Every carrier's website claims on-time delivery and zero demurrage. Almost none of them show you a terminal, a steamship line or a Last Free Day. Everything below comes out of our own dispatch system. Customer names are removed — that is theirs to disclose, not ours — and everything else is left as recorded.
1. 559 containers to one consignee, from four terminals
The freight. A continuous import programme into a distribution site at Spanaway, south of Tacoma. 559 containers in the current book, off four terminals — Pierce County Terminal (395 boxes, Evergreen), Husky (101, Yang Ming), Washington United Terminals (49, Yang Ming) and Terminal 5 (14, MSC).
The problem. Volume this steady is not a project, it is a utility. There is no batch to plan around; there is a container arriving more or less every working day, forever, each with its own Last Free Day, on three steamship lines with three sets of free time and three opinions about where the empty goes back.
The risk. Attrition. Nobody loses five hundred containers to demurrage in one catastrophe — they lose them two at a time, on the days an arrival notice sat unread or a box came off a terminal nobody was watching.
What we did. One board, four terminals, every container carrying its own Last Free Day. Empty returns routed by line rather than by habit, checked before the driver is dispatched instead of after he is turned away at the gate.
The result. 393 of these containers carry both a terminal Last Free Day and our own outgate timestamp. 391 of 393 went out on or before the Last Free Day — 99.5%. Two did not.
2. 40 loads to a battery storage site, dispatched off our own yard
The freight. Components for a battery energy storage installation near Auburn, Washington. Forty loads between 9 and 28 July 2026 — and the equipment split is the story: 25 flatbed, 6 step deck, 9 dry van.
Every one of the forty was dispatched out of our own Tacoma container depot, not off a terminal.
The problem. Battery storage components do not fit the standard model. Much of the cargo is too large or too awkward for a container to carry to site, and a construction site cannot receive forty loads whenever the vessel decides. The freight has to land, wait somewhere, and go out in the sequence the crane crew needs.
The risk. Without a yard, this job does not work. Holding forty loads at a terminal is demurrage; holding them at the site is impossible; and transferring out-of-gauge pieces from ocean equipment onto open deck needs a lift at whichever end you do it.
What we did. Containers came off the terminals early and onto our three-acre yard. Cargo was transferred there — using the top pick for anything that would not roll — onto flatbed and step deck, and released to site on the construction schedule rather than the vessel's.
The result. Forty loads in nineteen days, three equipment types, one dispatch point. This is what a container depot with a top pick on it is actually for, and it is why we do not quote heavy haul and yard work as separate services.
3. 39 containers from two terminals to a North Dakota wind project
The freight. Components for a wind generation station in western North Dakota. Thirty-nine ocean containers, 20' and 40', on two lines at two terminals — COSCO boxes at Terminal 18, MSC boxes at Terminal 5. First booking on our board 15 July 2026.
The problem. A construction site does not want thirty-nine containers on a Tuesday. It wants them in the sequence the crane needs, over six weeks, with nowhere to put the ones that arrive early. Meanwhile the terminals want them gone: Last Free Days on this programme ran from 4 August to 15 September — six weeks, two terminals, two lines with different free time and different empty-return rules.
The risk. Two meters, both running. Demurrage starts the day after the Last Free Day, per container per day, and on thirty-nine boxes it compounds fast enough to matter to a project budget. Per-diem starts the moment a box leaves the gate and does not stop until the empty is back at a depot that will take it — and MSC and COSCO do not return to the same places.
What we did. Every box on the board with its own Last Free Day the day the arrival notice landed. Where the site was not ready and the LFD was close, a prepull to our own yard — which converts an expensive terminal clock into a cheap one. Empties routed by line, checked before dispatch. Delivery order followed the construction schedule, not the vessel schedule.
The result. Thirty-five of the thirty-nine carry both dates. All thirty-five went out on or before the Last Free Day — no demurrage on any of them. Twelve came off T18 on exactly their LFD; seven came off T5 four days early, because the site could take them and there was no reason to leave them sitting.
4. 151 containers a year to one Spokane branch, across five terminals
The freight. A heavy-equipment distributor's Spokane branch. 151 distinct containers — parts, machines and components arriving continuously rather than in projects.
The problem. Five steamship lines — CMA CGM, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and ONE — across five terminals: Husky, PCT, WUT, T18 and T5. Three in Tacoma, two in Seattle. Then 291 miles east over Snoqualmie Pass, which means a container going to Spokane is out of the terminal for a full day minimum, and in winter the pass decides that, not the dispatcher.
