One of the nation’s largest freight transportation companies is stepping up its presence in the Charleston market.
Averitt Express announced last week it has invested nearly $4.6 million into its hub at Palmetto Commerce Park, adding a dozen jobs to its local trucking and logistics operations.
The North Charleston expansion includes 35,000 square feet of warehousing space and more on-site parking and fuel tanks. The company said the investment enhances its ability to meet increased demand from customers as more cargo moves through the local port system.
Barry Blakely, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the company is looking to grow in what he termed “one of the nation’s most strategic logistics hubs.”
Established in 1971 in Livingston, Tenn., privately owned Averitt started with just three trucks and now handles shipments to more than 100 locations worldwide. Its trucking services run primarily in the Southeast, including the Carolinas.
Iraqi Airways recently took delivery of the first of 10 North Charleston-made 787 Dreamliner jets the carrier has ordered. Boeing Co./Provided
Boeing in Baghdad
Iraqi Airways recently took delivery of the airline’s first North Charleston-made 787 Dreamliner with a special event in Baghdad to welcome the Boeing Co. widebody jet.
The Iraq flag carrier has ordered 10 787s to grow its long-haul network and connect Iraq to more international destinations.
The new Dreamliner follows the delivery of four Boeing 737 Max commercial airplanes since February. Iraqi Airways has ordered six 737-8s and 10 737-10s, giving its single-aisle fleet more capability for regional and medium-haul routes.
“As domestic and international air traffic gains momentum, it’s crucial that our … fleet matches growing demand with more efficient, capable and comfortable airplanes,” Manaf Abdel-Monem, director general of Iraqi Airways, said in a written statement.
The carrier serves more than 50 destinations from Baghdad and is beefing up its fleet to support the projected increase in international business and leisure travel to and from its homeland. With global air traffic rebounding, Middle Eastern airlines are seeing more than a 40 percent increase in traffic compared to last year.
“Air transport is at the heart of economic growth. It creates employment, facilitates trade, enables tourism and supports sustainable development” Kuljit Ghata-Aura, Boeing’s president of Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said in a statement. “The arrival of the Boeing 787 is an important step in connecting the Iraqi people to the region and the world.”
Volvo’s battery powered EX30 is shown charging in this file photo. Volvo, which builds cars at its Berkeley County manufacturing campus, said it has signed a deal with Tesla for its cars to use Tesla charging stations. Volvo Cars/Provided
Charge it
Volvo Cars, which next year will produce the EX90 battery-powered SUV at its plant near Ridgeville, has signed a deal that will let customers charge their electric vehicles at Tesla charging stations in North America.
The Swedish carmaker’s EVs will be equipped with Tesla-designed plugs, called the North American Charging Standard, beginning in 2025.
The new charging points are in addition to existing access Volvo owners and lessors have to tens of thousands of fast-charge points, the company said.
“As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible,” CEO Jim Rowan said in a written statement. “One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving — a key step in making transportation more sustainable — is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. With this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.”
Future Volvo vehicles equipped with the Tesla ports can continue using the alternative system with an adapter, the company said.
The Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston was named one of the nation’s top eight engineering projects by the American Council of Engineering Companies. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff/File
Council kudos
The American Council of Engineering Companies has recognized the Port of Charleston‘s Leatherman Terminal as one of the nation’s top eight projects for its industry.
The two-year-old cargo hub at the former Navy base in North Charleston was a “Grand Award” recipient for 2023. It also was a finalist for the trade group’s “Grand Conceptor” category, which signifies the best overall achievement.
“Hundreds of people from every engineering discipline worked together on the site every day to build this container terminal,” Walter Lagarenne, vice president of engineering and facilities for the State Ports Authority, said in a written statement. “It was the best project coordination I’ve seen in my nearly 40-year career.”
Among the firms that worked on the project: HDR Inc., Banks Construction Co., Samet Corp., Cape Romain/McLean and Cape Romain Contractors Inc.
The $1 billion first phase of the Leatherman opened in April 2021, marking the first new greenfield container terminal to open in the U.S. since 2009. Its operations have been hampered by a labor dispute between the SPA and the International Longshoremen’s Association that is being reviewed by a federal appeals court.
The terminal’s first phase can handle the equivalent of 700,000 20-foot containers a year and a ship carrying as many as 20,000 cargo boxes at a time. At full buildout, Leatherman will have three berths capable of accommodating 2.4 million containers annually.
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