Rail ramp
FEC Hialeah rail ramp drayage
Drayage off the FEC rail ramp in Hialeah. On a rail booking, “Miami” usually means here, in northwest Miami-Dade, and not the seaport downtown.
On a rail booking, Miami usually means Hialeah
This is the trap worth knowing. A rail booking that says Miami almost never means the seaport downtown: it means the Hialeah rail complex in northwest Miami-Dade, several miles inland and a completely different drive.
Get that wrong and a driver spends a morning at the wrong end of the county. When a booking says Miami and the mode is rail, we confirm which ramp before anyone is dispatched.
Rail is a different job from port drayage
Ramps run on their own hours and their own procedures rather than the seaport's, and the free time on a rail container works differently from demurrage at a marine terminal. Do not carry assumptions across from one to the other.
For anything moving a long way inland, it is worth asking whether the freight should transload to a trailer instead. That stops per diem, returns the box early and takes the container rate off the long leg.
Checking it yourself
Schedules, hours and container status live on their own site: fecrwy.com. Charges and holds sit between you and the line or the terminal. We move the box.
What we do with the box from here
Equipment we pull from here
Where it goes
More in this section
Questions
Straight answers
Do you pull containers from FEC Hialeah rail ramp?
Yes, daily. 20ft, 40ft, 45ft, high cube, reefer with genset, flat rack, open top, overweight and bonded.
Do you deliver from the Hialeah ramp to my warehouse?
Yes, port to door across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, and statewide. If the freight is going a long way inland we will usually suggest transloading it to a trailer first.
What happens if my last free day is tomorrow?
Tell us today. A pre-pull gets the container out of the terminal and onto the yard before per diem and demurrage start, and it is almost always cheaper than the charges it avoids.
Are your drivers TWIC-carrying?
Yes. Every driver working the terminals holds a valid TWIC, which is required to enter.
What is a pre-pull?
We collect the container from the terminal before you are ready for it and hold it on a yard. It stops demurrage running at terminal rates and it takes the pressure off your receiving schedule.
What is the difference between demurrage, per diem and detention?
Three different charges from different parties. Demurrage is the terminal charging you for cargo sitting inside the gate past free time. Per diem is the shipping line charging you for keeping their container out past free time. Detention is the trucker's time, charged when a driver waits at your dock beyond the free window. They can run at the same time, which is how a bill gets ugly fast.
What is a chassis split?
When the chassis you need is not at the same location as the container, so the truck makes an extra trip to collect it before it can even pick up. It costs a move and it is the single most common surprise line on a drayage invoice.
Is it a live unload or a drop and pick?
Either. Live means the driver waits while you unload, which starts detention once the free window is up. Drop and pick means we leave the container and collect it later, which usually costs less if you have the yard space.
Do your drivers carry a TWIC?
Yes. Every driver working the terminals holds a valid Transportation Worker Identification Credential, which is required to get through the gate at all.