Charleston, SC

Intermodal container traffic in Charleston is centered on a major deepwater ocean gateway with several large container terminals clustered around Charleston Harbor. The harbor's 52-foot depth allows large container ships to reach the port without normal tidal restrictions, while Wando Welch Terminal alone has capacity for about 2.4 million TEUs and handles the majority of Charleston's container traffic. This produces a steady flow of used 20ft, 40ft, and 40ft high-cube containers moving between vessels, terminal yards, local depots, trucks, and rail connections.

Charleston's rail component is also expanding significantly. Containers currently move from the marine terminals to nearby CSX and Norfolk Southern rail yards through SC Ports' Rapid Rail program, which can transfer imports to rail within 24 hours. SC Ports is also nearing completion of the 118-acre Navy Base Intermodal Facility, a dual-served rail terminal designed for up to 1 million rail lifts per year that will substantially increase the amount of container freight that can move directly between Charleston's port terminals and the national rail network. That combination of deepwater vessel access, concentrated container terminals, and rapidly expanding near-dock rail capacity makes Charleston an especially important market for marine container traffic and container availability.