U.S. port activity in 2025 transitioned from pandemic-era volatility to a more normal trade environment, according to the U.S. Seaports Outlook released by Colliers. At major gateways, total container volumes generally stabilized at historically higher levels, with growth concentrated in select regions but tempered by trade policy uncertainty, shifting global demand, and inventory recalibration.
On the West Coast, the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach remained the dominant trans-Pacific gateway, handling a combined record 20.1 million TEUs in 2025. While annual volumes edged higher, activity was uneven, because frontloading of imports early in the year ahead of anticipated tariffs led to softer flows in the second half.
Farther north, volumes at the Northwest Seaport Alliance declined 5.6%, due to heightened tariff sensitivity and competitive routing shifts, while the Port of Oakland’s volume remained steady as export strength offset weaker imports.
“A defining trend among all regions was aggressive infrastructure investment. Ports are expanding berth capacity, deepening channels, enhancing on-dock rail, and modernizing terminals for larger vessels and improved efficiency,” according to Colliers. “Rail connectivity — enabling faster inland distribution and less reliance on trucking — also remains a priority. These investments directly support industrial real estate demand, although many markets are still experiencing elevated levels of new supply, leading to short[1]term vacancy increases. Looking ahead, geopolitical risk — particularly the conflict with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — introduces more uncertainty. While trans-Pacific trade, critical to West Coast ports, would likely see limited direct impact, Gulf and East Coast ports could face more damaging effects. The Strait is a vital chokepoint for global energy flows; disruption is driving oil price volatility, increasing shipping and transportation costs across all trade lanes. For ports deeply tied to petrochemical exports, like Houston’s, impacts could be mixed, potentially boosting energy-related cargo values while disrupting broader trade flows.”
Port of Baltimore
Seagirt Marine Terminal, operated by Ports America Chesapeake under a 50-year lease, is a testament to Port of Baltimore’s innovative spirit. Located 150 miles inland, it offers a strategic advantage for cargo serving the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. The terminal features two 50-foot-deep berths and eight Super Neo-Panamax cranes, capable of handling two ultra-large container vessels simultaneously.
Adjacent Dundalk Marine Terminal is the nation’s largest auto processing facility and a leading cargo distribution hub for farm equipment. Its over eight miles of on-terminal Class I rail support multimodal transport and offer breakbulk, packaging, and storage services. Ongoing upgrades at both terminals include new rail tracks, more reefer racks, berth improvements, and electrified yard equipment to enhance capacity and operational efficiency.
The Port of Baltimore is a national leader in handling automobiles, light trucks, and heavy machinery, ranking first in the United States for ro-ro cargo. It also handles bulk commodities such as coal, gypsum, sugar, and steel, with a container capacity of 1.75 million TEUs. The CSX Howard Street Tunnel project, completed ahead of schedule in September 2025, will allow double-stacked containers on rail in 2026, significantly increasing container efficiency. And in December 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued permits for a 330-acre Sparrows Point Container Terminal, which is expected to further double the port’s container capacity eventually.
After container volume decreased in 2024 due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, volume at the port returned to the 2023 levels, up 0.7% from two years ago.
The launch of double-stack rail operations at the Port of Baltimore is a major milestone, boosting container efficiency and capacity. By linking deepwater berths directly to Class I railroads, the port moves cargo faster and more cost-effectively to Mid-Atlantic and Midwest markets, reducing highway congestion and strengthening the region’s supply chain network.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement, set for completion between 2028-2030 at an estimated $4.3–$5.2 billion, will be a gamechanger for the Baltimore/I-95 industrial corridor. By improving traffic flow and strengthening access to the Port of Baltimore, the project will enhance regional logistics efficiency and boost the attractiveness of port-adjacent industrial sites.
