NORFOLK Southern (NS) Railway is to cancel intermodal service in mid-March from the ports of Charleston and Savannah to three Midwest destinations - including Chicago - due to low volumes, the company told New York's Journal of Commerce.

Railroad officials informed Georgia and South Carolina port authorities last week, giving them a one-month notice that service will no longer be offered to Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville, Kentucky.

"We've had a product [in Savannah and Charleston] that has not been successful, business to these cities can be served by other ports," Shawn Tureman, NS's vice president of automotive and intermodal, said in an interview. "If [the ports] build enough density to relaunch a new service, if there's an anchor opportunity, I wouldn't even blink - we would serve the business."

A combined total of just under 1,000 import containers moved from Charleston and Savannah to Chicago and Cincinnati last year, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the US Surface Transportation Board and PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. About 2,500 to 3,000 import containers last year went from Charleston and Savannah to Louisville.

Most imports destined for Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville move through the Port of New York and New Jersey or the Port of Virginia. NS Class I rival CSX Transportation has an existing service from Charleston and Savannah to Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville.

The decision by Norfolk Southern is a blow to Georgia port officials who promoted what it called the "Mid-America Arc" during the construction of its on-dock intermodal yard, called the Mega Rail Terminal, which opened in 2021. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), however, was unable to sell ocean carriers and cargo owners on Savannah as a viable alternative to Chicago.

The news comes just over two weeks after Norfolk Southern said it would eliminate service from Charleston and Savannah to Birmingham and New Orleans, also due to low volumes.