Terminal, the Port of Miami
South Florida Container Terminal drayage
Drayage off South Florida Container Terminal at PortMiami. If your booking is CMA CGM or Maersk, this is usually where the box is. It runs on appointments.
South Florida Container Terminal (SFCT) is a terminal inside the Port of Miami, not a separate port. Same gates and the same last free day rules as the rest of Port of Miami.
A partnership between CMA CGM and APM Terminals.
If you ship CMA CGM or Maersk, your box is probably here
SFCT is a joint venture between Terminal Link, which is the CMA CGM side, and APM Terminals, which is the Maersk side. Those groups' services are what it mainly handles.
So the terminal is chosen by your booking, not by you. If you know the line before the vessel arrives, you already know roughly where the container will be sitting, and that is worth a minute of planning rather than a surprise on the day.
It books by appointment, and that is the whole story
SFCT runs on appointment availability. This is not a complaint about the terminal, which runs smoothly: it is that a slot has to exist before a truck can go. When there is one we take it. When there is not, no amount of urgency creates one.
What we will do is tell you which situation you are in the same day, rather than let you assume it is handled. If your last free day is close and the box is at SFCT, the earlier you say so, the better the chance of a slot that still helps.
The terminal, in its own numbers
SFCT covers 71 acres of PortMiami, with 480 reefer connections and 18 fully electric yard cranes, and it can work ships of more than 15,000 TEU. Terminal Link, the CMA CGM side, holds 51 percent and APM Terminals 49.
Trucks are processed at touchless gate kiosks with weigh-in-motion scales, so the truck is weighed as it rolls through the gate. Appointments are booked in TERMPoint, the terminal's own system since March 2021, for imports, exports and empties alike.
The last truck in is earlier than 5
The terminal works 8 to 5, but its tariff sets the last time a driver can be processed at the in-gate: 4:30 to drop a container off, 4:00 to pick one up, and 3:30 to pick up a reefer. A pick-up planned for a quarter past four is a pick-up tomorrow.
Free time on an import is four business days for a dry box and two for a reefer, and Saturdays, Sundays and ILA holidays are not counted. There is no rail on the dock either: the tariff calls Miami's rail facilities near dock, so a box going inland by train still leaves SFCT on a truck.
Checking it yourself
Schedules, hours and container status live on their own site: www.apmterminals.com/en/miami. Charges and holds sit between you and the line or the terminal. We move the box.
Also at this port
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 South Florida Container Terminal?
Yes, daily. 20ft, 40ft, 45ft, high cube, reefer with genset, flat rack, open top, overweight and bonded.
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.