Virginia Inland Port | distribution centre, cargo transportation, railway terminal

 distribution centre, cargo transportation, railway terminal, inland port

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In the era of "big box" retailers and "just-in-time" merchandise delivery, the apparently opposed words "port" and "inland" are paired ever more often. Chinese factories pack their wares into stackable multi-modal cargo containers which are piled upon container ships for transit to the USA. At US coastal ports, the containers are placed onto railroad flatcars ---and thence sent by rail to inland ports like this one. At this facility's freight yard, the containers are unloaded from the rail flatcars and are attached to specialized truck-trailer wheel-sets. Finally, the trucks haul the merchandise either to truck-freight distribution centers or sometimes directly to a Wal-Mart, Costco, Home Depot, or other "big box" retailers.