International Intermodal Center Marks Another Record Year

The International Intermodal Center – which provides one central location for companies to transfer, distribute, and store products and services – has long been viewed as a model for other communities looking to enhance their transportation services. 2007 marked another record year for the operation.

The International Intermodal Center achieved an all-time record for calendar year volume with 45,468 lifts, representing a modest 0.2% percent increase in lift volume over the previous year. Considering that the operation experienced a 32 percent increase in volume in 2006, Mitch Bradley, Director, International Intermodal Center, was pleased. Once again, the growth of automotive manufacturing in Alabama was a key contributor to the record lift volume. Automotive manufacturing has grown in volume since 2001 with the opening of Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai plants in Alabama.

In addition, Mercedes Benz, Honda, and Toyota have all expanded their Alabama plants over the past several years. In addition to automotive manufacturing, retail consumer goods traffic increased last year due to a large retail company opening a distribution center in North Alabama, which will bring in several thousand containers annually to the Intermodal Center. New automotive assembly plants scheduled to open in Columbus, Georgia, in 2009 and Tupelo, Mississippi, in 2010 should continue to fuel the growth of automotive volume for years to come.

The air cargo side also experienced record volume in 2007. More than 174 million pounds of air cargo moved through the facility this year, which is a 14.4 percent increase in air cargo freight weight as compared to 2006. Following a prospecting trip to China last year, efforts to attract direct air cargo service to/from Asia continue as airport executives plan follow-up visits to Asia in 2008.

According to Bradley, “We are well positioned with both infrastructure and ideal geographic placement to continue to grow both rail and air cargo volumes at the International Intermodal Center. We will break ground this month on a new 92,000-square-foot, multi-purpose facility that can serve air cargo, including cold storage and aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul.”