Business View - November 2015 73
LOGISTICS
ers, rail, heavy-haul roads, maintenance and also in the
purchase of land to expand our port system.”
Peacock goes on to describe the Ports of Indiana’s ten-
ants and the cargo that passes through the system: “We
have a group of world-class companies at our three ports.
They operate processing and distribution facilities han-
dling steel, coal, grain, fertilizer, project cargo, limestone,
liquid bulk, ethanol, DDGs, and a wide range of industrial
materials used in manufacturing and construction. Many
of our port companies handle steel that is used in the
automotive and appliance industries.”
Recently, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor has been han-
dling multiple shipments of beer tanks for the craft brew-
ing industry in Michigan and Illinois, as well as windmill
components for Northwest Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.
“Our ports have become preferred destinations for large-
scale project cargoes moving into the Midwest,” Peacock
says. “We have handled a large volume of equipment for
the construction and expansion of refineries, automak-
ers, fuel processing, breweries, and power plants. Our
ports are ideally positioned for companies that want to
ship large dimensional cargoes into the Midwest by wa-
ter, and avoid trucking them halfway across the country.”
Indiana’s state motto is “The Crossroads of America,”
and it’s the ability to connect multiple modes of transpor-
tation at the nation’s crossroads that helps give the Ports
of Indiana a competitive advantage.
“It’s all about connections,” says Peacock. “All of our
ports connect to multiple Class I railroads and are lo-
cated within a day’s drive of over 75 percent of the U.S.
market. Our Burns Harbor port has 16 different freight
connections when you consider the eight rail carriers,
five interstates, and the port’s three different maritime
modes of transportation – ocean carriers, lake vessels,
and river barges. Having this many options creates value
for shippers in their ability to reach multiple regions and
in the flexibility to change modes as needed to adjust to
Large dimensional cargo, such as these windmill components, are easily loaded and off-loaded
at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor
