How businesses kept shipping operations moving after Baltimore's Key Bridge collapse
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge shut down the Port of Baltimore for nearly three months, stalling operations and impacting businesses across the region. However, one trucking company and a nearby logistics hub found ways to keep moving and help get the port back on track.
Kevin Bull, vice president of Bull's Trucking Company Inc., said his team saw heavy traffic at the port every day before the collapse.
"Before the Key Bridge collapsed, we were seeing volumes of two to three thousand or four thousand trucks per day," Bull said.
That volume dropped to zero on the morning a cargo ship struck the bridge. Bull's first concern was for his drivers' safety.
"We were sitting in the office and the phones are dead quiet," he said. "We're talking amongst ourselves, and we're like, 'What are we going to do?'"
Operations resumed slowly as freight and cargo traffic shifted to ports in Philadelphia and Norfolk. Bull said it took about two weeks to get his drivers back on the road.
Meanwhile, city and state crews worked to remove debris from the channel.
Tradepoint Atlantic assists with shipping operations
Kerry Doyle, managing director at Tradepoint Atlantic, an iron and steel production company in Sparrows Point, said his team jumped into action the day of the collapse.
"I think we were shocked like so many within Maryland that this iconic bridge was no more," Doyle said.
Tradepoint Atlantic, located near the bridge, helped rescue workers refuel and later took in diverted cargo ships. They also stored large pieces of the destroyed bridge.
"It was our highest calling at that point in time," Doyle said.
His team cleared a 10-acre facility within 48 hours to hold the mangled metal.
Now that the port is reopened, Bull said volumes have returned, but challenges remain.
"A lot of our hazmat containers or freight in general, we have to go either through the city or go around [I-]695," he said. "That really puts a burden on the traffic, the local traffic as well as the freight rates. We have to charge more because we have to go more."
Doyle said Tradepoint is working on a long-term solution.
"We're undertaking a billion-dollar investment into Sparrows Point container terminal to create a second container terminal within the Port of Baltimore," he said.
Bull said the investment could lead to significant growth.
"I think in this area, specifically, we will be booming in the next 10 years. More so than what we already are now," he said.
How did the Key Bridge collapse impact the flow of goods?
After the Key Bridge collapse in March 2024, the Port of Baltimore's main channel was closed, significantly disrupting maritime traffic. In 2023, the port had moved more than 50 million tons of goods throughout the U.S. and globally, serving as a key hub for cars, sugar, and coal. With only three temporary channels operational in the weeks following the collapse, maritime traffic was reduced to just 15% of normal levels.
By November 2024, the port had recovered its container flow to pre-collapse levels, and December 2024 was the port's best month of the year, according to the Baltimore Banner. The shipping channel was cleared to its 50-foot depth in just 77 days, allowing large container ships back into the port much faster than initially expected.
