Shipping from Atlanta
Atlanta, GA freight rates A major transportation hub in the southeast U.S., Atlanta’s mild winter weather and abundant infrastructure makes shipping into the metro area an inexpensive endeavor year-round. Outbound freight can be a different story, especially during the summer months. That’s because the state of Georgia is a major agricultural producer, and most of those goods leave the state. That means capacity for outbound shipping, whether by road, rail, or air, is scarce and therefore expensive during summer. Atlanta is served by the world’s most traveled airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International, which provides access to 22 all-cargo air carriers. The city is also served by two class I railroads and over 20 short-line companies, and is intersected by three major highways (I-75, I-85, I-20). More than 80 percent of U.S. residents are located within a two-hour flight or two-day truck trip of Atlanta. For international shipping via cargo ship, Atlanta is located 250 miles from the Port of Savannah, the fourth largest container port in the nation.
Shipping to Houston
Houston, Texas freight rates Whether by sea, highway or rail, a major portion of the country’s freight passes in and out of the Houston region. The region is home to the ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the U.S. in foreign tonnage and is the largest container port in the Gulf Coast, handling 66 percent of Gulf Coast container traffic in 2013. A recent expansion of the Panama Canal to allow larger ocean freighters should increase port traffic. As one of the nation’s busiest rail centers, the Houston region has a rail network of more than 800 miles of rail line and 21 miles of railroad bridges. Additionally, 10 major rail companies serve the Houston region and 150 trucking lines connect the Port of Houston to the continental U.S., Canada and Mexico. Houston is the crossroads for Interstate Highways 10 and 45, as well as several state highways.
