Georgia: A Logistics Sweetspot

For example, new state investments have helped accelerate Georgia Department of Transportation priority projects. In 2024, Governor Brian Kemp and the Georgia legislature passed a $1.5-billion infusion to increase funds for roadwork improvements and establish a freight infrastructure program, which will improve efficiency, safety, and reliability for the transportation of goods across the state.

This aggressive-improvement mindset extends to other infrastructure:

• Since 2020, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has made significant improvements, which include adding five new gates to Terminal T to accommodate more passengers and larger-capacity jets, and a sixth runway, currently under construction, to handle increased air traffic and improve overall efficiency. These improvements increase the capacity of belly cargo options for air freight shippers.

• The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) continually improves its infrastructure. Recent updates include the opening of the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, which is the largest on-dock rail facility in North America, as well as the addition of 2,100 new grounded container slots, increasing Savannah’s container capacity by 20%, and renovation of berth capacity at the port that enables an increase of an estimated one million TEUs per year.

In addition, GDOT has approved a plan to raise the Talmadge Memorial Bridge by up to 10 feet to allow larger ships to pass underneath.

If that doesn’t qualify for putting money where it counts, there’s more. “Georgia’s logistics industry benefits from a broad network of education and training programs across 26 institutions within the University System of Georgia,” says Sandy Lake, director, logistics, Georgia Center of Innovation.

Academic partners include 22 technical colleges and 57 college and career academies, providing critical training in logistics and supply chain management as well as supply chain and industrial systems engineering.

Meanwhile, key state partnerships—such as the WorkSource Georgia program of the Georgia Department of Labor and Technical College System—facilitate ongoing dialogue between industry and related workforce and training programs on the skills required in a rapidly changing logistics sector.

“Georgia’s comprehensive efforts in workforce development will support continued job growth and the ability to attract, train, and retain a strong workforce pipeline within the freight and logistics sector,” Lake says.

Building Momentum

There’s even more. “Transformative improvements are already happening, with more to come in the next several years,” Lake says. “Alongside ongoing investments in physical infrastructure, the Georgia Center of Innovation and other partners are looking at ways to enhance cargo flow through increased collaboration on digital infrastructure projects that deliver customized innovations to meet the unique needs of Georgia businesses.”

For example, the West Georgia Inland Port is under development and will connect LaGrange, Georgia, to the port in Savannah via CSX rail, creating a powerful new link in Georgia’s logistics network.

And the Georgia State Freight and Logistics Plan offers a strategic framework for policy, funding, and partnerships to ensure the state invests at a level that maximizes its tremendous freight and logistics assets.

It all adds up to remarkable momentum in Georgia’s logistics sector, fueled by economic growth and visionary state leadership.

The state’s manufacturing sector leads in expansions and new locations, driving increased activity across the supply chain. At Georgia’s ports, forecasted growth underscores the ports’ role as critical hubs for international trade, and new efforts include reducing carbon emissions at neighboring port communities.

Logistics technology is also transforming as businesses increasingly adopt artificial intelligence and Internet-of-Things applications to optimize supply chain management. This dynamic combination of growth and innovation means Georgia will continue to tackle challenges and strengthen its position as a global leader in logistics.

Georgia’s Center of Innovation for Logistics and other state resources will continue to assist logistics providers to ensure Georgia remains at the logistics forefront, says Lake.

Key Ingredients for Logistics Leadership

Georgia’s tangible assets are easily identified, and each of those assets contains a subset of ingredients that are easily listed as well.

The state’s transportation infrastructure, for example, includes its ports, interstate highway system, rail networks, and the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Volumes could be written about the components of each of those ingredients.

But the recipe for Georgia’s logistics success includes intangible assets too. Prominent among the intangibles is the vision of the logistics community’s leadership. For Syfan Logistics, located some 50 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gainesville, Georgia, the importance of preparing for the industry’s future looms large in the company’s mission.

“The most significant way that Syfan Logistics distinguishes itself as a Georgia logistics asset is our continued commitment to developing the next generation of local logistics professionals,” says Greg Syfan, president of Syfan Logistics. “We do this in a number of ways not limited to our internal training programs, high school outreach/internship programs, intensive summer internship programs for college students, and our development of a Logistics Curriculum with state officials and local universities such as the University of North Georgia.

“Our company has always been focused on developing the next generation of logistics workers and we continue this today,” he says.

Syfan Logistics specializes in the transport of refrigerated/frozen foods and manufactured automobile parts as well as the transportation of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical products. The company moves a variety of pharmaceuticals that have special temperature regulations and specifications. As the company looks forward, it invests in the future.