In 2025, the Baltimore/I-95 industrial market had more than 1.6 million square feet of negative net absorption, much of it in the first half of the year, followed by positive demand in the second half. Vacancy sits near 10%, largely driven by the recent delivery of 3.2 million square feet of product. With less than 2 million square feet under construction — the lowest since 2016 — the market is poised to absorb vacant space. Combined with the Key Bridge improvements, the corridor is positioned for stronger long-term demand, reinforcing its role as a critical hub for industrial growth and supply chain operation.
Port of Charleston
The Port of Charleston remains South Carolina’s leading economic driver, directly employing more than 900 jobs with wages averaging 34% above the state average. Together with its inland ports, the system generates $87 billion in annual economic activity and contributes $1.5 billion in tax revenue. In mid-2025, new CEO Micah Mallace took leadership of the South Carolina Ports Authority, emphasizing a more customer-focused and sales-driven strategy to recapture market share as trade volumes grow across the Southeast.
The port continues to invest heavily in infrastructure to support long-term growth. The expansion of Inland Port Greer in 2024 doubled container yard capacity and added more than 9,000 feet of rail, enabling it to handle up to 300,000 container lifts annually. The new Navy Base Intermodal Facility is expected to open in 2026, providing near-dock rail service for both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway and improving cargo flow from the port. Other projects — including a new interchange at I-526 serving Wando Welch Terminal and future expansions at Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal — are expected to significantly expand capacity, positioning the port to reach 10 million TEUs annually by 2050.
The Port of Charleston operates 25 ship-to-shore cranes across its terminals, and with a 52-foot harbor depth, can accommodate post-Panamax vessels and container ships of up to 14,000 TEUs at high tide. The South Carolina Ports Authority also operates inland facilities, Inland Port Greer along the I-85 corridor and Inland Port Dillon near I-95, extending the port’s reach into key inland distribution markets.
In 2025, the Port of Charleston handled 2.6 million TEUs, the second straight year of growth following the pandemic disruption-driven spike in 2021–2022. This steady rebound reflects stabilizing global trade flows and continued demand for containerized imports and exports moving through the Southeast.
The Port of Charleston is served by CSX and Norfolk Southern, and daily express intermodal and merchandise rail services connect Charleston with hubs across the Southeast, Gulf Coast, and Midwest. Besides CSX and Norfolk Southern’s double-stack intermodal trains, the RapidRail dray program and SMART Pool chassis fleet provide cost-efficient connections and a larger fleet.
A surge of speculative industrial development hit Charleston over the past four years, adding more than 25% to inventory, largely driven by port-related demand as the Port of Charleston expanded to receive larger vessels. As global trade normalized in 2024– 2025, vacancy rose sharply and reached one of the highest levels in the United States as sublease space increased and new supply outpaced demand. At the same time, expanded capacity at Inland Port Greer supported strong warehousing absorption in the lower-cost Greenville–Spartanburg market, while port connectivity continued to influence development statewide, including new rail infrastructure tied to Scout Motors. Most recent industrial development has occurred in outlying submarkets about 45 minutes from the port, though projects such as the 156,000-square-foot Shipyard Creek Logistics Center adjacent to the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston highlight continued demand for port-proximate logistics space.
Port Houston
Port Houston handled a record 4.3 million TEUs in 2025, up 4% from 2024, with petrochemical, industrial, manufacturing, and consumer-driven cargo. It’s the largest container gateway on the Gulf Coast, moving 73% of the region’s container traffic, and consistently ranks number one nationally for foreign and total waterborne tonnage. Its long-standing role as an economic engine is driven by energy production, chemicals, and growing consumer demand, with strategies for future growth outlined in the 2040 Plan.
The 52-mile Houston Ship Channel complex includes more than 200 private wharves, eight public facilities, two container terminals, and the region’s largest breakbulk facility. Port operations support 1.5 million jobs in Texas and 3.4 million nationwide. Major infrastructure investments are expanding capacity and efficiency. Project 11 is deepening and widening the channel — boosting width from 530 to 700 feet and select depths to 46.5 feet — to be completed by 2028. In 2025, Wharf 7 at Bayport added 1,000 feet of berth space, increasing capacity by more than 500,000 TEUs and reinforcing Port Houston’s ability to handle larger vessels and growing cargo volumes. Capabilities Port Houston encompasses a vast network of more than 200 private terminals and eight public wharves and terminals, supporting a wide variety of cargo including containerized goods, breakbulk, bulk commodities, and specialized shipments.
