With the most productive port in North America the Port of Charleston is an ideal combination of: deep water accessible to Post Panamax containerships, high capacity, highly productive port operations; and an integrated rail and highway system with access to 60 million people within 500 miles, Charleston provides highly efficient access to the global marketplace. The Port of Charleston directly serves more than 150 countries, with strong growth in India and other Asian markets. The central location, roughly halfway between Washington DC and Miami, offers prime inroads into the burgeoning US Southeast.    
   
Northern Europe and Asia are the Port's top markets, combining for 54%of the total volume however, more than 150 nations are served directly from the Port's docks. Service is provided through 40 shipping lines including all top 20 carriers.   
   
Why Charleston?  

• Transit times of 1-2 hours from open sea to dockside, fastest on the East Coast 
• Charleston has 45-feet of water at low tide and 50 feet at high tide, enough to handle 8,000 TEU ships
• "Productivity Pros" average 41 moves per hour, per carne dockside and truckers average 20 minutes from arriving at the gate to wiping outbound ticket 
• On dock rail transfers.  Near dock drays to rail heads minimize switching time and ensure early cutoff times are met 
• Web based cargo availability system notifies clients when boxes are ready for delivery   
• The southeast is the fastest growing consumption zone in the U.S. and the Port of Charleston offers the fastest growing consumption zone.

The port is fast becoming one of the most important ports on the east coast because of its capability to expand its strategic geographic locale and its continued modernization.  The top commodities across the Charleston docks include agricultural products, consumer goods, machinery, metals, vehicles, chemicals and clay products.