Ranking · the first paid day of carrier demurrage · nine tariffs read 07/28–08/01/2026
US ports ranked by what nine carrier tariffs charge to leave a box there
⚑ The short answer
- US ports differ less on this bill than carriers do, and the gap is not close. Across the nine import tariffs we read, the median first paid day runs from $257 at New Orleans to $355 at New York and New Jersey — a factor of 1.40 across the whole country. Inside New York alone it runs from $80 to $625, a factor of 7.8. The spread inside one port is more than five times the spread between ports.
- US container ports cannot be ranked on total cost from published sources, and we are not pretending otherwise. Of the five charges the port choice moves, one is read in full, one partly, and three are not published in comparable form anywhere. The stack below is hatched where that is true.
- US port comparisons in the market use ocean freight, which the port choice barely moves. The lines it does move are terminal handling, storage after free time, drayage to your market, the chassis and local fees.
- Container terminals inside one port charge differently, and at New York the cheapest and the dearest tariff lines sit at neighbouring berths. Ask which terminal your service calls at before comparing two ports at all.
Nine US import demurrage tariffs read in full159 rate lines transcribed from eight of themMedian over all-in rows only · line-only rows marked
The first paid day at each US port, across nine carrier tariffs
US container ports come out of nine carrier tariffs in a shape nobody publishes: the port groups are the carriers’ own, three of them are single terminals, and one port can be named separately by one carrier and swallowed by an unnamed residual group in the next.
How this ranking is built · what we are paid
- Ranked on the first paid day of carrier demurrage for a 40-foot dry import container — the one cost line of the five the port choice moves that the tariffs publish in comparable form.
- The median is taken over all-in rows only. Rows where the carrier bills line demurrage alone are shown, marked and excluded, because the terminal’s invoice for those days is missing from them.
- Groups are the carriers’ own. A port that no tariff names sits inside a residual group, and that is an absence of a line rather than a cheaper rate.
- Every rate carries the document it was read from and the date it was read.
- No carrier, port or terminal has paid to appear here or to be positioned here, and no link on this site is a referral link.
| # | Port group as the tariffs define it | Median first paid day | Range across lines | Lines read | Spread inside the group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakland | $255 | $123 – $330 | 13 | 2.7× |
| 2 | New Orleans | $257 | $165 – $300 | 10 | 1.8× |
| 3 | Charleston | $260 | $165 – $300 | 8 | 1.8× |
| 4 | Seattle and Tacoma | $260 | $125 – $310 | 19 | 2.5× |
| 5 | Miami and Port Everglades | $262 | $110 – $490 | 12 | 4.5× |
| 6 | Baltimore | $265 | $88 – $300 | 9 | 3.4× |
| 7 | Jacksonville | $265 | $165 – $310 | 10 | 1.9× |
| 8 | Savannah | $265 | $165 – $300 | 8 | 1.8× |
| 9 | Tampa | $265 | $165 – $300 | 7 | 1.8× |
| 10 | Houston | $270 | $165 – $300 | 8 | 1.8× |
| 11 | Norfolk | $270 | $165 – $310 | 9 | 1.9× |
| 12 | Mobile | $270 | $165 – $300 | 8 | 1.8× |
| 13 | Los Angeles | $275 | $165 – $370 | 16 | 2.2× |
| 14 | Long Beach | $280 | $165 – $370 | 16 | 2.2× |
| 15 | New York and New Jersey | $355 | $80 – $625 | 14 | 7.8× |
| The low end of almost every range is line demurrage only — the carrier’s own half of the bill, with the terminal invoicing storage separately. Those rows are shown, marked and kept out of the median. New York holds both extremes of the whole table: $80 at Maher under COSCO, which is a half-invoice, and $625 at Hapag-Lloyd’s “all other terminals” line, which is not. A 7.8-fold spread inside one port, against 1.39-fold between the cheapest port and the dearest. | |||||
eight US import tariffs transcribed line by line · comparable slice built 08/01/2026
| Port | Carrier | What the tariff calls this place | Free time | First paid day | What the rate covers | Document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | COSCO | Oakland SSA Marine - Oakland International Container Terminal) | 4 working days | $123 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Oakland | COSCO | Oakland (except SSA Marine - Oakland International Container Terminal) | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Oakland | Yang Ming | Oakland — Oakland_OICT(SSA) | 4 working days | $194 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Oakland | HMM | Containers staying at SSA (OICT) Terminal in Oakland, CA, or SSA, Port of Portland (POP) in Portland, OR. | 4 Working days | $210 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Oakland | Yang Ming | Oakland | 4 working days | $230 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Oakland | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Oakland | HMM | Containers staying at Oakland, CA; Portland, OR port (Except SSA Terminal, Oakland, CA) | 4 Working days | $255 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Oakland | Hapag-Lloyd | California ports - except listed belowthe group’s own heading, verbatim: “California Ports/Terminals with exceptions of Long Beach, CA (Long Beach Container Terminal Inc), Los Angeles, CA (APM Terminal), Los Angeles, CA (West Basin Container Terminal) and Oakland, CA (Oakland Intl Container - SSA Terminal) (Carrier/Line demurrage only)” | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Oakland | CMA CGM | CALIFORNIA | 4 working days | $275 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Oakland | Hapag-Lloyd | OAKLAND, CA (TRAPAC) | DOD + 4WD | $300 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Oakland | Hapag-Lloyd | OAKLAND, CA (TRAPAC) | DOD + 4WD | $300 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Oakland | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Oakland | Hapag-Lloyd | OAKLAND, CA (OAKLAND INTL CONTAINER TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $330 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| New Orleans | COSCO | New Orleans | 5 