Dear Valued Customer,
Hurricane Helene is forecast to make landfall Thursday in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a major hurricane. We anticipate capacity supply constraints in and around the impacted areas as the storm moves across Florida, and north into Georgia, the Carolinas, and the Appalachians and are keeping an eye on emergency response needs as power outages and flooding are possible.
TRUCKLOAD
Road closures and power outages are expected to impact both available capacity and shipper operations during the storm and in the immediate aftermath. Flooding and possible high-wind impacts are forecast to follow the path of the storm inland through Georgia, Alabama, The Carolinas, and Tennessee. Your C.H. Robinson team is here to support you with planning, alternative solutions, and tracking your freight.
LESS THAN TRUCKLOAD (LTL)
A number of LTL terminals in the path of the storm are closed as of Thursday morning. Limited operations and possible closures due to potential power outages and flooding can be expected as the storm moves inland. Shipment delays can be expected for any shipment into or out of the Southeast U.S. for the next several days.
INTERMODAL
CSX rail terminals in Tampa and Central Florida have closed gates to all traffic as of Thursday morning. Operations at those two terminals are planned to resume on Friday pending weather conditions and damage assessments. The Fairburn, GA terminal gate will close to traffic at 12:01am Friday with a planned re-opening at 5:00am Saturday pending weather conditions. As a result, intermodal shipments moving through northwest Florida and southern Georgia will likely experience some transit delays.
OCEAN
The Port of
Tampa Bay vessel operations are currently closed. Landside operations will remain active as long as weather conditions permit. Shipping channels can be expected to reopen after the storm passes, pending damage assessments. The Port of
Jacksonville moved to condition ZULU as of Thursday morning due to the large wind field of Helene. Terminal gates and landside operations will remain open as long as weather conditions permit.
AIR
Some domestic flights are already being impacted by weather conditions with cancellations. Flight cancellations and delays can be expected at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as the storm moves through that region. Major impacts to cargo are not expected at this time, but some shipments may experience minor delays.
STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT LINKS
Florida Disaster Information
FDOT road closures
GADOT road closures
C.H. Robinson’s 24-hour disaster response team will continue to monitor all impacts in the Southeast for the duration of the storm. Thank you for being our Valued Customer. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your C.H. Robinson commercial representative for further information.
Sincerely,
C.H. Robinson