Toledo delegation explores opportunity for relationship with Canadian project

A delegation of Toledo leaders recently met with officials from Melford International Terminal Inc. (MITI) in Nova Scotia to discuss the Atlantic Gateway Initiative, a faster and better alternative for North American origin-destination containerized cargo. The potential to create a Toledo-based inland distribution hub was the specific focus of the Toledo delegation, according to a news release.

The delegation from Toledo included: U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority President James H. Hartung, St. Lawrence Seaway Administrator Terry Johnson, port authority chairman William Carroll, UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, Midwest Terminals of Toledo Inc. CEO Alex Johnson, international vice president of the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) John Baker; ILA Canadian vice president Pat Murphy and Hannah Marine Marketing Director Trent Clark.

The Atlantic Gateway Initiative is a privately funded deep-water container terminal and logistics park on the Strait of Canso, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. The location is linked to Toledo via rail, road and waterways, and the Toledo delegation hopes to benefit from the Atlantic Gateway through cargo shipments into the Great Lakes and Toledo via the St. Lawrence Seaway and railway systems, the release said.

A Toledo-based inland distribution hub, located near the Port of Toledo, would create an area where inbound goods are quickly offloaded from ships and moved to inland distribution centers for subsequent handling and redistribution within the country. Because the inland port would be in close proximity to the Port of Toledo, the cargo will have efficient access to logistics services and transportation systems such as rail and roadway, the release said. The Foreign Trade Zone in the Port of Toledo will also be advantageous for shippers.

“Toledo is ideally equipped and geographically positioned to access freight coming out of Melford. We have the necessary intermodal infrastructure of rail, road and waterways all located within one site managed by Midwest Terminals of Toledo,” Hartung said in a statement.”

“We must take advantage of our strategic assets, and intermodal transportation offers just such an opportunity for Toledo,” Kaptur said in a statement.