MTMC’s SUNNY POINT HANDLES COMMERCIAL CARGO

MTMCÆS SUNNY POINT HANDLES COMMERCIAL CARGO    The U.S. Military Traffic Management Command has started handling commercial cargo through its Sunny Point, N.C. ocean terminal.
   The MTMC’s 597th Transportation Group operates the terminal, located on a 16,000-acre, Army-owned site. Since 1955, the terminal was ammunition shipping point on Atlantic Coast for the Defense Department.
   Last April, MTMC, the surface transportation logistics unit for the armed forces, started a pilot program allowing the terminal to handle some commercial cargo to enhance training of staff and to earn money for the facility’s operation.
   MTMC recently handled a 750,000-pound steam turbine generator for Houston-based logistics firm Intermodal Terminal Inc. The firm said the generator was too large to fit between various train trestles and bridges along the rail routes from nearby Atlantic commercial ports. The generator was destined to Hamlet, N.C.
   “We had to closely scrutinize the request, re-evaluate the rail and wharf capacity and review in greater detail the mechanics of the operation from a safety perspective before we offered and provided a recommendation of approval to MTMC headquarters,” said Wayne Howard, a traffic management specialist for MTMC’s Deployment Support Command at Fort Eustis, Va.
   “This mission has been successfully accomplished,” said Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, commander of MTMC. “You can expect more commercial use to follow.”