Read this before the list. Ad Hoc Logistics and Long Road are both part of our network — the same operation that runs this warehouse — so we benefit if you call them, and you should read our number one with that in mind. This also isn't a ranking by size: the national carriers below move vastly more freight than either of them. This list is ordered by what a mid-sized importer at Seattle or Tacoma actually needs: who watches the last free day on your box, who can prepull when a terminal is tight, and who answers on a Friday afternoon when a vessel comes in late. The other companies here are independent, have no relationship with us, and didn't ask to be listed. We describe what kind of operation each one is and nothing more — check hours, location and current pricing with them directly before you drive anywhere.

What separates a good drayage carrier from a cheap one

The rate per move is the least interesting number on a drayage invoice. What you actually pay is the rate plus what went wrong: demurrage when the box sat past the last free day at the terminal, per-diem when the empty went back late, chassis days, and waiting time. Those lines are all decided by whether someone booked the terminal appointment early and watched the clock.

Seattle and Tacoma operate jointly as the Northwest Seaport Alliance, but the terminals behave differently and congestion moves in waves with vessel arrivals rather than staying constant. A carrier who knows which terminal is tight this week is worth more than one who is fifty dollars cheaper per pull.

1. Ad Hoc Logistics

Ad Hoc Logistics is first because it's the drayage operation in our own network, dispatched from the same building as this warehouse. Asset-based, running the Seattle and Tacoma terminals daily, with the warehouse attached — which is the part that matters. A container can come off the terminal and be unloaded onto our dock the same day, so the freight is in inventory instead of sitting on a chassis at a daily rate.

What that covers: port and rail drayage, prepull to yard when a terminal is tight, transload and devanning, overweight and hazmat where the permits allow, empty returns and street turns. Because the dispatch and the warehouse are one team, there's no handoff between two vendors blaming each other for a missed appointment.

Where a national carrier beats it, straight: if you need one contract covering drayage at ports across the country, a network with a national footprint is the better fit. First place here means best fit for a mid-sized importer at these two ports, not biggest.

2. Long Road Transportation

Long Road is the trucking side of the same group — also part of our network, so treat this the same way. Asset-based regional trucking out of the South Sound, running the same terminals plus longer regional lanes. In practice, Ad Hoc and Long Road dispatch as one pool, which is why a surge that would overwhelm a single small carrier tends to get absorbed.

Where it fits: importers who need both the port move and the onward regional run — Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho — without handing the freight to a second carrier at the warehouse door.

3. Swift Intermodal

Part of Knight-Swift, one of the largest trucking groups in North America, with an intermodal division that covers the major US ports and rail ramps. National contract coverage, standardised process, and the scale to absorb volume that a regional carrier can't. The trade-off is the usual one: you are an account number in a large network rather than a customer your dispatcher knows by name.

4. Northwest Container Services

A long-established Pacific Northwest operator working the Seattle, Tacoma and Portland corridor, with container yard and rail-connected operations. Worth a call for importers whose freight moves between the Northwest ports rather than straight inland.

5. National intermodal networks

The large intermodal drayage networks — the kind that quote every US port from one contract — are a real option if your import programme spans coasts. They subcontract to local carriers at each port, which means execution at Seattle and Tacoma still depends on whichever local operator they hand it to. Ask who that is before you sign.

6. Regional asset-based carriers, Fife and Kent

Fife sits directly between the Tacoma terminals and I-5, and a large share of the region's container trucking, chassis yards and truck services are based there; the Kent Valley holds the rest. There are many capable independent drayage carriers in that cluster. Quality varies, and the way to judge is boring but reliable: ask how they track the last free day and what they do when a terminal has no appointments.

Five questions that tell you more than a rate sheet

Who owns the last free day on my container? If the answer is vague, demurrage is going to be your problem, not theirs.
What happens when the terminal has no appointment? The honest answer involves a prepull to a yard to stop the clock. If prepull never comes up, they haven't thought about it.
Chassis — yours, mine, or the pool's? Chassis days are a real line on the invoice and a real source of disputes.
Where does the empty go, and when? Per-diem runs on a separate clock from demurrage and catches people out constantly.
Do you have somewhere for the freight to go? A carrier with warehouse space behind it can solve a bad week. One without it can only deliver the problem to your door.

Where we come in

We're the floor the container lands on. Our Kent, WA warehouse sits between the two ports, so the drayage leg is short either way and the freight gets transloaded, stored by the pallet, cross-docked or picked and packed the day it arrives. See Port of Seattle drayage and Port of Tacoma drayage for how the lanes run, or request a quote and tell us which terminal you're coming through.

Frequently asked

Is drayage cheaper at Tacoma or Seattle?
Neither, reliably. The base move is priced by the lane from terminal to delivery, so what decides your cost is where the freight is going and how long the box sits — not which terminal it landed at. From Kent both are short lanes.

When does demurrage actually start?
The day after the last free day at the terminal. Per-diem on the container itself is separate and starts after its own free days. Two clocks, two invoices, and mixing them up is the most common expensive mistake we see.

What is a prepull and when should I ask for one?
Pulling the container to a yard before the last free day expires, to stop demurrage when you can't take delivery yet. Ask for it as soon as you know your dock or warehouse won't be ready in time — not after the clock has started.

Do I need my own chassis?
Most importers use pool chassis through their carrier. It matters mainly because chassis days show up as a separate charge, so confirm who is supplying it before the first move.