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FTZ No. 45
Big Ship Ready: No
Rail: BNSF, UP
Highways: I-5, I-84, I-205
Days to South Korea: 11
Top Exports: Wheat, Potash, Soda Ash
Cargo Types: Break Bulk, Dry Bulk, Ro/Ro
What infrastructure additions has the port made to support shippers over the past two years?
We’ve had a number of rail projects including expansion of the Burlington Northern automobile processing facility in North River Gate and completion of the Ramsey rail yard at South River Gate for the Union Pacific. All of these enable us to handle larger trains for our bulk and auto franchise areas.
What’s your most under-appreciated asset?
The biggest one, I think, is our barge system and what it means for agricultural exporters in the region. All the other West Coast ports, with the exception of Portland, are deep water, but they don’t reach inland the way the Columbia River does, so we actually have service that reaches all the way up to Idaho.
What’s your biggest locational advantage?
We’re located between the California and Canadian border; as a result we’re a domestic termination point for a good deal of 53-foot equipment. We have some real potential as a transload center and quite a few major shippers are already using Portland as a transload gateway.
