Averitt Express opens up new DC in Port of Savannah

In a move geared towards helping to support the growing amount of cargo moving through the Port of Savannah, Ga., freight transportation and logistics services provider Averitt Express said this week it has opened up a new international distribution center.

Averitt said that this new location replaces a previous facility it operated for more than 20 years. The previous facility was 9,100 square-feet, whereas the new location is comprised of more than 123,000 square feet, including warehousing, office and cross-dock space. In addition to LTL and dry van distribution, Averitt said it will use the additional space to provide a wide range of services for shippers, including cargo transloading, inventory management, order fulfillment and intermodal transportation. And it added that the follows the openings of new facilities in Austin, TX, Jacksonville, FL and Nashville, TN, which each include enclosed warehousing space and are part of Averitt’s Distribution and Fulfillment network.

“Our new distribution center positions us to better serve the growing needs of supply chains that depend on the Port of Savannah,” said Wayne Spain, Averitt’s president and chief operating officer, in a statement. “This facility also drastically increases the capacity and types of services we can perform for shippers in the region.”

An Averitt spokesman told LM that the company has grown considerably in the past 20-plus years, leading to the need for this new facility.

“We have more associates, drivers and more freight to handle,” he said. “In particular, the Savannah market has really grown in terms of freight and cargo volume movement. We need a bigger space to increase our capacity to handle transloading, storage and also driver parking (many over-the-road drivers stop at this facility for their breaks).”

As for the biggest shipper benefits of this new facility, the Averitt spokesman pointed to how it enables the company to provide more capacity and equipment to move as much freight and cargo as needed. And he also noted that Averitt will also continue to increase its drayage capacity to and from the port through this facility.

“With the addition of the enclosed warehouse space, we are now offering shippers access to our distribution and fulfillment solutions,” he said. “This can range from just-in-time warehousing and delivery to ecommerce receiving and shipping. Our associates handle it all: inventory management, pick and pack, and delivery.”