Hurricane Florence has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm but remains incredibly dangerous. Tropical-storm-force winds are hitting the NC/SC coastline right now, and will increase to hurricane-force winds by tonight. Landfall is expected to reach the US mainland late tonight or Friday morning. Florence is expected to crawl along the coast of the Carolinas through Friday, producing catastrophic flooding and storm surge, before turning inland.
Our carrier partners and service providers continue their contingency preparations:
Terminals servicing the NC/SC/VA/GA coast or inland areas in the direct path are being closed or operating on a very limited basis.
Linehaul operations to/from these impacted terminals are being suspended.
Several LTL carriers are instituting freight embargoes, and are not accepting shipments destined to their coastal terminals until further notice.
Railroads such as Norfolk-Southern are embargoing shipments destined to the port terminals of Charleston, SC and Norfolk, VA. Over time, this storm will further impact rail traffic. Port closures are expected.
Truckload carriers are routing loads away from the coast as well as inland points expected to be impacted. They continue to be impacted by interstate directional limitations in NC and SC.
You should expect carrier operations to become increasingly challenged across the states of NC, SC, VA, and GA in the coming days. New shipments may not be picked up for some time, and en route shipments may be significantly delayed. Some of the carriers affected: