Puget Sound Drayage Broker

NW Seaport Alliance drayage

Container drayage from the Port of Tacoma & Port of Seattle

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) is the combined gateway of the Port of Tacoma and Port of Seattle — the fourth-largest container gateway in North America. Every container that arrives needs to move from the marine terminal to a warehouse, a transload yard, an intermodal rail ramp, or a final destination. That short-haul movement is drayage, and it's a specialty unto itself.

Evergreen Shippers dispatches UIIA-registered drayage carriers across the Puget Sound region. We handle import drayage (terminal → consignee), export drayage (warehouse → terminal cutoff), transload coordination, overweight corridor moves under NWSA's permitted route, and reefer container drayage with gen-set chassis.

(509) 321-4380

What we move

Drayage services we book every week

Import Drayage

Marine terminal → warehouse, distribution center, or transload yard. We monitor vessel arrivals, terminal appointments, and free-time clocks to avoid demurrage.

Export Drayage

Warehouse → terminal cutoff. We work backwards from vessel cutoff times so the container is in the terminal queue before the booking closes.

Transload Coordination

Container contents into 53' domestic trailers at Sumner / Auburn / Fife transload yards — the densest transload market in the PNW.

Overweight Corridor

NWSA permits overweight loads — up to 53,000 lbs payload in a 40' dry container — on designated corridor routes. Tri-axle chassis arranged.

Reefer Container Drayage

Gen-set chassis with continuous power for refrigerated containers. Tighter windows, temperature monitoring, and door-to-door reefer chain integrity.

Rail Ramp Drayage

BNSF Seattle International Gateway, BNSF South Seattle, UP Argo — we connect ocean containers to inland rail intermodal for cross-country lanes.

Coverage

Puget Sound drayage corridors

Every major terminal, transload yard, and rail ramp in the Tacoma–Seattle metroplex, plus inland connections to Spokane, Portland, Boise and beyond.

Marine terminals (NW Seaport Alliance)

Port of Tacoma — Husky Terminal, Pierce County Terminal, Olympic Container Terminal, Washington United Terminal
Port of Seattle — Terminal 5 (revitalized 2023), Terminal 18, Terminal 30

Transload + rail destinations

Sumner / Auburn / Fife / Kent transload yards
BNSF Seattle International Gateway (SIG)
UP Argo Yard (Seattle)
BNSF Spokane Intermodal
BNSF Portland (Hinkle) for east-Oregon distribution

How it works

From booking to delivered

1 — Vessel + container detail

Container number, MBL/HBL, vessel name, ETA. We monitor for vessel delays and terminal congestion.

2 — Appointment + chassis

Book a terminal appointment, secure a chassis (Direct ChassisLink / TRAC / Flexi-Van), and confirm tri-axle if overweight.

3 — Dispatch + pull

UIIA carrier pulls the container, delivers to your facility or transload yard, returns the empty within free-time window.

4 — POD + invoice

Delivery confirmation, POD, and a single invoice that covers the drayage move plus any chassis split, pre-pull, or accessorials.

Why us

What sets our drayage desk apart

UIIA-Qualified Carriers

Every drayage carrier we dispatch is UIIA-registered and chassis-pool-eligible. No surprises at the gate.

NWSA-Aware Operations

We track Husky/Pierce/T-5/T-18 appointment systems, gate queues, and Genie/Trapac chassis levels so your container moves before demurrage hits.

Inland PNW Reach

From Tacoma/Seattle to Spokane, Yakima, Tri-Cities, Portland, Boise — with same-broker continuity from port to final destination.

Common questions

Puget Sound drayage FAQ

Drayage is the short-haul truck movement of ocean containers between the Port of Tacoma or Port of Seattle (collectively the Northwest Seaport Alliance) and a nearby warehouse, transload facility, intermodal rail ramp, or final destination. Puget Sound drayage typically runs within a 250-mile radius of the marine terminals and is billed per move rather than per mile.

Yes. We arrange import drayage from the marine terminal to the shipper or transload yard, and export drayage from the warehouse back to the terminal in time for the booking cutoff. Both directions require coordination with terminal appointment systems, chassis providers, and port queue conditions.

Yes. The Northwest Seaport Alliance permits overweight corridor moves on designated routes — up to 53,000 lbs payload in a 40' dry container on the approved corridor between the Port of Tacoma, transload yards in Sumner/Auburn/Fife, and rail ramps. We arrange tri-axle chassis and any state permits required when the load leaves the corridor.

Yes. Reefer container drayage requires gen-set chassis with continuous power, plus tighter delivery windows since temperature must hold throughout the move. We arrange both port-to-door reefer drayage and transload of reefer container contents into reefer trailers for over-the-road delivery.

Transloading is moving freight out of an ocean container and into a domestic 53' trailer at a yard near the port. This lets shippers consolidate, distribute, or convert single-container loads into multi-stop domestic deliveries. The Sumner / Auburn / Fife corridor is the densest transload market in the Pacific Northwest.

We monitor terminal appointment availability, vessel arrival schedules, and chassis pool levels in real time. When a container is sitting at the terminal past its free-time window, we coordinate priority dispatch and per-diem cost negotiation. The goal is to avoid demurrage fees and clear loads before they become problems.

Drayage requires either UIIA-registered motor carriers or chassis from approved providers (Direct ChassisLink, TRAC Intermodal, Flexi-Van). We dispatch through UIIA-qualified carriers and coordinate the chassis side of every move.

Cross-border

BC / Canada Cross-Border

PAPS/PARS/CARM-compliant freight across the WA-BC border.

Service

Heavy Equipment Hauling

Flatbed, step deck, RGN/lowboy — oversize permits handled.

Local

Spokane Freight Broker

Spokane HQ with daily PNW lanes & asset-based PNW capacity.

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All Services

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