Get it where you can

Experience in the UK demonstrates that ports can pull significant business that never actually goes over their quays. Felicity Landon reports When is a port not a port? When it is a multimodal hub or a distribution centre? Or a reception, unpacking, repacking, storage, labelling and barcoding facility? While most of the traffic handled remains directly port-related, the strategic location of ports in the supply chain and the infrastructure they already have in place mean they are strongly placed to attract freight that doesnt necessarily arrive by vessel.