Importers
A container landing in Miami, and what to do next
Nowhere to put it, a last free day that is close, a customs or FDA hold, a cost nobody will name, a box that has to keep moving inland. The questions an importer actually asks, in plain words, each one pointing at the page that answers it.
The rest of this site is sorted by what moves: containers, trailers, ports, the warehouse. That is useful once you know the words. This page is sorted by the sentence you would actually say on the phone. Find the one that sounds like your week and follow it.
My container is landing and I have nowhere to put it
The box comes off the terminal, gets emptied at the warehouse, and goes back to the line. After that the freight waits on a pallet instead of on a chassis, which is the difference between paying for storage and paying per diem.
My last free day is close
Free time is set by the line and the terminal rather than by whoever trucks the box, and when it runs out the charges arrive from two directions at once. Getting the container off the terminal before the clock turns over is usually cheaper than being ready for the freight.
It is on a customs or an FDA hold
A hold is a queue with paperwork attached, not a dead end, and both halves of it are handled for you. The entry is filed by the licensed customs broker we work with, arranged together with the truck, and the truck is our part: getting the container to the exam site, waiting for it there, and bringing it to you on the day it releases.
What is this going to cost
Every line on a drayage invoice has a name and a reason, and they are all written out here before anyone asks you for anything. A rate comes back in writing, so the number you are given is the number in your inbox.
It is food
Food carries its own rules at the dock and its own paperwork, so say so in the first message: it changes the dock and not just the truck. When a load has to stay cold, we handle that too: send the set point and how long it has to hold, and the cold chain is arranged from the terminal to the door.
I need it to move inland
Two ways, and the distance decides. Either the container keeps going on a chassis, or the freight is transloaded onto a trailer at the warehouse and the empty box goes back to the line the same day. Past a certain mileage the second is simply the cheaper one.
How do I check the trucking company
PortMiami keeps a permit register for the companies that work its terminals and the whole of it is published on this site. Read it with one thing in mind: the permit belongs to the carrier whose driver goes through the gate, which is not always the company you hired, so a name missing from it proves less than it looks like it does.
None of those is quite mine
Then say it in your own words and you will be told which part of this is yours and how it gets handled. Send the container number, the terminal it is sitting at, your last free day and where it has to end up. That is enough for a straight answer, and the rate comes back in the same reply.
Or start here
常见问题
直接回答
Do I need a customs broker, or can you clear it for me?
Yes, clearance is handled for you: the entry is filed by the licensed customs broker we work with, arranged together with the truck, so you do not have to go and find a broker or join it all up across three phone calls. The same goes for the ISF, tariff refunds and drawback. Around the filing we run the freight: the move to the exam site if CBP asks for one, the leg under bond if the container has to travel sealed, and the pickup on the day it releases. If you already have a broker, they file as usual: send their name and email and they ride the same thread.
Whose truck actually collects my container?
A truck dispatched from this desk: one of our own, or one from the network of carriers we work with. The permit to enter a PortMiami terminal belongs to the motor carrier whose driver goes through the gate. You can look that carrier up against the Port's own register on this site.
Can you store it cold?
Yes, we handle cold and frozen freight: a reefer container off the terminal with the genset the move needs, or a reefer trailer on a lane, held at temperature the whole way. If it has to be stored cold as well as moved, say the set point and how long, and the storage is arranged with the truck.
I do not know which of these I need. Is that a problem?
No, and it is the normal case. Send the container number, the terminal it is at, your last free day and where it has to end up. That is enough to say which of these pages is yours, and the rate comes back in the same reply, in writing.