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Cold chain checks move on terminal
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin operating a new 4,000 square foot refrigerated inspection space at the Port of Savannah on July 1, giving importers a new on terminal option for chilled cargo checks.
The facility is part of a wider 300,000 square foot inspection building at Garden City Terminal and is designed to keep perishable cargo inside a temperature controlled environment during clearance.
Reefer imports keep rising
The move comes as chilled cargo imports through Savannah rose 10.5 percent in the fiscal year to date, reaching 43,540 TEUs from July 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026.
GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch said the Customs station supports faster handling of perishable cargo and helps shippers move products to shelves while maintaining food safety.
The space includes 20 refrigerated power plug ins for reefer containers on chassis, along with infrastructure for temperature control, cleanliness, ventilation and freshness.
More capacity for federal inspections
Port officials said the chilled inspection area will help protect domestic agriculture from invasive pests and plant diseases. It will also complement Savannah’s off dock cold storage network, where 12 businesses operate nearly 2.4 million square feet of refrigerated warehousing.
That includes 1.64 million square feet for frozen cargo and more than 752,000 square feet for chilled cargo.
The new building replaces CBP’s previous 130,000 square foot location with a larger on terminal facility that also supports inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The project cost $49.25 million and includes 400,000 square feet of parking for outdoor inspections.
For produce importers, the change is practical. A cold chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and inspection delays can quickly become a cost issue when temperature sensitive cargo is involved.
