Ground breaking ceremony set for July 14

The Americus Times-Recorder

Cordele — Crisp County/Cordele Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and Cordele Intermodal Services Inc. (CIS) officially announce the completion of agreements between the Authority and CIS for construction and operation of the Cordele Inland Port in Cordele, Crisp County, according to Bruce Drennan, IDA executive director and Jonathan Lafevers, CIS president.

The new Intermodal facility will be built and operated under a public-private partnership between the Development Authority and CIS. CIS will operate the inland port and be the service provider to customers utilizing the new intermodal facility.

Scheduled to be built in two phases, construction of the first phase of the facility on a 42-acre site owned by the IDA began this week. An official groundbreaking is scheduled for July 14.

Lafevers says the first phase facility will be in operation by the fall of 2010 with a capacity of 20,000 lifts per year.

The new inland port will have space to store intermodal containers and chassis to be better positioned to serve customers in the inland port marketing area. With the completion of the second phase of operations, CIS will have the capacity to handle 100,000 annual lifts.

This facility has been in the works for over seven years and now has become a reality, Drennan says. The new Cordele port is similar to the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, VA which services the Port of Norfolk, Va.

Cordele Inland Port will provide direct container rail service to and from the Port of Savannah via Cordele. Containers originating in an area south, west and northwest of Cordele as far as 350 miles that are destined for overseas shipment will be brought by truck to Cordele for final shipment to Savannah.

Containers entering the Savannah Port that are destined for this same area will be brought from Savannah to Cordele by rail and then transferred to truck for final delivery.

The Cordele Inland Port is being built in the center of a new more than 800-acre industrial park being developed by Crisp County IDA. Located directly on I-75, 120 miles south of Atlanta, the new industrial park is expected to become a magnet for companies needing sites for manufacturing or distribution and who require access to the Port of Savannah, says Drennan.

Overnight service for container traffic moving between the Cordele port and Savannah will be provided by two short line rail operations, the Heart of Georgia Railroad and Georgia Central railroad. Final movement into the Chatham Yard at the Port of Savannah will be handled by CSX Transportation.

Inland ports are not a new concept, and several are in operation around the U.S. Benefits of these facilities are realized in reduced truck traffic and environmental pollution in major port areas and a reduction of truck traffic on roads from the seaport to the inland port.

These inland port operations have attracted new industrial development by providing cost savings and more efficient service into the seaport. The Cordele Inland port will help to reduce congestion and mitigate pollution in Savannah while providing efficient and cost effective service for its users.

It is estimated that with completion of the Cordele port in conjunction with the new industrial park, 2,500 to 3,000 jobs will be created over the next three to seven years as new industries locate to Cordele, Drennan said.

“The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is pleased to see this new tool for economic development move closer to reality,” said Curtis Foltz, GPA’s executive director. “By improving rail connectivity between the ports and Southwest Georgia, Cordele, Crisp County and their partners are further opening the region to trade with international markets.

“As GPA expands to more than double its current container capacity, connectivity with the Cordele Intermodal facility will help Georgia continue to lead the region in transportation and logistics.”

“Georgia continues to see significant improvements in the volumes of cargo flowing into, out of and through our state. This upward trend is expected to continue, and potentially become more dramatic, and so we are always pleased to see improvements made to Georgia’s logistics ecosystem that will help meet these demands,” said Page Siplon, executive director, Center of Innovation for Logistics. “Logistics is a critically strategic industry for almost every business in Georgia and we need to continue to work hard to find creative ways to fuel the state’s competitiveness.

“I am very excited about this project. I see this as a great enhancement to the customer service that we provide here at our warehouse,” said Twyla Tolbert, general manager, Union Compress Company. “With Cordele becoming an extension of the Port of Savannah, this will eliminate the drayage and weight limit issues as well as truck availability for our merchants.”

“Cordele Intermodal Services will establish an instant market presence with our low-cost structure and ancillary services that a typical truck dray company cannot match,” says Lafevers.

“We have had ongoing discussions with a select group of shippers in our target market area that will be ready to use our service from day one. We are very excited about the opportunities that this facility will bring to the surrounding area,” he added.

For more information contact Drennan, Cordele Crisp IDC, 273-9570, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Lafevers, President and CMO, CIS, 229-938-9343 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .