CMT To Provide Barge Shifting, Fleeting At Yellow Creek Port
Yellow Creek State Inland Port (YCP), the uppermost port on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom), at the intersection of the Tenn-Tom and the Tennessee River, has announced that Cooper Marine & Timberlands (CMT) is now the port’s exclusive provider of barge fleeting and shifting services. The arrangement took effect September 1.
“Thanks to the leadership of federal, state and local officials, Yellow Creek Port is on a trajectory of exciting new growth,” said YCP Executive Director Robert Dexter. “Tonnage and revenues have grown by double digits in the past few years. Millions in private and public investments have been made in order to expand job opportunities and modernize facilities. Securing CMT as our port’s exclusive barge fleeting and shifting service provider is another step forward on our mission of growing and diversifying the port’s capabilities to best serve our current and future tenants and to create high-paying and reliable jobs for the state of Mississippi.”
A multimodal facility, YCP offers barge, truck and rail transfer capabilities. The port handles a wide range of commodities, from steel coils, steel plate, fabricated steel and steel pipe to coal and silicon. YCP offers some six acres of outdoor storage and a 21-car-capacity rail yard. The port is located within Pickwick Lake; offers connections to two interstates, several other U.S. highways and the Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern rail lines; and covers 1,500 acres, with 400 acres developed.
“Located at one of the most strategic interchanges on the U.S. inland waterway system, Yellow Creek State Inland Port will continue to serve as a critical gateway for the state of Mississippi, powering businesses and creating jobs,” said CMT President Angus R. Cooper III. “We look forward to partnering with the port’s board of directors and executive director to best support their exciting future growth and to provide CMT’s great customers with the highest level of barge fleeting and shifting services.”
Headquartered in Mobile, Ala., CMT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cooper/T. Smith. CMT has a fleet of 22 towing vessels, 450 barges and a substantial fleet of shore-based gantry and floating derrick cranes.
