By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOT With the recession (hopefully) ending, and global trade increasing, observers see a good/bad scenario developing for trade traffic. According to global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, the good scenario is an increase in container traffic will have a positive impact on trade volumes at many U.S. Pacific and Atlantic Ocean ports. The bad news is many coastal ports may soon be strained to their capacity limits. As ships arrive with more containers, increased shipments and container volumes may once again create bottlenecks as goods seeking to reach their final destinations in tax coastal roadways and rail systems, and ultimately create constraints at warehouses. Enter the inland port, or intermodal center. Often associated with logistics parks, inland ports serve as shipping, receiving and distribution centers designed to relieve the congestion in increasingly busy seaports. Essentially, Inland ports come into play when inbound cargo is transferred directly to an inland location, away from the more congested port, for further processing and distribution. In some cases, inland ports can handle as much cargo as their coastal counterparts, even though some inland locations are over 1,000 miles from the ocean and others are a short distance away. Elements for Success Though the concept of inland ports is not new, Jones Lang LaSalle maintains that these locations are becoming increasingly critical to the global supply chain. “They will affect logistics decisions ranging from shipping routes to warehouse locations,” surmises its study entitled “The Emergence of the Inland Port.” Tim Feemster, senior vice president and director Global Logistics & Supply Chain Consultancy at Grubb & Ellis, contends, however, that not all inland ports and logistics parks are successful. To work, four elements must be present: access to rail and highway infrastructure; a significant population base to at least 3 million people within a 250 to 500 ring around the rail hub; an adequate skilled labor force to manage the facilities both at the warehouse and the rail hub; and a community that embraces industrial development and understands the level of traffic it will generate. “If they cannot operate 24/7, they will not be successful,” Feemster says. Two of the most successful projects, he says, are Centerpoint Intermodal Center in Elwood, IL, and Alliance Global Logistics Hub. The $1-billion Centerpoint is one of the largest private developments ever undertaken in the United States. The 2,500-acre Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) logistics park features a 770-acre intermodal yard, and up to 12 million square feet of space that is used for distribution and intermodal activities. Current customers include BNSF Railroad, Wal-Mart, DSC Logistics, Georgia Pacific, Potlach, Sanyon Logistics, Partners Warehouse, California Cartage, and Maersk. Alliance Global Logistics Hub is part of AllianceTexas located in north Fort Worth, Texas, a 17,000-acre master-planned community anchored by the world’s first industrial airport. AllianceTexas, itself, is now home to 265 companies, which have built nearly 32 million square. In addition to the airport, Alliance Global Logistics Hub offers intermodal access via BNSF’s Alliance Intermodal Facility, two Class I rail lines (BNSF and Union Pacific), interstate highway 35W from Mexico to Canada, Texas Highways 114 and 170, and the FedEx Southwest Regional Sort Hub. “The Alliance operation is the largest foreign trade zone (FTZ) inland port in the United States, in terms of value going through Customs,” Feemster remarks. “Big users, like electronics companies, take advantage of that.” Rail Oriented Projects Some projects, work better for rail prospects than as real estate projects. They include Union Pacific’s (UP) Global III, a 1,230-acre intermodal facility in Rochelle, IL; UP’s First Park Dalport, a 350-acre intermodal project in South Dallas, Texas, on I-45 with access to the NAFTA Highway on I-35 and the