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What’s the Lowest Cost North Carolina Logistics Location?

Written by Harold Hobgood | Oct 27, 2016

When selecting the best possible location for a warehouse, companies should consider a number of different factors. Geographic location, proximity to rail and deep-water ports, accessibility to Interstate highways, and cost of operations are just some of the criteria to be considered.

Companies that consider these factors often decide on a Eastern North Carolina logistics hub due to the region’s central location between Boston and Miami.

Logistics By Air, Land, or Sea

According to Carolina Gateway Partnership’s Kanban’s Rise as a Logistics Powerhouse Showcases Twin Cities’ Global Connects, location has been a major factor driving the growth of Kanban Logistics.

Situated in the Eastern part of North Carolina, Kanban serves customers who move goods through the ports in Norfolk, VA and Morehead City and Wilmington, NC, all of which can be reached in about two hours from Kanban’s logistics campus. And those connections are set to grow even closer in the coming years with the development of a Raleigh-to-Norfolk interstate corridor.

Eastern North Carolina is also served by CSX Transportation, whose east-west and north-south lines make for convenient and affordable movement of raw materials and finished products. This gives customers yet another transportation option while also helping them lessen their carbon footprints.

Shippers will be happy to hear that CSX is making Rocky Mount a new East Coast intermodal hub for cargo container shipping and receiving.

Currently under construction, the “Carolina Connector” is an intermodal terminal that will be used to draw and reroute containers from East Coast trains and trucks from North Carolina’s ports in Morehead City and Wilmington. Situated minutes from Kanban Logistics headquarters, the new, $272 million logistics hub will help boost the economy in Eastern North Carolina.

Eastern NC: An Ideal Location for a North Carolina Logistics Hub

In Looking for an East Coast Warehouse? Consider Eastern NC, Kanban’s Harold Hobgood outlines the compelling advantages of selecting a North Carolina logistics location:

  • Lower costs.
    Market studies have shown that labor and space rates in the area are lower than other East Coast warehouse markets in NC, SC, and VA.
  • Central location.
    The region is literally halfway between Boston and Miami, so companies that need to serve customers up and down the eastern seaboard benefit from this central location. The region is within 1 day, over the road, of 70% of the U.S. population.
  • Excellent transportation infrastructure.
    Growing distribution points like Rocky Mount, NC are literally minutes from I-95 – the East Coast’s primary north-south interstate. Rail carriers CSX and Norfolk Southern and shortlines CLNA and NCYR serve the region, and many of Kanban’s East Coast warehouses have direct rail siding.
  • Fulfillment warehouse expertise.
    More and more Ecommerce companies are recognizing the economic advantages of establishing their East Coast fulfillment centers in Eastern NC.

Kanban Logistics is the largest third-party logistics provider in Eastern North Carolina, with 1 million square feet of distribution space dedicated to manufacturing support, product distribution, and Ecommerce fulfillment. If you are considering Eastern NC for a new North Carolina logistics location, contact Kanban Logistics to discuss your options.