What we did. One board, five terminals. Deliveries batched by direction so a driver running I-90 east is not making the trip for a single box. Pass conditions checked before dispatch from November through March, and the customer told the day before when a Tuesday delivery has become a Wednesday one.
The result. 117 of these containers carry both dates. 111 of the 117 went out on or before the Last Free Day. Six did not — which is the honest number, and it is the number we work on.
5. 652 containers into our own warehouse, from nine origins on fourteen lines
The freight. The engine underneath everything else: import containers pulled off the terminals and delivered into our own Kent warehouse for devanning, storage and outbound distribution. 652 containers, arriving off Husky, PCT, WUT, T18, T5, the UP rail ramps and our own depot, on fourteen different steamship lines — CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Maersk, MSC, ONE, OOCL, SM Line, Swire, Westwood, Yang Ming and more.
The problem. Fourteen lines means fourteen free-time allowances and fourteen empty-return regimes. Nine origins means nine appointment systems, including rail ramps, which do not behave like marine terminals.
What we did. Because the delivery address is our own dock, the receiving appointment is never the constraint — which removes the single most common reason an import sits at a terminal past its free time. A box can be pulled the day it releases, because there is always somewhere to put it.
The result. 69 of these containers carry both dates. All 69 went out on or before the Last Free Day.
6. 39 Alaska barge containers off four berths
The freight. Thirty-nine 20-foot containers moving on Alaska Marine Lines, collected across four separate AML berths and yards in August 2026, delivered to a terminal facility in Auburn.
The problem. Alaska barge freight is not NWSA freight. Different berths, different systems, different schedules, and sailings that run on a barge cycle rather than a vessel rotation — miss one and the next is not tomorrow. A carrier who only knows the container terminals will not have credentials or a working relationship at an AML yard.
The result. Thirty-nine boxes moved across four pickup points inside five days. Alaska is a capability, not an exception, and it is worth asking about before you assume your carrier has it.
How we measure this, and what the numbers do not say
Every result line compares the terminal's Last Free Day against our own outgate timestamp — the moment the container physically left the gate. Outgate on or before the LFD means the box did not accrue demurrage. That is checkable, unlike a satisfaction score.
Three honest caveats. First, these are Long Road Transportation loads only; our dispatch system is shared with an affiliated carrier and their containers are excluded from every figure here. Second, not every load carries both dates — across the Long Road book, 922 containers have both an LFD and an outgate timestamp, and of those 897, or 97.3%, went out on or before the Last Free Day. The other 25 did not. Third, outgating on time prevents demurrage; it does not prevent per-diem, which runs until the empty is back. Different charges, different parties, and anyone who merges them in a sales pitch is either confused or counting on you being.
One more number worth stating plainly: of the Long Road containers with a recorded gross weight, 1,443 of 6,358 — nearly one in four — are over 44,000 lbs. Heavy is not an exception here. It is most of a normal week, which is why we own 3, 4 and 5-axle superchassis rather than hiring them.
Tell us the container count, the terminals and where it has to end up. Call (425) 800-4609 and you get a straight answer the same day — including when the answer is that someone else is a better fit.
Get a Quote- 97.3% Out on or before the Last Free Day
- 922 Containers with both dates recorded
- 14 Steamship lines worked
- 1 in 4 Containers over 44,000 lbs
- 3-acre Own Tacoma yard & depot
Questions about these programmes
Are these real jobs?
Yes. Container counts, terminals, steamship lines and dates come straight from our dispatch system. Only the customer names are removed.
Why are the denominators different in each case?
Because we only count containers where we hold both the terminal's Last Free Day and our own outgate timestamp. Where a terminal does not publish an LFD, or the record is incomplete, the box is excluded rather than assumed good. That is why case 3 says "35 of the 39" instead of "all 39".
Can you run a programme smaller than these?
Yes. The mechanics are identical at four containers or four hundred — the Last Free Day still has to be on somebody's board.
Do you handle project cargo that will not fit in a container?
Yes, and case 2 is the example: cargo transferred at our own yard onto flatbed and step deck. See heavy haul trucking and out-of-gauge and project cargo.
What do you need to quote a programme?
Container count and size, the terminal, the delivery address, and whether the receiver can live-unload or needs a drop. Gross weight too if the boxes are heavy.