Port Tampa Bay Is Expanding
Sitting at the epicenter of the fastest-growing region in the fastest-growing state, Port Tampa Bay provides significant efficiencies and supply chain cost savings to the importers and exporters who serve the rapidly growing Florida market. Port Tampa Bay is perfectly positioned in the middle of the state to serve its largest distribution hub—the Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor. Port Tampa Bay has been aggressively adding capacity to become the state’s preferred supply chain solution for container cargo. Florida now has the country’s third-highest population with over 22 million residents, welcomes more than 140 million tourists per year, and is the 15th largest economy in the world. The importers and exporters who support this huge consumer market are demanding a Florida-first supply chain strategy with expanded direct ocean container services. The addition of direct container services with Asia and Latin America via Port Tampa Bay has been critical in better serving Florida’s largest and fastest-growing market, the Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor. Home to the State’s largest concentration of distribution centers, the Central Florida region has over 550 million square feet of DC space right in Port Tampa Bay’s backyard.
Home to close to half of Florida’s population, growth along the I-4 Corridor is fueling demand for everything from retail and e-commerce goods, food and beverage, to energy products, and construction and building materials. Beneficial cargo owners are seeing significant savings in their drayage and distribution costs as truckers make as many as three to four round-trip deliveries per day from Port Tampa Bay to their DCs, which then service the entire state. Customers also benefit from attractive northbound backhaul truck rates to extend their reach into markets throughout the Southeast and beyond.
To keep pace with its rapidly growing market and stay ahead of the curve, Port Tampa Bay and container terminal operator Ports America, have expanded terminal capacity by adding more paved storage and recently took delivery of three more post-Panamax gantry cranes for a total of five. The build-out program includes a recent expansion to increase paved storage to 67 acres with a new gate complex opening this summer. The port’s three new gantry cranes will be online in late summer/early fall. The next phase will bring an additional 30 acres of paved storage and a berth extension from 3,200 to 4,500 linear feet. Additional expansion now underway includes an expanded gate complex, a new on-dock rail-served 500,000 square foot trans-load facility, more storage, and a third deep water berth. With a channel depth of 43 feet, efficient and effective stevedores and terminal operators, reliable trucking partners, and on-dock rail service, Port Tampa Bay handles practically every type of general cargo imaginable.
Port Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest and most diverse port, handling more than 33 million tons of cargo a year, and encompassing 5,000 acres of land. There has never been a better time to serve the country’s fastest-growing state from Port Tampa Bay and ReRoute Your Thinking.
Visit www.porttb.com/cargo to learn more.