Its two primary container terminals, Barbours Cut and Bayport, are the largest and most active, equipped with modern ship-to-shore cranes, on-dock rail, and advanced yard operations to efficiently handle growing cargo volumes.
Trade Container activity at Port Houston in 2025 reached a record 4.3 million TEUs, surpassing previous annual highs and reflecting sustained growth in multiple cargo categories. The record throughput reinforces Port Houston’s position as the largest container gateway on the Gulf Coast.
Houston’s industrial market remained highly active in 2025, with 10.5 million square feet of net absorption and 26.3 million square feet under construction, up from 16.9 million square feet year over year. Port Houston is a major catalyst, as its deep-water terminals, intermodal rail connections, and highway access drive demand for warehouses, distribution centers, and logistics hubs. Ongoing infrastructure upgrades, including Project 11 and expanded container capacity, position the port to continue fueling industrial growth for both regional and national supply chains
Port of Jacksonville
The Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT) is Florida’s busiest container port and a top U.S. hub for vehicle handling, connecting 140 ports in more than 70 countries. It offers direct container service to Asia, South America, the Caribbean, and Central America, with tailored freight solutions for Europe and Africa. JAXPORT supports more than 31,000 jobs statewide and contributes more than $44 billion annually to Florida’s economy.
In 2025, a $72 million modernization of the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal upgraded the 47-foot-deep channel and infrastructure, boosting capacity by 150% to more than 650,000 TEUs annually and doubling total throughput to roughly 2 million TEUs. A project raising nearby powerlines will provide 205 feet of air draft for larger vessels, expected by late 2026, with full completion in 2027. Also in 2025, Southeast Toyota Distributors opened a $145 million, 380,000-square-foot vehicle processing facility at Blount Island, with rail access and capacity for 4,000 vehicles per week, reinforcing its 50-year partnership with JAXPORT. Meanwhile, Enstructure is redeveloping 79 acres at Talleyrand Marine Terminal as part of a 115-acre mixed-use site, adding 200,000 square feet of warehouse space and increasing non-containerized cargo capacity by 20%. The 30-year, $136 million project will handle breakbulk, dry bulk, vehicles, and containers through 2054.
Trade container volume in 2025 reached 1.4 million TEUs, up 3.6% from 2024 and matching the record set in 2021. With the completion of the modernization project in 2025, the terminal’s infrastructure now supports significantly increased capacity.
As of early 2026, JAXPORT has strengthened its intermodal capabilities with a dedicated rail connection at Southeast Toyota’s $145 million facility and ongoing improvements at the Dames Point and Talleyrand Intermodal Container Transfer Facilities. Partnerships with CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Watco are enhancing cargo flow, and more rail capacity is planned to support the increased TEU volumes in late 2025.
The port is also well positioned to benefit from industry developments, including the potential Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger, which could expand seamless transcontinental rail access to Western U.S. markets.
Jacksonville’s industrial market showed resilience by the end of 2025, with positive net absorption despite vacancy climbing to 9.3% due to strong new supply. Supported by steady rents at $9.17 per square foot triple-net and improving leasing, the market is moving toward more supply-demand balance in 2026. With construction slowing to just 957,000 square feet to be delivered in early 2026 and growing tenant requirements, the region is well positioned for normalization, as a 9.5 million-square-foot active tenant pipeline is ready to absorb space efficiently over the coming quarters.
Port of Los Angeles/Port of Long Beach
Together, the ports of Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach operate 14 container terminals across 15,620 acres. While geographically adjacent, the ports function independently and have historically competed for cargo.
