Brunswick Now the Nation’s Top Port for Autos, Heavy Equipment

Colonel’s Island Terminal is now the nation’s busiest port for autos and heavy equipment, handling more than 2 million tons of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo in 2024.

Brunswick also took the top spot in the nation for RoRo exports last year, at 600,000 tons, according to USATradeonline.

Brunswick achieved a record year for individual RoRo units, handling 901,912 units of autos and heavy equipment in 2024. Autos are up 13.3%, and heavy equipment is up 160% due to the GPA investment in specialized storage space and processing capacity.

GPA completed $262 million in improvements at the Port of Brunswick in 2024, adding new warehousing and processing space and 122 acres of RoRo cargo storage. Construction has started on a new railyard on Colonel’s Island, while a fourth berth for RoRo vessels is in the engineering phase.

“This is an important milestone in our journey to be the best RoRo port in the industry,” Georgia Ports President and CEO Griff Lynch said. “I would like to thank our customers for their continued trust in GPA, and our partners – the ILA, auto processors and Brunswick Pilots for making Colonel’s Island the nation’s premier RoRo port.”

Lynch announced the news at the Brunswick State of the Port event at the Jekyll Island Convention Center, saying that new infrastructure and strengthened partnerships are paving the way for continued growth in Roll-on/Roll-off capacity and trade at Georgia Ports.

A new railyard on the south side of Colonel’s Island Terminal will increase the port’s capacity to export vehicles arriving by rail. Improvements to the existing Myd Harris Yard will bring rail switching onto the terminal.

“Our growth comes as auto manufacturers seek to increase their business through Georgia,” Lynch said. “This project will expand capacity, improve our ability to serve inland factories, and increase the safety of rail operations, both on- and off-terminal and lessen our community impact with our port neighbors.”

Lynch said the added capacity will extend Brunswick’s service area because moving cargo from farther-to-reach inland factories to the Georgia coast is more cost-effective by rail than by truck.

Phase I of the new railyard will increase the port’s annual rail capacity from approximately 150,000 autos to more than 340,000 by mid-2025. Phase II will bring annual rail capacity to 590,000 units, more than three times the current capacity. More than 90% of vehicles moving by rail in Brunswick are U.S.-made exports.

Separately, construction on a fourth Ro/Ro berth is in the planning stages and should start this summer. The new berth should be complete in 2027 and more efficiently accommodate vessels carrying 10,800+ car equivalent units (CEU).