The Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, announced that the state’s Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program (PICGIP) will be extended through 2022, in comparison to the previous plans of being slated to end of June 2020.
The PICGIP was originally established in 2015 through PennDOT’s Multimodal Fund, and makes up to $1 million available annually to participating ocean carriers that move cargo through Pennsylvania’s ports.
The fund helps secure fulltime employment at the terminals and increase economic activity through indirect and induced jobs.
It is also noted that all carriers that have not called the Port of Philadelphia in the past six months must fill out an application on PennDOT’s website, while existing participants are required to complete the data verification form to be eligible for the program.
In the meantime, new carriers enrolled in the program receive $25 per new container unit loaded or discharged from vessels to a Pennsylvania port. Existing participants qualify for the incentive payment by exceeding established benchmarks.
PhilaPort CEO and Executive Director Jeff Theobald commented that
This program supports the ocean carrier during the difficult initial phase of entering a port for the first time, or starting a new service.