Serving as the primary U.S. trade gateway for goods moving to and from China, Japan, Vietnam, and Taiwan, the complex handled a record 20.1 million TEUs in 2025, slightly up from 19.9 million TEUs in 2024. Container volumes have largely normalized following pandemic volatility but remain historically elevated, with near-term fluctuations primarily driven by trade policy uncertainty, shifts in global demand, and retailer inventory adjustments.
Both ports continue to invest in large-scale infrastructure improvements, primarily for rail expansion, terminal modernization, and operational efficiency upgrades to boost long-term cargo growth. One of the most significant active projects, the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility at the Port of Long Beach, is intended to substantially increase on-dock rail capacity and reduce truck-dependent cargo movement across the region.
The Port of Long Beach has the deepest harbor in the United States, at 76 feet, while the Port of Los Angeles maintains a 53-foot harbor accommodating vessels carrying up to 15,000 TEUs, both providing notably more capacity than many East Coast ports. Together, they operate 14 container terminals and 157 ship-to-shore cranes, many capable of servicing Post‑Panamax vessels with capacities exceeding 6,000 TEUs.
Trade In 2025, the Port of Los Angeles handled 10.2 million TEUs, the third-highest annual total in its history, while the Port of Long Beach processed a record 9.9 million TEUs, up 2.5% year over year. Trade volumes slowed in the second half of the year, particularly compared with the strong second half of 2024, largely due to import front-loading earlier in 2025 ahead of expected tariff increases. Factors also included higher inventory levels for retailers and manufacturers and softer export activity amid shifting global trade patterns. Intermodal Both ports maintain extensive, modern on-dock and near-dock rail networks served by Class I railroads. Operating around the clock, these systems connect to the Alameda Corridor, a dedicated freight rail expressway from the port complex to major inland markets across North America.
Roughly five miles away, the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) serves as a major near-dock international intermodal hub for multiple shipping lines. Continued modernization across the San Pedro Bay Port Complex reinforces Southern California’s position as the nation’s dominant logistics gateway, both for industrial demand locally in the South Bay and Mid-Counties and for strengthening regional distribution throughout the Inland Empire and national intermodal networks.
The cargo volumes moving through the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach drive consistent demand for warehouse and logistics facilities that quickly process containers and reposition imported goods inland. Port-adjacent submarkets are the first point of distribution before freight moves to larger regional hubs in the Inland Empire. From there, ample rail connectivity, anchored by the Alameda Corridor, allows cargo to move efficiently to inland markets and national intermodal networks, and reinforces sustained demand for modern logistics space across Southern California.
Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland’s capital investment program is gaining momentum, highlighted by the first of four fully electric, Liebherr ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at the TraPac terminal, to begin operating in May 2026. Now undergoing commissioning and testing, these cranes are the first European-built STS equipment to be deployed on the West Coast.
At the same time, cargo performance remained stable, with 2.25 million TEUs handled in 2025 (-0.4% year-over-year) as stronger exports offset softer imports amid uneven global trade conditions; December volumes of 179,580 TEUs reflected a similar trend, with exports supporting year-end stability. Together, these investments reinforce the port’s focus on sustainable growth, operational resilience, and alignment with evolving environmental standards.
The Port of Oakland’s four container terminals are supported by deep-water infrastructure, with about 90% of its 18 berths dredged to 50 feet, enabling vessels of up to 12,000 TEUs. Terminal operations use 37 STS cranes, including 29 post-Panamax units, with the new fully electric cranes at the TraPac terminal to come online by May 2026. Ongoing dock upgrades and modernization, backed by federal and state funding, are focused on expanding capacity, accommodating larger vessels, and supporting long-term growth.
In 2025, the Port of Oakland handled 2.25 million TEUs, down 0.4% year over year. Leading imports included furniture (130,000 TEUs), plastics (80,000 TEUs), and batteries (72,000 TEUs), while exports were led by wastepaper (145,000 TEUs) and fruits and nuts (127,000 TEUs). Key trading partners included China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and India.
