File Photo
The Greer Inland Port handled 8,182 rail moves in April. Fiscal year-to-date moves are 54 percent higher than the same period last year.
Michelin North America’s announced $300 million tire distribution plant creating 350 jobs was directly related to its accessibility to the Inland Port, according to David Britt of Spartanburg County Council.
“That’s a big part of it,” Britt said. “(It) will be a fast-track project.”
The plant will be located on hundreds of acres on Greer’s border at Brockman McClimon Road and Highway 101. The inland port is within 10 miles and provides overnight rail service roundtrip to the Port of Charleston. The facility is scheduled to be online in 2018.
Final approval for the plant is scheduled June 20.
The South Carolina Port Authority reported Wednesday the inland port has handled 75,214 lifts since July, bringing fiscal year-to-date moves are 54 percent higher than the same period last year.
The inland port, now on about 38 acres, is likely to be expanded in 2017. Jim Newsome, S.C. Ports Authority President said he expects to have the capital budget for the Inland Port expansion.
The expansion west toward Moore Street will grow the inland port to 70 of its 100 acres. “I predict that we’ll have to add to that physical footprint in the next fiscal year,” Newsome said last October.
The Inland Port offers one-day shipping to Charleston, serves 19 of 20 top container lines, boasts a 23-minute average truck turn time, has a 500-ton barge crane, and can move freight from Shanghai to Memphis in 29 days.