The Georgia Ports Authority, operator of the Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal - one of the largest single-terminal container facilities in North America - marked National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with onsite events thanking the drivers whose reliable, efficient service underpins the port's performance.
The Georgia Ports Authority, operator of the Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal - one of the largest single-terminal container facilities in North America - marked National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with onsite events thanking the drivers whose reliable, efficient service underpins the port's performance.
Across its network, GPA employees handed out Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits, cooling towels and aluminum water bottles at terminal truck gates. The appreciation events reached drivers at the Ports of Savannah and Brunswick, as well as the authority's inland terminals in Bainbridge, Chatsworth and Gainesville.
The recognition reflects the central role trucking plays in Georgia's supply chain and, by extension, in the delivery commitments of the cargo owners who move goods through the port.
"Truck drivers are a key link in the global supply chain, especially in Savannah. Nearly 80 percent of our container trade moves by truck," said Georgia Ports President Kevin Price.
The scale of that reliance is considerable. The Port of Savannah handles 15,000 truck moves daily, counting both import and export containers, with gates operating from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. That throughput allows drivers to complete six to eight turns per day and still be home for dinner - a measure of efficiency that translates directly into faster, more predictable cargo flow for shippers.
Speed at the gate is a defining metric. In August, GPA recorded average truck turn times of 34 minutes for a single-container move and 43 minutes for drivers delivering an export container and picking up an import in the same visit. Approximately 80 percent of truck transactions at the Port of Savannah involve such dual moves, an arrangement that reduces total truck miles, trims cost per container and cuts emissions across the drayage network.
For businesses weighing total landed cost and dependable transit, those turn times represent tangible savings and greater schedule certainty.
Garden City Terminal is engineered to keep trucks moving. The facility offers three truck-gate options feeding 50 truck lanes, speeding drivers through processing. Once inside, roundabouts at major intersections keep trucks moving quickly and safely while reducing idling.
Equipment availability rounds out the picture. Drivers seeking an empty chassis had their pick of more than 1,700 chassis available on average each day in August at Garden City Terminal, minimizing the delays that ripple outward into missed appointments and inventory gaps.
Beyond throughput, GPA has invested in initiatives designed to make each port visit safer and more efficient. Central to that effort is the authority's Trucker Safety Committee, which increases communication, addresses driver concerns and helps drivers operate more safely on terminal. The committee draws on terminal managers and dispatchers from large and midsized companies, with a rotation system built in to include voices from smaller carriers.
"Our quarterly trucker safety committee has received remarkable participation from the trucking industry," said GPA Chief Operating Officer Ed McCarthy. "Trucker safety outreach includes terminal tours, site visits to trucking companies and ride-alongs."
The outreach runs in multiple directions. Guided port tours give operations teams and drivers a firsthand look at GPA facilities. Companies can invite GPA representatives to their own terminal safety meetings, giving dispatchers and drivers direct access to the authority's safety team. Ride-alongs, meanwhile, allow GPA staff to experience the driver's perspective and better understand the challenges faced on the road.
Port officials said the outreach helps GPA hear the trucking community's needs and respond in actionable ways - reinforcing a service model in which speed, safety and reliability advance together to support the shippers, forwarders and importers who depend on the Georgia Ports network.
