Philly Leader

Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that Pennsylvania’s Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program (PICGIP) will be extended from June of this year to July 2023.

According to a release on April 1, the program is designed to increase shipping to Pennsylvania through monetary incentives. It was originally established in 2015 through Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Multimodal Fund and makes $1 million in incentives available to ocean carriers moving cargo through the ports of Pennsylvania. The funds help with full-time employment at the terminals as well as increase economic activity.

“Pennsylvania’s ports are more vital than ever and are continuing to increase the volume of essential goods and strengthen the supply chain,” Gov. Wolf said. “Increasing shipping activity will help ensure that goods are delivered to stores in a timely manner.”

Carriers who have not been to the Port of Philadelphia over the last six months need to go to the PennDOT website to fill out an application. Those already participating need to complete a data verification form.

“The Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program is essential for us to compete with other ports in attracting new ocean carriers and new trade lanes to Pennsylvania,” said PhilaPort CEO and Executive Director Jeff Theobald. “This program supports the ocean carrier during the difficult initial phase of entering a port for the first time, or starting a new service. This is a well-designed program, and PennDOT has done a great job assisting us with implementing it.”

The release said that since its inception, the program’s participants shipped more than 2.3 million cargo units through a Pennsylvania port. This includes 196,065 units that exceed benchmarks leading to $5.2 million in incentive funds being awarded to carriers. Container lifts of the program’s participants nearly doubled since 2015.

For more information log onto PennDOT.gov and click “Rail Freight and ports.”