Destination
Miami to Tampa
Alligator Alley or I-4, and the choice matters for an over-height or over-width load. Tampa is also a port, so a container landing in Miami for a Tampa consignee is often a transload decision rather than a drayage one.
Get a quote
Tell us the port, the box and the delivery address and we will price Tampa both ways where it is worth it.
Or email quotes@dariaslogistics.com.
Last free day today or tomorrow?
The clock runs at the port, not on the road
Demurrage starts at the terminal the day after your last free day, whether the freight is going five miles or five hundred. We pre-pull the container onto the yard first and run to Tampa when you are ready, rather than letting the box sit at the terminal earning charges while the receiver sorts out a door.
Through, or transloaded
Two ways to run Tampa
Through on a chassis. The container itself goes to Tampa. Simplest when the receiver can turn it around quickly, because the box, the chassis and the per diem clock all travel with it.
Transloaded to a trailer. The freight comes out of the container at the warehouse and onto a trailer. The empty goes back to the line in Miami the same week, and the 280-mile run is not paying container and chassis rates. Past about 250 miles this is usually the cheaper answer, which is why we quote both.
The run from the port to Tampa
Tampa containers start at PortMiami, about 280 road miles away, and transit is next day. The route is either Alligator Alley and north on I-75, or the Florida Turnpike to I-4 across the middle of the state, and that choice matters when a load is over height or over width, because the two roads are not equivalent once a permit is involved.
At 280 miles the through or transload question is live, so it gets priced both ways. Through means the container itself goes to Tampa and comes back, paying chassis and per diem for every day it is away. Transloading at the Hialeah Gardens warehouse near the port puts the freight on a trailer and returns the empty the same week. Tampa is a port in its own right, which is why a Tampa consignee with a Miami arrival is often a transload decision more than a drayage one.
Delivering in Tampa
Tampa is the seat of Hillsborough County, where I-4 meets I-75 and I-275, with Port Tampa Bay on the bay and Tampa International Airport west of downtown. A receiver needs a dock or a ground level plan and room for a 40 ft box on a chassis, and appointment rules vary a lot between the older port-side blocks and the newer distribution buildings east of the city.
Send the container number, the steamship line, the last free day, the delivery address and whether the unload is live or a drop, and say if the load is over height or over width so the route can be set before it moves.
What runs it
Everything we run
20ft standard
20' GP / 22G1
20ft high cube
20' HC / 25G1
40ft standard
40' GP / 42G1
40ft high cube
40' HC / 45G1
45ft high cube
45' HC / L5G1
45ft high cube, 102in wide
45' HC wide body, 102in
20ft reefer
20' RF / 22R1
40ft reefer
40' RF / 42R1
40ft high cube reefer
40' RH / 45R1
Open top
20' 22U1 / 40' 42U1
Flat rack
20' / 40' FR
ISO tank
20' tank
Overweight containers
any, over legal gross
Bonded and in-bond
any, under customs bond
Flatbed
The default open deck, in 48ft and 53ft. Loads from the side, the top or the back, and anything over 8ft 6in of cargo height starts needing a permit.
Step deck
A dropped main deck buys about 18 inches of legal cargo height over a flatbed. Also called a drop deck.
Double drop
A fixed well between two raised decks, for tall freight that does not need to be driven on.
Lowboy
The lowest deck there is, for tall and heavy machines. Short well, so length is usually the constraint rather than weight.
Piggyback forklift
A rough-terrain forklift that rides on a mounting kit at the rear of the flatbed and unloads where there is no dock and no site equipment. The freight pays for it twice: in the surcharge and in the payload its weight displaces, which is why it is quoted only where it saves more than it costs.
RGN, removable gooseneck
The gooseneck detaches so the deck becomes a ramp and the machine drives on. Extendable and multi-axle versions carry the heaviest and longest loads we handle.
Stretch flatbed and step deck
Extendable decks for freight that is legal on weight but far too long, like beams, blades and pipe. The deck stretches to support the load rather than letting it overhang.
Multi-axle heavy haul
More axles under the same deck, so the weight spreads far enough to permit. This is where transformers, presses and plant equipment ride.
Conestoga
A rolling tarp on a frame, so freight loads from the side like a flatbed but travels covered like a van. No tarping crew, no weather risk.
Dry van
Enclosed, palletized freight, in 48ft and 53ft. The default for anything transloaded out of a container for an inland run.
Reefer trailer
Temperature-controlled van, in 48ft and 53ft. What a reefer container becomes when the freight transloads for an inland run.
Before it leaves Hialeah Gardens
One warehouse in Hialeah Gardens, over 50 dock doors
Everything that happens off the chassis happens here, in Hialeah Gardens, a short run from the ports, before the freight goes anywhere. Transload, cross-dock, storage, or shipping and receiving in your name. On Tampa it is often what makes the lane cheaper, because the empty goes straight back to the line in Hialeah Gardens instead of travelling.
What lands on the invoice
- Chassis
- The trailer the container rides on. If it is not where the container is, that is a chassis split and an extra trip.
- Pre-pull
- Collecting the box before you are ready, to stop terminal storage running. Almost always cheaper than the demurrage it avoids.
- Demurrage
- The terminal charging you for cargo sitting inside the gate past the last free day.
The rest of it
Questions
Straight answers
Why would a container for Tampa come through PortMiami at all?
Because that is where the vessel discharged. Port Tampa Bay is a real port, but not every ocean service calls there, and plenty of Tampa freight lands in Miami simply because that is where the carrier goes. Once the box is on the ground in Miami it is about 280 road miles across, next day, and the useful question becomes whether to send the container or strip it near the port.
Does the route to Tampa matter for an over height load?
Yes, and it is the first thing to settle. I-75 across Alligator Alley and I-4 from the Turnpike are different roads with different clearances and different permit paperwork, and a load that is legal one way may not be legal the other. Send the loaded height, the width and the actual weight before anything is booked and the route gets chosen around those numbers.
How long does it take to get freight from Miami to Tampa?
Next day, over roughly 280 road miles. That is the drive; the bigger variable is usually the terminal appointment at the Miami end, not the road.
Should my container go through to Tampa, or be transloaded?
We price it both ways. Roughly: under 250 miles the container usually runs through, past that transloading tends to win because the empty goes back to the line instead of travelling.
Anything particular about the Tampa lane?
Alligator Alley or I-4, and the choice matters for an over-height or over-width load. Tampa is also a port, so a container landing in Miami for a Tampa consignee is often a transload decision rather than a drayage one.
Do you go beyond Florida?
Yes, all 48 states, generally transloaded to a trailer first.
What is the last free day?
The last day your container can sit inside the terminal before storage charges start. Miss it and demurrage begins accruing daily, which is why a pre-pull is almost always cheaper than waiting.
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.
How do I get a rate?
Send the lane, the equipment, the container size and the port, and we come back with a number. Quotes and dispatch run 24 hours a day at quotes@dariaslogistics.com.
What does a drayage quote actually include?
The move itself, plus the accessorials people get surprised by later: chassis, pre-pull, per diem, demurrage, detention and storage. We would rather name them up front than add them to an invoice.