s president and CEO, said “volumes will likely remain fairly flat during the next several months until the spring, which is traditionally a strong season.”
At the Wednesday meeting, the agency board approved a contract for the investigation and excavation of historical resources on the Yellow House Creek Borrow Site, where soil fill material will be mined for construction of the Leatherman Terminal. The work will be coordinated with the State Historic Preservation Office.
Two construction contracts were approved for the Wando Welch Terminal, including ground work to expand the refrigerated container service area and annual berth maintenance dredging. A contract for paving of 15 acres at Union Pier Terminal was also approved.