Transloading facility would boost Atlantic container traffic: Report

HALIFAX — Transloading is more critical to a ports success than strategic location, concludes a new report by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies.

According to the Halifax Daily News, the Port of Halifax could boost traffic by as much as 25 percent if transloading capacity — the process of unloading freight from container ships and repackaging it for truck and rail transport — were improved.

Distribution and warehousing are critical to any port’s success, write authors Stephen Kymlicka and Jim Frost. They suggest Halifax Port acquire land located next to the Trans Canada Highway so it’s accessible by rail and “road trains.”

A revamped system could translate into 132,000 more TEUs per year, or roughly 66,000 more containers.

Ports that have experienced the most dramatic growth in recent years, such as Los Angeles/Long Beach, have built large distribution networks, the authors state.

Kymlicka told the paper that the port still has much work to do in attracting markets, such as a large distribution center. However, new cross-dock facilities by trucking carriers Consolidated Fastfrate and Armour Transportation are a good start, he added.

— from the Halifax Daily News