Container drayage at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

One team across three port areas

Many importers and freight forwarders bring cargo in through more than one port. A shipment might land in Los Angeles, another in Oakland, and a third in Houston. Working with a different trucker at each port means three ways of tracking, three styles of update and three sets of phone calls.

We run drayage in Houston, Oakland and Los Angeles/Long Beach on one dispatch system. Your containers show up in one place. The questions you ask get answered by people who can see every box.

What San Pedro Bay drayage involves

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach sit side by side and together form the busiest container gateway in the country. There are many terminals, each with its own appointment rules, gate hours and empty-return policies. Free time is short, and terminal storage and chassis costs add up quickly.

Good drayage here comes down to a few things:

• Knowing the status before sending a truck. Holds, availability and last free day are checked first.
• Getting the appointment. The driver goes in with a booked appointment at the right terminal.
• Getting the empty back. Empty-return rules change often. A box that can't be returned keeps running up costs.
• Clear proof. POD and EIR photos on file so billing questions are easy to settle.

How we run it

1. Send the delivery order. We set up the shipment and confirm the receiver, address and references.
2. We track the container. Availability, holds and last free day are tracked on every box, and boxes close to their last free day are flagged each morning.
3. We book the pickup. Appointments are booked at the terminal before the driver is dispatched.
4. The driver delivers. GPS on every tractor gives a live ETA and logs the arrival at your dock.
5. Proof and return. POD and EIR photos are uploaded from our driver app, and the empty goes back to a terminal that's accepting it.

Exports and special cargo

We handle export loads too: empty pickup, delivery to your dock for loading, and delivery to the terminal inside the receiving window. See export drayage for how that works.

For hazmat, reefer or overweight containers in Southern California, tell us the details when you ask for a quote and we'll confirm what we can run. See hazmat, reefer and overweight drayage.

Getting a quote

In the quote form, choose Other for the port and write "Los Angeles" or "Long Beach" in the notes, with the pickup terminal if you know it. Add the delivery ZIP, the container size and the cargo weight. See what to include in a drayage quote request.