The port continues to anchor industrial demand across Oakland, the East Bay, and the Central Valley. After consecutive years of negative net absorption, vacancy growth is beginning to stabilize in these markets as new deliveries slow. A full rebalancing will depend on a recovery in tenant demand, with occupiers still cautious amid economic uncertainty. Even so, steady cargo volumes and Oakland’s role as a key West Coast gateway support long-term fundamentals.
PortMiami
Known as the “Cargo Gateway of the Americas,” PortMiami is Florida’s second-largest container port and the ninth largest in the United States. It primarily handles containerized cargo, along with break-bulk, vehicles, and industrial equipment.
In 2025, throughput exceeded 1.1 million TEUs, a 2.4% year-over-year increase and the 11th consecutive for more than 1 million TEUs, highlighting sustained operational stability. PortMiami generates roughly $61 billion in annual economic impact for Florida and more than 340,000 jobs, underscoring its critical role in regional growth. Ongoing infrastructure investments, including enhanced road and rail connectivity, have strengthened its position as a key logistics hub with efficient access to domestic and international markets. Coupled with its proximity to Miami International Airport and modern cargo facilities, PortMiami remains a vital engine of trade and economic activity in South Florida.
PortMiami operates eight passenger terminals, six gantry crane wharves, seven ro-ro docks, four refrigerated yards for containers, break-bulk cargo warehouses and nine gantry container-handling cranes. The port also operates the cruise and cargo terminals and their cargo-handling and support equipment. Following more than $1 billion in cargo-side investments — including a 50-foot-deep channel, new super post-Panamax cranes, on-dock rail upgrades, and a direct highway tunnel — the port has strengthened its role as a global gateway. Ongoing improvements include expansion of electric RTG cranes to increase yard efficiency, along with drainage and berth upgrades at Seaboard Marine.
In 2025, Miami’s trade profile continued to evolve. In November, exports totaled $7.1 billion and imports $5.23 billion, expanding the trade surplus. Exports rose 1.2% year over year while imports fell 15.7%, driven by growth in high-value goods. Trade remained broad-based across 140-plus countries, with nearly half tied to Latin America and the Caribbean.
PortMiami’s advanced on-dock rail facilities, operated by Florida East Coast Railway, provide convenient connections to major U.S. markets. Its intermodal rail system enables cargo to reach 70% of the U.S. population within four days.
Miami-Dade County is one of the nation’s tightest industrial markets, with its strategic location near PortMiami and Miami International Airport. With over 255 million square feet of inventory, the market has some of the country’s highest rents and lowest vacancy rates. Strong demand and scarce land continue to drive development, with roughly 3.5 million square feet under construction and another 3.5 million square feet delivered in 2025, attracting e-commerce and logistics users focused on global trade access.
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port of New York and New Jersey remains the busiest container port on the East Coast, serving the nation’s most densely populated consumer market and a major industrial hub. Within a 250-mile radius, shippers can reach 62 million people and more than 4 billion square feet of warehouse space.
In 2025, the port handled 8.9 million TEUs, a 2.3% increase from 2024. Monthly volumes continued to peak, with nearly 836,000 TEUs moved in August alone — one of the busiest months in the port’s history. Operations were largely uninterrupted, sustaining momentum for container throughput and reinforcing the port’s critical role in regional supply chains.
The Port Authority and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invested more than $50 million in berth maintenance and dredging, including a $32 million project to deepen Gravesend Anchorage to 50 feet. Expanded intermodal rail facilities added track and yard capacity, improving intraport connectivity and reducing truck congestion. These efforts are part of a broader $45 billion long-term capital plan that includes wharf and berth modernization, roadway enhancements, and harbor improvements, positioning the port for continued growth and stronger global competitiveness.
The Port of New York and New Jersey’s six container terminals, and a 50-foot harbor depth, accommodate vessels carrying up to 14,000 TEUs. The terminals have 78 ship-to-shore cranes, many for Post-Panamax ships.