The company’s recovery from the pandemic was bolstered by investments in technology, automation, and workforce development to streamline operations. “Our company focused on continuing to develop and train our team members, new and old, to better prepare them for a complex industry that is constantly changing and evolving,” notes Greg Syfan.

“We put a lot of time and money into our internal training programs as well as our partnerships with local high schools and universities,” says Syfan. “Overall, our company has fared well since the end of the pandemic. Most of this can be attributed to the fact that we have continued to operate on our same principles of trust and transparency.”

Port Assets Improve

Among Georgia’s tangible assets, Syfan points to continuing improvements in the state’s port assets close to home.

“As far as significant developments go, there is one big project on the horizon in our hometown of Gainesville,” Syfan says. “That is the development of the Northeast Georgia Inland Port. This inland port will work to bolster our Syfan Drayage division as well as our overall load transportation in our local and state markets.”

The Inland Port, now named the Blue Ridge Connector (BRC), will provide a direct link to the Port of Savannah via Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Such initiatives help explain the reasons behind Georgia’s premier position in logistics. “It’s important to highlight Georgia’s role in the fabric of the nation’s logistics industry as a whole,” Greg Syfan says. “Our state plays a crucial role in the betterment of the industry, and we have always been on the cutting edge of developing new practices and industry standards.”

Spurring Progress and Improvements

From an already enviable position in logistics, Ben Goldberg, president of Savannah-based JIT Warehousing & Logistics, says things are looking up for both his company and the state of Georgia. A major factor in his enthusiasm is the continuing logistics progress spurred by the GPA.

“The Georgia Ports Authority continues to invest, enabling it to do additional business,” Goldberg says. “The smaller private terminals have built up to handle more volumes too. They’re in the process of putting in another private terminal here.”

Good planning and efforts to increase business from other countries helped the GPA weather the storms of the pandemic, and new investments in the ports’ capabilities are helping the ports maintain their upward swing.

“The GPA spread their sources, and they got freight from other countries to get more volumes,” Goldberg explains. “The GPA has continued to build their infrastructure, which increases volume. They’re currently working on Ocean Terminal. They’re putting in a new bypass from Ocean Terminal to the interstate and they’ve increased their outboard rails.”

Such efforts, he says, increase the GPA’s ability to handle more TEUs.

Increasing Turns

All of these investments are especially good news for JIT, which Goldberg founded more than three decades ago with the idea that companies in the Southeast—particularly those that receive seaborne products via the Port of Savannah—require world-class logistical support.

“Since JIT is embedded close to the Ports Authority, the Ocean Terminal and the Garden City Terminal, it allows us to do more turns and to be more effective in our handling of containers and business,” Goldberg says.

He is proud of the company’s longtime record as a Georgia logistics leader and its status as a business imbued with family values. Goldberg now serves in an active advisor capacity for the company to help his daughters, Evie Goldberg-Davis and Anna Lockwood, as well as Anna’s husband, Trevor Lockwood, run daily operations.

Mirroring progress at the ports, 2025 promises to be “another good year” for JIT. “It looks like we will continue to grow,” Goldberg says.

“One way that JIT distinguishes itself from others is that we have the capability of handling any type of cargo except hazardous,” he says. “We’re an asset-based company.

We invested heavily in the heavy-haul division in the past three years, buying new heavy-haul trucks and trailers. We expanded our heavy-haul yard. It’s now at about 5 acres and continuing to expand.”

The company also has invested inside its walls. An additional 230,000 square feet of space, served by Norfolk Southern, is equipped with a robot, nicknamed “Wally,” which has been added to JIT’s maintenance crew. Wally helps to keep the floors “spit-shine” clean, Goldberg says.

Maximizing Potential

Having opportunities is one thing. Seizing those opportunities is quite another.

Ask Hal Justice, vice president, sales and operations, at Atlanta Bonded Warehouse (ABW), about the logistics advantages of Georgia and he will recite not only the state’s natural assets but also the many ways in which the state has leveraged and enhanced those assets over the years.

In addition, he will point out how ABW, the Southeast’s leading provider of temperature-controlled 3PL warehousing, co-packaging, and LTL/TL transportation services, has followed suit.

The state’s principal advantage is its real estate trifecta: location, location, location—or, as Justice puts it, “flat-out geography,” including its logistics access to the major population centers of the Southeast.

But there’s more to it than that. “Georgia has recognized its natural advantage and has committed resources to ensure that that advantage is enhanced,” he says. “The state has built an infrastructure that is conducive for not only product coming into the state of Georgia but going out.”

In addition to its ideal location and infrastructure, he says, state leaders have adopted policies to keep the costs of business down. For many years, site selectors have ranked Georgia as the country’s number-one state for doing business.

Factors in the state’s formula for success include low taxes and highly skilled workforce. More than a quarter-million of those skilled workers are employed in the logistics industry, and the industry—like ABW—is growing.