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| New Orleans | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| New Orleans | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| New Orleans | Yang Ming | New Orleans | 5 working days | $250 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| New Orleans | Hapag-Lloyd | NEW ORLEANS, LA (NEW ORLEANS TERMINAL LLC) - Line | DOD + 4WD | $255 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| New Orleans | Hapag-Lloyd | NEW ORLEANS, LA (NEW ORLEANS TERMINAL LLC) | DOD + 4WD | $255 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| New Orleans | Hapag-Lloyd | NEW ORLEANS, LA (NAPOLEON AVENUE TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| New Orleans | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| New Orleans | HMM | AT US GULF Terminal (New Orleans, LA; Tampa, FL) | 4 Working days | $272 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| New Orleans | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Charleston | COSCO | Charleston (except at inland land port in Dillon, SC and Greer, SC) | 5 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Charleston | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Charleston | Hapag-Lloyd | CHARLESTON, SC | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Charleston | Hapag-Lloyd | CHARLESTON, SC | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Charleston | Yang Ming | Charleston | 7 calendar days | $260 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Charleston | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT USEC Terminal (Except New York & New Jersey; Norfolk, VA) | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Charleston | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Charleston | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | COSCO | Seattle SSA Marine Terminal 18 and SSA Marine Terminal 30) | 4 working days | $125 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Seattle and Tacoma | COSCO | Seattle/Tacoma (except SSA Marine Terminal 18 and SSA Marine Terminal 30) | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Yang Ming | Seattle — SSA TERMINAL, T18 | 4 working days | $180 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Yang Ming | Seattle — SSA TERMINAL, T30 | 4 working days | $180 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Yang Ming | Seattle — SSA TERMINAL, T5 | 4 working days | $180 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Yang Ming | Seattle | 4 working days | $230 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Yang Ming | Tacoma | 4 working days | $240 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | TACOMA, WA (Washington United) | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | TACOMA, WA (Washington United) | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | HMM | Containers staying at Seattle, WA; Tacoma, WA | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Seattle and Tacoma | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | TACOMA, WA (HUSKY) | DOD + 4WD | $280 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | TACOMA, WA (HUSKY) | DOD + 4WD | $280 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | ONE | WUT Terminal, Tacoma | not published | $285 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | advisory, import demurrage update |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | SEATTLE, WA (SEATTLE - T18) | DOD + 4WD | $310 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Hapag-Lloyd | SEATTLE, WA (SEATTLE - TERMINAL 18) | DOD + 4WD | $310 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Miami and Port Everglades | MSC | PET Port Evergladesthe only import demurrage line in the whole document that carries MSC’s own rate | 4 working days | $110 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | USA tariff, February 2026 |
| Miami and Port Everglades | COSCO | Miami | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Miami and Port Everglades | COSCO | Port Everglades | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Miami and Port Everglades | ZIM | New York (Maher, PNCT, Port Liberty), Baltimore, Miami, Port Everglades | 4 working days | $165 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | US import D&D rate tables |
| Miami and Port Everglades | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Miami and Port Everglades | Yang Ming | Port Everglades | 4 working days | $250 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Miami and Port Everglades | Yang Ming | Miami | 4 working days | $260 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Miami and Port Everglades | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT USEC Terminal (Except New York & New Jersey; Norfolk, VA) | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Miami and Port Everglades | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Miami and Port Everglades | Hapag-Lloyd | MIAMI, FL (SOUTH FLORIDA CONTAINER TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $325 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Miami and Port Everglades | Maersk | Miami, Florida - South Florida Container Terminal and Port of Miami Terminal Operating Company (POMTOC) & Port Everglades, Florida | 4 working days | $360 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Miami and Port Everglades | Hapag-Lloyd | PORT EVERGLADES, FL (FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $490 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Baltimore | COSCO | Baltimore Port America Chesapeake Terminal | 4 working days | $88 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Baltimore | CMA CGM | BALTIMORE (USBAL) | 4 working days | $140 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | D&D tariffs US import |
| Baltimore | COSCO | Baltimore (except Port America Chesapeake Terminal) | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Baltimore | ZIM | New York (Maher, PNCT, Port Liberty), Baltimore, Miami, Port Everglades | 4 working days | $165 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | US import D&D rate tables |
