Inland ports are shipping, receiving and distribution centers designed to relieve the congestion in increasingly busy seaports.

Handling cargo containers at spacious inland facilities can cut the time freighters spend in port and speed the flow of goods between ships and the land transportation system of trucks and trains.

The idea is to move the time-consuming sorting of containers inland, away from congested seaports. When a ship is delayed in port, it's not making money.

An inland port could also speed the flow of cargo between ships and major land transportation networks, which would carry goods to the rest of the country.