Trade In 2025, the port handled 8.9 million total TEUs in its third-busiest year, a 2.3% increase over 2024. It remained the second-busiest U.S. container port for loaded containers (5.96 million loaded TEUs, +2.8% over 2024), driven by high demand and low congestion.
The port’s ExpressRail System carries more than one-third of the cargo that supplies the Eastern Seaboard, and covers every major city in the Midwest, Northeast, and Eastern Canada. The port is a significant demand driver for many industrial markets across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. However, demand is most closely correlated with northern and central New Jersey markets. Nearly 75% of cargo volume is trucked to distribution centers in Hudson, Essex, Union, and Middlesex counties. In 2025, the Northern and Central New Jersey industrial markets began to stabilize after years of supply-driven pressure.
Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), Washington
After an increase reported in 2024, tariff-driven uncertainty was a major cause of 2025’s decrease in NWSA’s total TEU volume, to just under 3.2 million containers, down 5.6% from the previous year.
BNSF, Norfolk Southern and the NWSA have collaborated to develop a three-day faster inland point intermodal service to Chicago, reducing ship-to-Chicago time to six days from the Pacific Northwest.
In March 2025, the new carrier alliance between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, aka Gemini Cooperation, which delivers faster and more direct connections between Asia and the Pacific Northwest, allowed its first port call to NWSA. In April, NWSA and the Puyallup Tribe announced plans to partner to develop the new Puyallup Tribal Terminal at the Port of Tacoma that will expand berth capacity, include on-dock rail, and integrate carbon-reduction technologies.
NWSA operates 10 container terminals served by more than 20 international container carriers, along with four carriers regularly serving Alaska and Hawaii. More than 80% of containerized trade between Alaska and the contiguous United States moves through the Seattle and Tacoma harbors. The gateway has 45 ship-to-shore container cranes, many able to handle super-post-Panamax vessels. Its natural harbor depth of roughly 51 feet enables accommodation of large container ships of up to 12,000 TEUs.
The port benefits from robust intermodal connectivity from the Seattle–Tacoma gateway to major inland distribution markets across North America. Nine on-dock and near-dock intermodal rail yards allow cargo to move efficiently from vessel to rail, minimizing drayage and accelerating inland distribution. Additional near-dock facilities further strengthen the gateway’s intermodal reach, including Union Pacific’s Tacoma South Intermodal Facility and BNSF’s South Seattle Intermodal Facility. Nearby transload operators and more than 100 regional transload facilities help accelerate cargo transfers between vessel, rail, and truck networks.
In 2025, new supply raised the Seattle-Puget Sound industrial vacancy rate 138 basis points, to 9.3%. Net absorption of negative 1.5 million square feet also played a role, the lowest annual absorption total in over 15 years. The construction pipeline declined by 54% year over year, although 2.8M square feet remained underway. Because of limited pre-leasing, vacancies may rise slightly in the near term after the delivery of these projects in 2026.
Looking ahead, the region’s long-term industrial demand fundamentals remain closely tied to trans-Pacific cargo flows through the Northwest Seaport Alliance gateway. Strong intermodal rail connectivity, extensive transload capacity, and ongoing cargo throughput drive demand for warehouse, logistics, and distribution facilities near the ports and along major I-5 and I-90 corridors. As supply growth moderates and trade volumes stabilize, port-related logistics activity is expected to support absorption in 2026 and beyond, gradually tightening market conditions and reinforcing the Puget Sound region’s role as a critical Pacific Northwest distribution hub.
Port of Savannah
The Port of Savannah remains the fourth-largest seaport in North America and the second-largest on the East Coast, serving more than 160 countries with direct shipping access to more than 800 ports. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has committed $4.5 billion over the next decade to expand capacity and infrastructure across its seaport and inland terminals to satisfy long-term supply chain and cargo handling needs.
