The South Carolina State Ports Authority opened its second inland port on Monday, a rail-served cargo yard in Dillon County that ties the Pee Dee region to the Port of Charleston about 130 miles away.
Nearly 400 people turned out for the grand opening of Inland Port Dillon, according to the authority, known as SC Ports. The $50.5 million terminal lets trucks and CSX trains swap cargo containers bound to and from Charleston’s docks, The Post and Courier reported.
“Inland ports provide needed infrastructure in the interior of the state to support the movement of freight to and from our marine terminals,” Jim Newsome, the authority’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “The addition of Inland Port Dillon to the Port’s network diversifies our reach and enables port users to gain logistics efficiencies through rail transportation of their cargo.”
The site uses an existing CSX intermodal train service, and the authority expects it to shift about 45,000 container moves from trucks to rail in its first year. CSX will run the line six days a week, The Post and Courier reported.
The terminal was quietly at work before the ceremony. Trucks began hauling containers from the yard last week, and the first truck visited on April 11, The Post and Courier reported.
What was built
The inland port took a year to build, the newspaper reported. Its site totals 158 acres, including 30 paved acres, with two rail tracks operated by CSX and two rubber-tired gantry cranes to load and unload containers, according to the paper.
State Rep. Jackie Hayes put the cost at about $50 million in an interview with WBTW. He told the station that the Ports Authority paid $41 million and that Dillon County taxpayers put in $2.3 million, with other partners, including the state Commerce Department, contributing.
The terminal sits within the Carolinas I-95 Mega Site, close to Interstate 95, according to SC Ports. When officials first discussed the project more than a year ago, it carried the code name “Project Pedro,” after the mascot of the South of the Border roadside attraction in Dillon County, The Post and Courier reported.
Students named the two cranes. Two fourth-graders at Latta Elementary School won a port contest with the names Bluesaurus Rex and Incraneable Hulk, which have been painted on the cranes, and each earned $500 for their school, the authority said.
Customers and jobs
Harbor Freight Tools, which operates a distribution center near the port, is the launch customer, The Post and Courier reported. International Paper and KB Biotech Solutions have also announced plans to use the site, and more announcements are expected in the next few weeks, according to the newspaper.
“There’s been strong interest in the facility by our customers, but we let them take the lead on announcing they will use it,” Erin Dhand, an authority spokeswoman, told the paper.
Dillon County hosted a half-dozen groundbreakings in 2017 for businesses creating more than 1,000 jobs, including a $200 million expansion at the Harbor Freight distribution center, The Post and Courier reported. The county has historically had some of South Carolina’s highest unemployment and poverty rates, the newspaper reported.
“The facility has already created 1,000 jobs in our area, and today’s grand opening begins the next stage of economic development that will help uplift our entire community,” U.S. Rep. Tom Rice said in the authority’s statement.
Hayes told WBTW he expects the port to eventually bring roughly 5,000 jobs to Dillon County.
Micah Mallace, the authority’s director of strategic projects, called the site “a vital addition to South Carolina’s growing logistics sector,” according to The Post and Courier.
Gov. Henry McMaster said the state’s port network gives it an edge.
“With two inland ports and the Port of Charleston soon to be the deepest on the East Coast, South Carolina has strategic advantages that no other state has, and that will continue to pay off for the people of our great state,” McMaster said in the authority’s statement.
Following Greer
Dillon follows Inland Port Greer, which the authority opened in the Upstate in 2013 on a Norfolk Southern line. Greer handled a record 124,817 rail moves in 2017, up 20% from the year before, according to SC Ports.
Rail is a growing share of the port’s business. Container volume moving by intermodal rail has risen 180% since 2011, and nearly 25% of the port’s container volume now moves by rail, the authority said.
“CSX is pleased to be a key link in extending the South Carolina Port Authority’s reach from the Port of Charleston to the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina through establishment of Inland Port Dillon,” Dean Piacente, CSX’s vice president of intermodal, said in the authority’s statement.
The opening comes as the port’s marine terminals are busier than ever. SC Ports handled 199,659 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, in March, the strongest month in its history, the authority said. Newsome said the Dillon terminal complements the work underway at the port’s Charleston facilities to handle bigger ships and more cargo.