Fostering a Business-Friendly Climate

“The state has continued to be a huge cheerleader for the logistics industry,” Justice says, in particular citing investments in the infrastructure surrounding ports.

“Georgia has been exceptionally helpful in terms of making it a desirable destination for shippers,” he says. “And the state continues to make this a hospitable place for people to relocate, to build their homes, and grow their families. When they locate here, they know it is a growing economy.”

Georgia was by no means immune to what Justice calls the economic “see-saw” that occurred through the pandemic “to the backside of the bad inflationary period,” he says. Manpower shortages were the inevitable result.

“The demand for labor was pushing costs up to rates we’d never seen,” he says, adding the impact was felt in every link of the logistics supply chain, from parts to labor to supplies.

“Finding labor was a challenge because everybody had lots of choices, he says. “At the same time, our customers had a hard time with their suppliers maintaining full shelves.”

ABW responded to the challenges with a host of productivity improvements, including both increased automation and refined process strategies implemented through the company’s warehouse management system.

ABW’s strong relationships with customers enable improvements that are beneficial for both parties. “We can streamline things and solve problems by adding steps or eliminating steps,” he says. This constant attention to processes, in turn, helps keep costs down.

Relationships are key in these strategies, Justice says. When it comes to warehouse operations and inventory management flexibility and execution are critical. “We rely on references and referrals,” he says. “Our customers are the best salespeople we have.”

Forging Symbiotic Relationships

The story of Georgia’s leadership in logistics dates back to long before the challenges of the past few years emerged. “Even prior to the pandemic, Georgia has been a hub of supply chain and logistics technology,” says Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer of SMC³, a Georgia non-profit trade association serving the transportation industry.

“Georgia is a magnet for growth, and post-pandemic the state continues to thrive,” Thompson says. “Thanks in large part to Georgia’s comprehensive infrastructure network, its transportation and logistics sectors were able to sustain and adapt to the long-term boom in ecommerce sales.”

Adaptation to change is a key to success not only for the industry at large but also for its service providers.

“As shippers, carriers, and 3PLs also adjusted to the rapid change in market dynamics, SMC³ was able to successfully adapt as well,” Thompson says. “Our operations were able to accommodate a remote work environment, ensuring seamless connectivity between our employees and customers.

“SMC³ has been fortunate in 2025 to have grown its people and talent—adding jobs to the state while also continuing to provide comprehensive, innovative technology solutions,” he adds.

Georgia’s robust infrastructure complements the state’s strategic location for logistics and transportation, says Thompson. Georgia is home to more than 70 large logistics and supply chain companies.

The supply chain ecosystem and the state of Georgia share a symbiotic relationship. “The success of local, state, and even national economies depends on the efficiency of the supply chain network,” Thompson says.

“For the foreseeable future, we expect the upward trend of large ecommerce sales and shipping to continue,” he adds.

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“Georgia is a magnet for growth, and post-pandemic the state continues to thrive. Thanks in large part to Georgia’s comprehensive infrastructure network, the state’s transportation and logistics sectors were able to sustain and adapt to the long-term boom in ecommerce sales.”

—Brian Thompson, Chief Commercial Officer, SMC³

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Preparing LTL Shippers for change

As the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) plans to unveil NMFC classification changes later this year, shippers will need to proactively assess the potential impact to their LTL transportation spend and review packaging practices to minimize increased transportation cost.

NMFC refers to the National Motor Freight Classification, a standard that categorizes freight into 18 classes based on four transportation characteristics for determining the price for carriers to move LTL shipments.

SMC³’s BatchMark solution is an LTL price analytics application that helps shippers optimize their transportation spend. Analyzing thousands of LTL freight bills in seconds, it is a useful tool for shippers and logistics providers to calculate the impact of the impending classification changes on their LTL spend.

The tool helps shippers focus on enhancing their data management capabilities to enable more reliable scenario planning, while seeking out smarter carrier collaboration opportunities.

“It’s imperative that shippers seek methods for collaborating with their carriers—who have access to data, information, and transit intelligence—to gain a deeper insight into how these changes in classification affect their operations,” Thompson says.

SMC³ prides itself on its rich history of more than 90 years serving the industry, both within the state of Georgia and across North America. “During this time and through the pandemic, we have been able to remain agile and flexible to changing conditions,” Thompson says.

“The company’s proven ability to evolve with changes in technology allows SMC³ to meet the increasingly sophisticated customer demands of frictionless integration and interoperability. Today, through hosted technology solutions, SMC³ supports the entire supply chain with industry-leading speed and reliability.

SMC³ continues to provide peerless and innovative solutions like LTL APIs, rating and carrier connectivity solutions.

