New research from Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain and Logistics Institute has found that routing cargo through the Port of Savannah saves shippers more than US$ 1,000 per container compared to West Coast gateways for shipments destined for Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville.
The study, conducted by PhD students and professors at the institute’s Physical Internet Center, is titled Gateway Choice is a Total Cost and Time Reliability Decision, Not an Ocean Rate Decision.
The research evaluated vessel and inland transit costs from ten Asian ports to each of the three destination cities, finding that Savannah’s advantages in port processing speed and inland transport reliability more than offset the longer ocean leg from Asia compared to West Coast routing.
Factors including congestion exposure, cargo handoff frequency and transit time variability were incorporated into the total landed cost analysis, with Savannah outperforming West Coast alternatives across all three markets.
Chris Gaffney, Managing Director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech, emphasised that the findings demonstrate a clear economic advantage for East Coast routing when shippers evaluate total landed cost and end-to-end reliability rather than focusing solely on ocean rates.
The study builds on earlier Atlanta-focused research that identified shorter overland distances and fewer cargo handoffs as key contributors to Savannah’s cost competitiveness.
The Port of Savannah supports its total cost advantage through on-terminal rail connectivity and direct interstate access. Average rail dwell time between vessel offload and departing train stands at 20 hours, a figure Georgia Ports Authority describes as an industry-leading metric for speed to market.
Griff Lynch, President and CEO of Georgia Ports Authority, cited the research as confirmation that Savannah delivers both superior service levels and lower costs in an environment where value-driven decision making is increasingly central to shipper behaviour.
