Rail & Road Connections

Nearly all major U.S. ports have National Highway System (NHS) connectors, [1] the public roads that lead to major marine terminals, as well as on-dock or nearby intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF) rail connections. Ports are served by 322 NHS connectors that range in length from a few hundred yards to twenty-seven miles in the case of Port Mikiski – Kenai in Alaska. [2] These roadways can handle annual average daily traffic ranging from a few hundred vehicles to hundreds of thousands of vehicles. [3]

Of the top 25 container ports, 18 or 72 percent have on-dock rail, but all have nearby rail transfer facilities. However, 43 or 69.3 percent of container terminals have on-dock transfer facilities within the marine terminal boundaries to load containers directly onto rail cars. On-dock rail eliminates the need for drayage trucks to ferry shipping containers to and from the marine terminal and ICTFs, which in turn reduces port congestion and improves efficiency. Other container terminals are located near off-dock facilities. As shown in the table below, the number of marine terminals handling container ships with on-dock rail by port varies widely.

Rail moves high-value, time-sensitive intermodal shipping containers (e.g., consumer electronics, appliances, etc.) as well as low-value breakbulk (e.g., forestry and steel products, etc.) or bulk commodities (e.g., coal, oil, etc.). A double-stack trains, consisting solely of double-stack container cars and locomotives, are optimized for moving intermodal shipping containers. Double-stack trains require greater tunnel clearances and specialized cargo handling equipment. However, double-stack train eases cargo un-/loading, and minimizes the overall footprint of the railyard.

Bulk terminals have a variety of rail service connections suited to the type and volume of commodities they handle. Rail provides an efficiency and effectively a low-cost way to move large amounts of freight cargo. Unit trains carry all the same, usually dry or liquid bulk commodities (e.g., coal, oil, etc.) and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination. The following figure shows the rail connection and facilities around many of the Nation's major ports.

Most container terminals have either on-dock transfer facilities within the marine terminal boundaries. On-dock rail eliminates the need for drayage trucks to ferry shipping containers to and from the marine terminal and ICTFs, helping reduce port congestion and improve efficiency. Other container terminals are located near off-dock facilities. The following figure shows the number of terminals by port with on-dock rail connections.