“While we can anticipate certain challenges ahead in 2025, every year has the potential to bring unforeseen circumstances—challenges and opportunities alike,” Thompson adds. “However, access to information and technology will give all industry participants the ability to react quickly and successfully meet any challenge ahead.”

Forging Ahead With Tech Innovation

Georgia’s logistics technology industry is a driving force behind supply chain innovation, with more than 190 logistics technology companies calling the state home.

These companies develop cutting-edge software and hardware solutions that optimize logistics operations, reinforcing Georgia’s reputation as a global leader in the field.

Home to logistics powerhouses like Delta, UPS, Norfolk Southern, and Manhattan Associates, the state boasts a robust technology infrastructure that supports industry growth.

The center plays a vital role in the state’s logistics ecosystem, helping companies adopt advanced logistics technologies to enhance efficiency and competitiveness, says Sandy Lake of the Georgia Center of Innovation.

Further strengthening the industry, Georgia’s universities and technical colleges offer more than 30 specialized degree programs, ensuring a steady pipeline of talent.

Pairing technology preeminence with robust infrastructure continues to be a go-to strategy as the GPA rolls out major service upgrades and improvements.

The Georgia Ports Authority recently announced plans to add three new start times to work vessels at the Port of Savannah—6 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m. These are in addition to current start times of 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 1 p.m., 7 p.m., and midnight. GPA provides 24-hour vessel service at Garden City Terminal in Savannah.

The Port of Savannah, which currently averages 35 vessels per week, will also increase vessel capacity through the use of a new lay berth at Ocean Terminal starting in May.

Staging vessels there will drastically reduce the transition time between large ships departing and arriving. The time a berth is open and unused at Garden City Terminal has seen a 75% improvement, from 12 hours down to 3 hours, when the lay berth is used.

“While we’re renovating Ocean Terminal, we’re going to use the berth space there as a staging area for big ships,” says Griff Lynch, president and CEO of GPA. “This will drastically reduce the transition time between large vessels departing and arriving, and allow us to work two more big ships per week, or 100 more vessels per year.”

A second lay berth at Ocean Terminal will come online in early 2026, increasing Savannah’s vessel capacity by another 100 ships per year.
Phase I of the Ocean Terminal yard renovation will be completed in mid-2027, and the second phase by mid-2028. This will increase capacity by up to 1.5 million TEUs per year.

Between 2023 and 2032, GPA will double its big ship berths. Two years ago, the Port of Savannah had six; today it has seven.

The Ocean Terminal renovations will add two berths, and the planned Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island will deliver three more, for a total of 12.

Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island is slated to open Phase I by 2030, ultimately adding 3.5 million TEUs of annual capacity in phases, based on demand. The facility is currently in the permitting phase.

Providing World-Class Service

“These improvements are necessary to stay ahead of growing demand and to continue providing the world-class service our customers have come to expect at Georgia Ports,” Lynch says. “With $4 billion in investments planned for Ocean Terminal and Savannah Container Terminal, Savannah will be a 12.5 million-TEU capacity port by 2035.”

Meanwhile, at the Port of Brunswick, a new railyard is under construction on the south side of Colonel’s Island Terminal to increase the port’s capacity to export vehicles arriving by rail.

“Our growth comes as auto manufacturers seek to increase their business through Georgia,” Lynch says. “This project will expand capacity, improve our ability to serve inland factories, increase the safety of rail operations—both on- and off-terminal—and lessen our community impact with our port neighbors.”

Phase I of the new railyard is 50% complete, and will increase the port’s annual rail capacity from approximately 150,000 autos to more than 340,000 by mid-year. Phase II will bring annual rail capacity to 590,000 units, which is nearly four times the current capacity.

In 2024, Brunswick became the busiest port in the United States for RoRo cargo, handling 901,912 units of autos and heavy equipment.

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Investments Bear Fruit

For logistics professionals, Georgia is a peach. Count the ways:

• The logistics technology sector has an estimated $14.3-billion economic impact in Georgia.*
• The sector’s economic impact has grown more than $4 billion since 2020, an increase of 37.5%.
• More than 190 logistics technology companies call Georgia home.
• The Georgia logistics tech sector has more than 21,000 jobs, an increase of 47% since 2013.
• The state has two international airports—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Savannah/Hilton Head—and nine of the top 10 cargo airlines in the world.
• Georgia is served by both of the Eastern U.S. Class I railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, along with 24 short-line railroads.
• The state has two deep-water ports, including Savannah—the fastest-growing port in the United States—and Brunswick.
• Six U.S. interstates—1,200 miles of highway—connect shippers to 80% of the country in two days or less driving time.

*Center for Economic Development Research, Georgia Institute of Technology, IMPLAN Model of Georgia

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