Saia LTL Freight has opened a new northeast Atlanta terminal in Buford, Georgia, adding capacity in Gwinnett County at a point on the Interstate 85 corridor where less than truckload volume has been growing steadily. The facility gives the carrier a second Atlanta area presence and shortens the drive between the metro core and the Georgia 400 and Interstate 985 industrial corridors.
Gwinnett County has become one of the busiest freight submarkets in metro Atlanta. The county holds more than a million residents and a dense concentration of distribution space, and its warehouse inventory has expanded alongside population growth in Buford, Suwanee and Lawrenceville. Terminal capacity in the less than truckload segment has trailed that industrial absorption, which pushes transit times up during peak periods.
The opening fits a wider pattern in Georgia freight infrastructure. The Georgia Ports Authority is preparing to open the Blue Ridge Connector inland port in Gainesville, which will move containers between the Port of Savannah and northeast Georgia by rail through Norfolk Southern service. That facility is projected to shift roughly 26,000 truck moves off metro Atlanta highways in its first year of operation, with annual lift capacity of 200,000 containers.
Georgia Department of Transportation forecasts show freight movement in the state nearly doubling over the next quarter century. Terminal additions in Gwinnett and rail diversion projects north of the city are the two levers carriers and public agencies are using to absorb that volume while holding truck traffic on already congested interstates.
Source: TipRanks - https://www.tipranks.com/news/press-releases/saia-ltl-freight-celebrates-opening-of-its-new-northeast-atlanta-terminal