Inland
intermodal terminals – also known as “dry ports” or “inland ports” – are
terminals with connections to seaports, roads, railroads and/or airports. They
operate as a logistics centre for the customs clearance, storage, consolidation
and distribution of sea cargo to inland destinations.
Dry
ports have become especially important in the last years due to several
advantages, the main one is the fact that they allow to reduce storage and
customs space overcrowding at seaports. Other benefits are:
•
A lower
logistics cost
•
Transit
time reduction
•
Safe and
better planned transportation
•
Increased
competitiveness of the region
•
Investment
attraction
•
Employment
generation
In
the case of Mexico, after the NAFTA signature, the government aimed to develop
a network of inland ports that could support the increasing goods traffic
between Canada, USA and Mexico. Nowadays, the country counts with 15 dry ports
connected to the four main seaports – Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas on the
Pacific Ocean and Altamira and Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico.
According to managers of different intermodal
terminals in the country,there are at least 10 potential states for the
creation of new inland terminals. Today, we will focus on one of the newest
ports: Intermodal Logistics Terminal Hidalgo (TILH).
TILH
In 2009 started the construction of the Intermodal
Logistics Terminal Hidalgo in the city Atotonilco de Tula, an export-oriented
project from “Mexican Logistics Group”, which is an alliance between Hutchinson
Port Holdings (HPH, a port operations firm) and UNNE (Union of Business, a
transport firm).
The project cost 200 million dollars and was finally
opened on March 26, 2012. The terminal has the capacity to employ 10 thousand
workers and to move 220 thousand containers per year; it counts with 196
hectares – 56 operated by HPH and 140 for logistics activity operated by UNNE –,
additional 300 hectares of reserves for future expansion and 9 km of railways
with connection to the three main railway companies in Mexico (Ferrosur,
Ferromex and KCSM).
The TILH is located in a strategic node of road and
rail links to the most important maritime corridors and the northern border
with the USA, being the main connection point in the transportation chain
between seaports (mainly Veracruz and Lázaro Cárdenas) and the Mexican Valley. The
services offered by TILH are:
• Train arrivals and departures
• Loading and unloading of containers
• General cargo handling
• Storage and custody of goods
• Consolidation and deconsolidation
• Pre-loaded services
• Interior customs
• Cargo logistics services
• Transfer in different stages of transit
The terminal has excellent perspectives for growth and
development: in 2013 it exceeded the projected volume by 25%, which means it
operated 28,838 containers; and this year, it is expected not only to double
last year’s amount, but to reach the goal of 70,000 containers.
Thank you for reading, you are also welcome to
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