Two modes of transportation, rail and water are being combined at Tulsa’s Port of Catoosa in a major project that promises to allow a greater movement of agricultural commodities in the Midwest to the growing critical waterway in eastern Oklahoma.
Since October 2025, work has been underway on construction of a new rail unit train terminal at the Port, a terminal designed to make the movement of farm commodities more efficient in the region to buyers across the globe. The facility will serve as a centralized location where commodities can move between trucks and multiple rail systems, improving flow across the network. Its location, at the crossroads of rail lines, highways, and the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, offers flexibility in how grain is shipped.
As the Port’s Economic Development Manager, Brian Bigbie, wrote an article for Sorghum Growers Magazine’s spring edition, “When the project is completed, it will open the door to a new kind of shipping opportunity for farmers and agribusinesses across the central United States. And for many producers, it could mean a shorter, more favorable path from fields to the global market.”
He pointed out how the problem has been a challenge for many years.
“For years, producers across Oklahoma and the surrounding states have faced a familiar challenge. Grain grown in the heartland often travels a long road before it ever reaches an overseas buyer. Trucks haul it hundreds of miles to coastal ports, adding cost, time, and wear along the way. In a world where global markets move fast and margins are tight, those extra miles can make the difference between profit and loss.”
The article highlighted several aspects of the terminal:
- The new facility will operate as an intermodal agricultural matchback terminal. Instead of long-haul trucking grain to distant export terminals, producers will be able to deliver product to the Port of Catoosa, where it can be loaded into containers, moved by rail to the West Coast, and shipped overseas.
- The challenge is that much of the Midwest and Southern Plains sit far from coastal export terminals. Producers often have to truck grain long distances before it ever touches a rail line or ocean vessel, adding cost at every step.
- This new facility is designed to expand those options, connecting truck, rail, and global shipping channels while extending the Port of Catoosa’s reach deeper into surrounding states.
- When operational, the terminal will not just be another transportation facility. It will be a new gateway for agriculture across the region.
The Tulsa Port of Catoosa is a multi-modal shipping complex and 2,000-acre industrial park managed and operated by the City of Tulsa – Rogers County Port Authority and provides development services through Tulsa’s Port of Catoosa Facilities Authority. Since its opening in 1971, over 90 million tons of waterborne freight have passed through the port.
