Water

Inland Port

The Port of Guntersville is a bulk freight transfer terminal located approximately 35 miles/56 kilometers northwest of Gadsden via U.S. Highway 431, and is served from Gadsden by the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway.  It is at river mile 358.8 on the Tennessee River, which connects to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and terminates at the Port of Mobile.  Barge and tow companies are listed here.

Port of Birmingham is located approximately 88 miles southeast of Gadsden on 184 acres with 1/2 mile frontage on the Black Warrior River. River service connects to the deep water Port of Mobile. The Port handles a variety of bulk and break bulk material via truck, barge, and rail.

Ocean Ports

The Port of Mobile is 315 miles/507 kilometers from Gadsden, via I-59/I-65.  Rail service to Gadsden is by Norfolk Southern and by CSX/Alabama & Tennessee River Railway.  The General Cargo/Intermodal Terminal has 35 berths, a rail ferry terminal, a 21-acre container yard, and 2.4 million square feet of warehousing.  The port's main channel and turning basin serve post-Panamax ships carrying containers, steel and coal; the upper harbor channel serves Panamax ships carrying general cargo, breakbulk, roll-on/roll-off, heavy lift and oversized cargoes.

The Port of Savannah is 370 miles/595 kilometers from Gadsden, via U.S. 431/I-20/I-75/I-16.  Rail service to Gadsden is by Norfolk Southern and by CSX/Alabama & Tennessee River Railway.  The fourth-largest container port in the U.S., it is equipped with 4 super post-Panamax and 11 post-Panamax high-speed cranes.