NW Seaport Alliance Looking at Establishing Inland Port

In an effort to move great volumes of product through the Northwest ports, the Seaport Alliance is looking to establish an Inland Port.  The Alliance’s Mike Reilly told the Washington Ag Network such a port could reduce wait time in western Washington.  Being able to service and get that export load through one of the marine terminals in either Seattle or Tacoma, the gate operations are open only for seven hours and 15 minutes a day.

"We’d set up a facility where that same farmer would be able to truck his container or pickup an empty container, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so there wouldn’t be any limiting factors.”

Reilly said they are currently looking a the Tri Cities, since the area can serve both main rail providers, BNSF and UP.  Reilly added an Inland Port would also reduce the amount of truck traffic traveling over Snoqualmie Pass, not only making the roadway safer, but improving the carbon footprint of Northwest producers.

“That’s becoming a very big issue for Asian buyers.  They want to understand what you are doing to try to minimize your carbon footprint as you’re sending exports to us in various countries.”

While Reilly did not put a price tag on construction of an Inland Port, he said the plan is to improve the operating costs of operators who are currently using truck only transport.

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