Container drayage at the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma

Long Road Transportation is the asset-based, one-stop drayage carrier for freight professionals moving import and export containers off the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma. The trucks, the chassis, and the drivers are all Long Road's own, sized for the volume coming through the Pacific Northwest.

Call dispatch on (425) 800-4609 or request a quote with your terminal, container size, and delivery point, and you get a real window for the move.

Asset-based since 2020. USDOT 3388302, MC 113242. UIIA member with NWSA access and TWIC for terminal entry, working with all the major steamship lines. HAZMAT certified, with drivers holding hazmat and tanker endorsements. 200+ units of private chassis and equipment.

Why brokers and forwarders book Long Road as their trucking company

• Asset-based fleet

  Our own trucks, chassis, and drivers. The same carrier that quotes the move runs it, under its own authority and liability.

  

• In-house repair shop

  The fleet is serviced on-site, so a booked move rides on equipment that is ready — no third-party breakdown surprises.

  

• 200+ private chassis

  Dual-axle, slider, and superchassis for standard, reefer, overweight, and out-of-gauge containers. No chassis hunt, no shortage markup.

  

Long Road works the Seattle and Tacoma ports, and the model is simple: one dispatcher owns the move from booking to delivery, so a broker has one desk for the whole container. An in-house repair shop keeps the fleet running, so a booked move rides on equipment that is ready. And because Long Road carries the freight under its own authority and liability, it is the same carrier that quotes the move and runs it.

Every container is handled by a dispatch team that works the Seattle and Tacoma ports terminals every day and keeps you posted at each step, with full transparency on port standby and the move. The drivers are experienced port professionals, hazmat-endorsed and TWIC-carded, who take ownership of the move and the deadline that comes with it.

Ports and terminals we work with

Long Road covers every terminal across the two ports under the Northwest Seaport Alliance:

• Port of Seattle — Terminal 5 and Terminal 18.
• Port of Tacoma — Husky, Washington United Terminals, and Pierce County Terminal.
• Port of Everett — for bulk and oversize loads that land there.

Rail-yard containers come off the UP and BNSF ramps when a load arrives by rail.

• NWSA terminal access

  UIIA member with TWIC-carded drivers, working every terminal across the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma.

  

• 3-acre Tacoma yard

  A container depot minutes from the terminals. Early prepull holds your box on our yard and keeps demurrage off your bill.

  

• 24/7 availability

  One dispatcher owns the container from booking to delivery, with capacity for pickups of any urgency and volume.

  

Stopping demurrage with an early prepull

Long Road operates a three-acre yard and container depot at 1531 Portland Avenue East in Tacoma, minutes from the Tacoma port terminals. When the delivery window opens later than the terminal release, the container is picked up the day it releases and held on the yard until the receiver is ready, which keeps the demurrage charge off your bill.

How a container drayage move runs

Dispatch books the terminal appointment off the delivery order and your target date. The container is picked up once it is available and before the last free day, tracked off the terminal, and run to the delivery point. On an export, the empty is taken to the shipper for loading and returned to the terminal ahead of the cut-off.

1. Book & dispatch

   Share your terminal, container size, and delivery point. Dispatch books the appointment, assigns truck and chassis, and confirms the window.

2. Pickup & yard hold

   Container is picked up before last free day. If the delivery window hasn't opened, it's held at the 3-acre Tacoma yard — stopping demurrage before it starts.

3. Delivery & confirmation

   Live updates at every step. Same dispatcher, start to finish — from booking to delivery confirmation.

Private chassis and trailers for standard, reefer, overweight, and out-of-gauge containers

The trailer is matched to the container:

• Dual-axle and slider chassis for any legally loaded 20', 40', or 45' container.
• 3, 4, and 5-axle superchassis for overweight containers that need the extra axles and a permit for legal weight distribution. See overweight and superchassis drayage and the superchassis detail.
• 4-axle Flatbed trailer to haul heavy cargo including machinery and construction materials, as well as damaged containers unfit to be installed onto a chassis.
• Stepdeck and RGN open-deck trailers for out-of-gauge cargo. Unlike a chassis, which carries only a container, these trailers also take a bare load right on the trailer body, on a flat rack or open top.
• Private genset units to power a reefer container in transit, in case the steamship line cannot supply one for an urgent move.

Drivers carry annual overweight permits, and a scale ticket reflecting GVW and axle-weight distribution is always shared with the final invoice, ensuring backup and transparency.

Delivery beyond the terminals

Released containers are delivered on local and long-haul routes straight to receivers in WA, OR, MT, ID, and all across the United States, as well as cross-border to Canada, including but not limited to British Columbia. With a large, sophisticated fleet of trucks and trailers, all serviced by its in-house repair shop, Long Road guarantees 24/7 capacity for pickups of any urgency and volume.

Long Road Transportation also offers an integrated logistics service: transloading your containers at its Kent warehouse (for palletized, floor-loaded cartons and regular cargo) or its Tacoma yard (for oversize, complex cargo), with final-mile delivery on a fitting type of trailer (dry van or open-deck trailer).

• 2020 Asset-based since
• 200+ Private chassis & equipment
• 2 PNW ports, every terminal
• 3-acre Tacoma yard & depot
• 24/7 Capacity & repair shop

What do you need to book a drayage move?

The delivery order and the date you want the container delivered. Dispatch takes it from there, booking the terminal appointment and assigning the truck and chassis. A terminal name, container size, and delivery point on the quote request get you a firm window faster.

Call dispatch on (425) 800-4609 or request a quote with your terminal, container size, and delivery point, and you get a real window for the move.