Recent infrastructure milestones include the Peak Capacity Project, which added 1.2 million TEUs of capacity at the Garden City Terminal, and the ongoing Garden City West Terminal Project, which is expanding container storage by 90 acres for another 1 million TEUs of capacity.
GPA also welcomed the new U.S.–India trade agreement, which is expected to stimulate more cargo flows from South Asia, already a significant market for Savannah’s global services. Together, these initiatives are expected to help increase the port’s total TEU capacity to 10 million by 2030 and up to 20 million by 2050, while enhancing operational efficiency, inland connectivity, and international trade opportunities.
The Garden City Terminal, the largest single-operator container terminal in North America, spans 1,345 acres with more than 9,600 linear feet of berth space and significant on-terminal rail capacity, empowering it to efficiently handle the largest vessels calling on the East Coast. Meanwhile, Ocean Terminal is being redeveloped from a historic breakbulk facility into a dedicated container terminal; the project will add roughly 2,800 linear feet of berth space and enable the Port of Savannah to accommodate two large vessels simultaneously, and expand overall container capacity.
In 2025, the Port of Savannah handled nearly 5.7 million TEUs, its second-busiest year on record and a 2.6% increase over 2024. Imports still made up the majority of loaded container volumes, approximately two-thirds of total trade.
Intermodal rail cargo continues to be critical to Savannah’s growth strategy. The Mason Mega Rail Terminal — North America’s largest on-port rail facility — provides expanded inland reach through seamless on-dock rail operations. Investments like the CSX Carolina Connect and the Blue Ridge Connector inland terminal (opening 2026) are improving rail connectivity, reducing transit times, and supporting more resilient, truck-to-rail supply chains.
Port of Virginia
The Port of Virginia’s major channel deepening and widening project was essentially completed in early 2026. The shipping channels have been deepened to 55 feet and widened to support two‑way traffic of ultra‑large container vessels (ULCVs). The harbor is now the deepest and one of the widest on the East Coast, and enables large vessels to call without tidal or draft restrictions.
Multiple major state and regional transportation projects are advancing to improve access to the Port of Virginia and its connections to I‑95. Key initiatives include the expansion and modernization of the Hampton Roads Bridge‑Tunnel, ongoing widening of segments of I‑64, and large scale upgrades along I‑95 and associated freight corridors through VDOT Total Annual TEUs. These investments will help grow cargo volumes and strengthen the port’s role in driving industrial absorption and development across Virginia.
The Port of Virginia operates two primary container terminals — Virginia International Gateway and Norfolk International Terminals — equipped with 31 Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes. A fourth ULCV berth is scheduled to open in 2026, and a fifth in 2027, expanding capacity for the largest container ships. Both terminals feature semi-automated operations and advanced yard systems that support industry-leading productivity. Other facilities include Portsmouth Marine Terminal, currently staging the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, and Newport News Marine Terminal, which handles breakbulk and roll on-roll off (ro-ro) cargo.
In 2025, the Port of Virginia handled 3.2 million TEUs, 8.1% lower than 3.5 million TEUs in 2024, which was one of the strongest years in the port’s history. Despite the year-over-year decline, cargo flows remained relatively stable, due to diversified trade lanes across Asia, Northern Europe, and South Asia, along with strong agricultural and manufacturing exports from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
The Port of Virginia maintains one of the strongest intermodal rail networks among U.S. ports, moving about 32% of cargo, the highest share of any major East Coast gateway. Two Class I railroads, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern, provide on-dock intermodal service at Virginia International Gateway and Norfolk International Terminals. Shortline partners, including Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad and Commonwealth Railway, provide daily intermodal service to the Ohio Valley and Upper Midwest, while new partnerships extending into North Carolina have expanded the port’s reach across the Southeast, and strengthen its position as a key inland distribution gateway.
The three major industrial markets in Virginia — Norfolk, Richmond, and the Shenandoah Valley/I-81 Corridor (including the West Virginia Panhandle and Hagerstown, Maryland) — comprise nearly 362 million square feet of inventory.
