Port Tampa Bay sits at the epicenter of the fastest growing region in the fastest growing state and has aggressively added capacity to become Florida’s new preferred supply chain solution for container cargo. Florida now has the country’s third-highest population with over 22 million residents, welcomes nearly 140 million tourists per year, and is the 15th largest economy in the world. The importers and exporters who support this huge consumer market are demanding a Florida-first supply chain strategy with expanded direct ocean container services. The addition of direct container services with Asia and Latin America via Port Tampa Bay has been critical in better serving Florida’s largest and fastest-growing market, the Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor. Home to the State’s largest concentration of distribution centers, the Central Florida region has over 550 million square feet of DC space right in Port Tampa Bay’s backyard. Home to close to half of Florida’s population, growth along the I-4 Corridor is fueling demand for everything from retail and e-commerce goods, food & beverage, to energy products, and construction & building materials. Beneficial cargo owners are seeing significant savings in their drayage and distribution costs as truckers make as many as 3 to 4 round trip deliveries per day from Port Tampa Bay to their DCs, which then service the entire state. Customers also benefit from attractive northbound backhaul truck rates to extend their reach into markets throughout the Southeast and beyond.
To keep pace with its rapidly growing market, the Port expanded terminal capacity and will add more than 55 acres total of paved storage and welcomed three additional post-Panamax gantry cranes, brining the port’s total to five. Additional expansion now underway includes an expanded gate complex, a new on-dock rail-served 500,000 square foot trans-load facility, more storage and a third deep water berth.