b'22American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comInland dry ports areINLAND PORTS 2025essential pieces to the global logistics puzzleThe rise of inland ports was initially asso-ciatedwiththeefforttorelieveportcon-gestion.Butnowinlandports,oftenbuilt around rail and road hubs, are an integrated and essential part of the supply chain. By Andrew Meadows, AJOTA concept initially designede-commerce,whichrequire to relieve congestion at sea- efficientinlandfreighthan-ports,themoderninlanddlingandlogisticssup-dryporthasevolvedintoaport.Asseaportcongestion vitalcogintheworldwideincreasesduetorisingcon-logistics network.tainer volumes, ICDs and dry The sheer scope of globalportsarebecomingessen-ocean cargo commerce cou- tial extensions for managing pledwithanincreasingcargo movement inland. demand for speed - whetherTheirroleinlast-mile it involves temperature-con- (ESSENTIALcontinued trolled goods, bulk productson page 24) SC Ports celebrated the expansion of Inland Port Greer, which provides more cargo capacity and rail capabilities. ortraditionalcontainer-ized cargo - has given these inlandhubsacriticalman-agement role. (Originally)dryports were mostly used to facilitate thedecongestionofnearby ports, which offered customs clearanceoremptystorage andfunctionedassatellite ports. Currently, the dry port concept is more than that; it hasmovedfurtherintothe hinterland, which is connected byrailorwaterways.Here, container storage is organized, and value-added services are offered,includingwarehous-ing, cold chain, or other val-ue-added services, said Jolke Helbing, Director of the Mar-itimeBusinessConsultancy team at Haskoning, the Neth-erlands-basedinternational engineeringconsultancy. Internationalportoperators, suchasDPWorldorPSA, alsousetheinlanddryport concept as an extended facil-itytoconnecttotheirdedi-catedfacilitiesindeepwater ports.Insomeregions,such astheMiddleEast,thedry port is combined with a free-zone,offeringincentivesfor companiestoestablishoper-ations and use fast-track con-nections/gateways to seaports. Inaddition,moreshippers andindustriesaredemand-ingzero-emissiontransport solutions. Transport by water and rail via dry ports is more favorable in this respect.e xPanDingb uSineSS ofi nLanDP orTSThe Inland Container Depot (ICD)andDryPortmarket wasvaluedat$31.3billion in2024andisexpectedto reachUSD$43.3billionby 2030 - a CAGR (compound annualgrowthrate)of5.4 percent, according to Dublin, Ireland-basedResearchand Markets. Theresearchfirmsays the ICD and Dry Port mar-ketsgrowthisdrivenby expandingglobaltradeand theacceleratingdemandsof'