Electrified Refrigerated Cargo racks reefer racks Garden City Georgia 

The Port of Savannah needed to increase it's refrigerated reefer rack capacity to accommodate growth in the cold storage market. The Georgia Ports Authority approved $5.8 million to have 20 new reefer racks built and erected on-site.

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) board approved $5.85 million for 20 new refrigerated container racks at Garden City Terminal, to accommodate growth in the cold storage market.

Because of the constant exposure to salt air at the Port of Savannah, hot-dip galvanizing was specified for this project.
A worker stands near the top of new electrified refrigerated cargo racks, known as "reefer racks," at the Georgia PortsAuthority. The racks will help power and monitor refrigerated containers.

If, one day, you happen to find yourself in China, and if, while in China, you happen to have a bowl of chicken soup, the odds are pretty good that chicken came from Georgia, by way of Georgia's ports.

Probably much better, in fact, than the odds you'll be sipping soup in China any time soon.

The nation's top exporter of frozen poultry, Georgia Ports Authority shipped nearly 104,000 containers of "poultry and citrus" products in fiscal 2007, a 92 percent increase over the five-year period beginning in FY 2003. Most of those were special refrigerated units known in the business as "reefer containers (Boxes)."

The majority of poultry that goes to the Far East goes in reefer containers (Boxes), said Toby Moore, vice president of communications for the USA Poultry and Egg Council.

But chicken isn't the only thing you'll find in reefer containers (Boxes).

Perishable cargo - meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, fresh flowers and pharmaceuticals - constitutes a steadily growing portion of traffic along every major trade route, said Georgia Ports spokesman Robert Morris.

"Savannah's double-digit growth in container volume has been paralleled by increases in the number of reefer containers (Boxes) moving through the port," he said.

To accommodate this growth, Georgia Ports is expanding its reefer container handling capacity with the addition of shiny new reefer racks at Garden City Terminal's Container Berth 2.

Stretching more than the length of two football fields, the web of 14 steel scaffolding racks is capable of holding up to 24 containers each, with containers (Boxes) stowed four high and six wide, said Wes Lanier, GPA's general manager of operations.

"These racks represent a new generation of field storage gear," he said.

With electrical gear centralized at one end of each rack, access to power supplies and maintenance is simplified, Lanier said. Each cell is equipped with its own hookup. A system of ladders and platforms allows field workers to reach containers (Boxes) to perform inspections, testing and repairs on containers and their on-board power-generation equipment.

The 14 racks now in place represent the first phase of a comprehensive refrigerated cargo handling system at Georgia Ports, Lanier said.

"Under our master plan, we'll continue to build in additional reefer capacity in conjunction with our overall container yard enhancements," he said.

GPA's logistics partners apparently share the Ports' optimistic outlook for the future of refrigerated cargo - privately owned and operated Flint River Services has opened a new 265,000-square-foot cold storage facility less than 20 minutes from Garden City Terminal.

The reefer rack system mirrors Georgia Ports' goal to move 6.5 million TEUs a year through its Garden City facility by 2015, said GPA Executive Director Doug J. Marchand.

"The new refrigerated cargo racks are another step toward maximizing efficiencies on our terminal," Marchand said.

"Not only do the racks provide additional capacity on a smaller footprint but they eliminate emissions by converting power supply for refrigerated cargo from diesel to electric power."