Patrick McCrory’s first job on the Charleston waterfront was as a stevedore at Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant, handling containers on and off ships for APM Terminals.
On Oct. 5, he took over operations at that terminal and the rest of the port.
McCrory is chief operating officer of the South Carolina State Ports Authority. He leads an operations team of more than 500 people that runs the port’s container terminals, its roll-on, roll-off and breakbulk business, its intermodal work and two rail-served inland ports in Greer and Dillon, according to SC Ports. The board approved his hiring unanimously Aug. 18 at an annual salary of $360,000, The Post and Courier reported.
“I am extremely grateful and honored to work alongside the best-in-class operations teams at South Carolina Ports,” McCrory said in the authority’s announcement. “South Carolina companies depend on us to safely, reliably and efficiently move imports and exports.”
Rail roots
McCrory comes to the port from Palmetto Railways, the short-line railroad run by the South Carolina Department of Commerce. He joined it as a vice president in 2013 and became president and CEO in mid-2022, the Post and Courier reported. Along the way he served as chief commercial officer and chief operations officer and managed a $450 million capital development portfolio, according to SC Ports.
Before that, he held senior terminal management jobs with CSX Intermodal Terminals, leading intermodal operations in Ohio, Georgia and North Carolina. He helped lead the launch of the $175 million Northwest Ohio Transshipment Hub and oversaw intermodal terminals in the Atlanta and Charlotte markets, SC Ports said. He also held management jobs with APM Terminals around the country.
He has a bachelor’s degree in logistics and intermodal transportation from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a master’s degree in transportation management, focused on supply chain operations, from the University of Denver. He served nine years in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a strategic sealift officer.
Building track
At Palmetto Railways, McCrory oversaw the largest project in the railroad’s history: a line of roughly 23 miles from Volvo Cars’ plant at Camp Hall in Ridgeville to a CSX connection near Cross, at a cost of about $209 million, the Post and Courier reported.
“This is the largest endeavor this company or this entity of the state has completed in its history,” he told The Berkeley Independent in April. Construction is expected to continue through fall 2026, according to the project’s website.
The railroad also restored service this spring on its 40-mile Salkehatchie line in Hampton and Colleton counties, which had last served customers in 2012, Palmetto Railways said. In May, McCrory said planned rail work at the former WestRock paper mill site in North Charleston, where SC Ports plans a vehicle export operation, “builds on existing rail infrastructure and improves capacity for future cargo growth,” the SC Daily Gazette reported.
Why the port wanted a railroader
SC Ports CEO Micah Mallace said a top consideration in filling the job was finishing and opening the Navy Base Intermodal Facility, the authority’s delayed rail yard in North Charleston, according to the Post and Courier. The yard still needs signed agreements with CSX and Norfolk Southern.
“And having someone with deep rail experience we felt was integral to delivering this facility and turning it around successfully,” Mallace said, according to the newspaper.
In the authority’s announcement, Mallace said McCrory “has worked alongside SC Ports as a longtime rail partner, helping to enhance our state’s freight rail infrastructure and grow cargo volumes at our port.”
McCrory takes over operations during a hard stretch. The port’s container volume fell 4.6% in fiscal 2026 and dropped another 6.8% in the first three months of fiscal 2027, according to SC Ports. The authority idled its Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston on Aug. 1 to cut costs.
A handoff at Palmetto Railways
Palmetto Railways named Tarek “T” Ravenel, a Charleston native, as McCrory’s successor, effective Sept. 8. Ravenel had spent nearly a decade at the railroad as director of special projects, overseeing its capital improvement program, before leading freight rail work in the eastern U.S. for the engineering firm HDR, the railroad said.
“T understands our organization, our people and the important role we play in supporting South Carolina’s economy,” McCrory said in the railroad’s announcement.
Commerce Secretary Harry M. Lightsey III thanked McCrory for “nearly 14 years of dedicated service to Palmetto Railways.”
The two agencies remain closely tied. Palmetto Railways serves the Port of Charleston with direct access to CSX and Norfolk Southern, and McCrory said in May that the railroad would work with SC Ports on future cargo at Columbus Street Terminal, according to the Gazette.
