Florida East Coast Railway Intermodal Facility Boosts Cargo Volume at Port Everglades
Florida East Coast Railway's 43-acre intermodal facility in Broward County is bringing more cargo through South Florida.
Broward County officials say FECR's "intermodal container transfer facility," which opened in late 2014, helped boost cargo volume at Port Everglades during the 2014-15 fiscal year. Florida East Coast Railway saw a 26% increase in volume at the facility during its first year of operation, according to a news release issued by the port.
Containerized cargo volumes at Port Everglades grew by 5% during the 2014-15 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, according to Broward officials. Port officials attribute the increase to new and expanded cargo service, including the first full operational year of FECR's intermodal facility.
"We continue making substantial infrastructure investments to help our customers grow their businesses — most notably, the FECR's railyard and roadway improvements to improve the last mile of landside connectivity," said Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak.
In a November 2014 news release announcing the opening of the intermodal facility, FECR said it provides Crowley Maritime customers "with more efficient cargo handling and faster deliveries now that containers no longer need to be trucked via interstate highways to and from an off-site rail terminal."
The facility also allows Crowley to handle "bigger, heavier break bulk and out-of-gauge cargo more efficiently and cost effectively because of the shorter distance required for transit to and from the rail facility," the news release said.
"Our investment in this state-of-the-art facility increases FECR's available intermodal capacity from 100,000 to 450,000 lifts a year, which is expected to result in more containers moving on FECR instead of the congested highways and improving the efficiency of our intermodal network," James R. Hertwig, FECR's President and CEO said in the news release.
Florida East Coast Railway is an affiliate of All Aboard Florida's parent company, Florida East Coast Industries.
