Role of United States Medium Sized Ports

Along the ocean coasts of the continental USA there are 124 sea ports, 73 of which handle significant volumes of freight. All ports are important economic components of local regions but the role of medium sized ports in the nation's transportation system is not as clear as that of large ports. Using a classification based on value of cargo, 21 large, 24 medium, and 28 small ports are identified and the roles of the medium ports are investigated. Thirteen of the medium ports have container handling facilities; ten concentrate only on bulk cargos. Bulk cargos are the mainstay of most of the medium ports and they are vulnerable to changes in demand for transportation of bulk commodities and to competition from new large‐scale facilities. Medium ports handle 10%–37% of the totals for the ocean coasts in each of five bulk cargo categories. They play a lesser role in containerized transportation, handling only about 6‐1/2%. This role however is vitally important to the 13 medium ports that have container facilities.