| Baltimore | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Baltimore | Yang Ming | Baltimore | 4 working days | $260 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Baltimore | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT USEC Terminal (Except New York & New Jersey; Norfolk, VA) | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Baltimore | Hapag-Lloyd | BALTIMORE, MD (SEA GIRT TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $280 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Baltimore | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Jacksonville | COSCO | all other ports not listed above | 5 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Jacksonville | Hapag-Lloyd | JACKSONVILLE, FL (CERES TERMINALS - Trapac) | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Jacksonville | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Jacksonville | Hapag-Lloyd | JACKSONVILLE, FL (CERES TERMINALS (Trapac) and Blount Island Marine) | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Jacksonville | Yang Ming | Jacksonville | 4 working days | $260 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Jacksonville | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT USEC Terminal (Except New York & New Jersey; Norfolk, VA) | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Jacksonville | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Jacksonville | ZIM | Boston, Jacksonville & Mobile | 4 working days | $285 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Jacksonville | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Jacksonville | Hapag-Lloyd | JACKSONVILLE, FL (SSA ATLANTIC, LLC.) | DOD + 4WD | $310 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Savannah | COSCO | Savannah (except at inland land port Appalachian Regional Port, Crandall, GA) | 5 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Savannah | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Savannah | Yang Ming | Savannah | 5 working days | $260 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Savannah | Hapag-Lloyd | SAVANNAH, GA | DOD + 4WD | $265 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Savannah | Hapag-Lloyd | SAVANNAH, GA | DOD + 4WD | $265 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Savannah | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT USEC Terminal (Except New York & New Jersey; Norfolk, VA) | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Savannah | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Savannah | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Tampa | COSCO | Tampa | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Tampa | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Tampa | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Tampa | Hapag-Lloyd | TAMPA, FL (Ports America Tampa) | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Tampa | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Tampa | HMM | AT US GULF Terminal (New Orleans, LA; Tampa, FL) | 4 Working days | $272 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Tampa | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Houston | COSCO | Houston | 5 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Houston | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Houston | Yang Ming | Houston | 7 calendar days | $250 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Houston | Hapag-Lloyd | HOUSTON, TX | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Houston | Hapag-Lloyd | HOUSTON, TX | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Houston | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Houston | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT Houston, TX | 4 Working days | $282 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Houston | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Norfolk | COSCO | Norfolk (except at inland land port in Front Royal, VA and Richmond, VA) | 7 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Norfolk | ZIM | All other ports | 4 working days | $250 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Norfolk | Yang Ming | Norfolk | 7 calendar days | $260 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Norfolk | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT Norfolk, VA Terminal | 4 Working days | $265 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Norfolk | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Norfolk | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Norfolk | ONE | Norfolk | not published | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | advisory, import demurrage update |
| Norfolk | Hapag-Lloyd | NORFOLK, VA | DOD + 4WD | $310 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Norfolk | Hapag-Lloyd | NORFOLK, VA | DOD + 4WD | $310 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Mobile | COSCO | Mobile | 5 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Mobile | Yang Ming | Mobile | 5 working days | $215 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Mobile | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Mobile | Hapag-Lloyd | MOBILE, AL (APM TERMINALS NORTH AMERICA, INC) | DOD + 4WD | $260 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Mobile | CMA CGM | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Mobile | ZIM | Boston, Jacksonville & Mobile | 4 working days | $285 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Mobile | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT Mobile, AL | 4 Working days | $290 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Mobile | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Los Angeles | COSCO | Long Beach/Los Angeles | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Los Angeles | HMM | Containers staying at TTI or SSA Terminal A in Long Beach, CA, or at APM or WBT Terminals in Los Angeles, CA | 4 Working days | $210 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Los Angeles | ZIM | Los Angeles / Long Beach — Fast service | 4 working days | $245 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | LOS ANGELES, CA (YUSENT) | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | California ports - except listed belowthe group’s own heading, verbatim: “California Ports/Terminals with exceptions of Long Beach, CA (Long Beach Container Terminal Inc), Los Angeles, CA (APM Terminal), Los Angeles, CA (West Basin Container Terminal) and Oakland, CA (Oakland Intl Container - SSA Terminal) (Carrier/Line demurrage only)” | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | LOS ANGELES, CA (YUSENT) | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Los Angeles | Yang Ming | Los Angeles | 4 working days | $270 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Los Angeles | HMM | Containers staying at Los Angeles, CA, or Long Beach, CA (Excluding TTI or SSA Terminal A in Long Beach, CA, and APM or WBT Terminal in Los Angeles, CA) | 4 Working days | $270 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Los Angeles | CMA CGM | CALIFORNIA | 4 working days | $275 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | LOS ANGELES, CA (APM TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $285 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Los Angeles | ONE | LAX Terminals, Los Angeles, CA | not published | $285 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | advisory, import demurrage update |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | LOS ANGELES, CA (TRAPAC) | DOD + 4WD | $300 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | LOS ANGELES, CA (TRAPAC) | DOD + 4WD | $300 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Los Angeles | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Los Angeles | Hapag-Lloyd | LOS ANGELES, CA (WEST BASIN CONTAINER Terminal) | DOD + 4WD | $305 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Los Angeles | ZIM | Los Angeles / Long Beach — Expedited service | 3 working days | $370 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Long Beach | COSCO | Long Beach/Los Angeles | 4 working days | $165 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| Long Beach | Yang Ming | Long Beach — Long beach_PACIFIC CONTAINER TERMINAL (PCT) | 4 working days | $203 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Long Beach | HMM | Containers staying at TTI or SSA Terminal A in Long Beach, CA, or at APM or WBT Terminals in Los Angeles, CA | 4 Working days | $210 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Long Beach | ZIM | Los Angeles / Long Beach — Fast service | 4 working days | $245 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| Long Beach | Hapag-Lloyd | California ports - except listed belowthe group’s own heading, verbatim: “California Ports/Terminals with exceptions of Long Beach, CA (Long Beach Container Terminal Inc), Los Angeles, CA (APM Terminal), Los Angeles, CA (West Basin Container Terminal) and Oakland, CA (Oakland Intl Container - SSA Terminal) (Carrier/Line demurrage only)” | DOD + 4WD | $270 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| Long Beach | Yang Ming | Long Beach | 4 working days | $270 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| Long Beach | HMM | Containers staying at Los Angeles, CA, or Long Beach, CA (Excluding TTI or SSA Terminal A in Long Beach, CA, and APM or WBT Terminal in Los Angeles, CA) | 4 Working days | $270 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| Long Beach | CMA CGM | CALIFORNIA | 4 working days | $275 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| Long Beach | Hapag-Lloyd | LONG BEACH, CA (Port of Long Beach Container Terminal) | DOD + 4WD | $280 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Long Beach | Hapag-Lloyd | LONG BEACH, CA (TOTAL TERMINALS) | DOD + 4WD | $295 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Long Beach | Hapag-Lloyd | LONG BEACH, CA (TOTAL TERMINALS) | DOD + 4WD | $295 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Long Beach | Maersk | Dry Containers /Non-Operating Reefers/ IMO Dry Containers & Non-Operating Reefers - *Excluding Newark/Miami/Port Everglades/Philadelphia | 4 working days | $300 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| Long Beach | ONE | ITS Terminal, Long Beach, CA | not published | $315 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | advisory, import demurrage update |
| Long Beach | Hapag-Lloyd | LONG BEACH, CA (STEVED and INTL TRANSPORTATION SVCS - ITS) | DOD + 4WD | $330 | line and terminal in one rate | merchant haulage |
| Long Beach | Hapag-Lloyd | LONG BEACH, CA (STEVED and INTL TRANSPORTATION SVCS - ITS) | DOD + 4WD | $330 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| Long Beach | ZIM | Los Angeles / Long Beach — Expedited service | 3 working days | $370 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| New York and New Jersey | COSCO | New York Maher Terminal | 4 working days | $80 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| New York and New Jersey | COSCO | New York APM Terminal, Port Liberty New York (Staten Island) Terminal and Port Liberty Bayonne Terminal | 4 working days | $82 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| New York and New Jersey | Yang Ming | New York | 4 working days | $125 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | US import demurrage and detention tariff export |
| New York and New Jersey | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT Port Liberty (GLO) (HOW), Maher (MAH) Terminal other than New York/New Jersey Terminals, NY | 4 Working days | $130 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| New York and New Jersey | ZIM | New York (Maher, PNCT, Port Liberty), Baltimore, Miami, Port Everglades | 4 working days | $165 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | US import D&D rate tables |
| New York and New Jersey | Hapag-Lloyd | All ports - except listed belowthe group headed “terminal operators invoice storage separately”: Baltimore, Jacksonville (SSA Atlantic and Blount Island Marine), Miami, Mobile, New Orleans (Napoleon Avenue), New York, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Seattle (SSA Terminal), Tampa | DOD + 4WD | $250 | line demurrage onlythe terminal invoices storage separately, so this figure is half the bill | merchant haulage |
| New York and New Jersey | COSCO | New York (except Maher Terminal, APM Terminal, Port Liberty New York (Staten Island) Terminal and Port Liberty Bayonne Terminal) | 4 working days | $286 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | free time / demurrage at destination USA |
| New York and New Jersey | ZIM | New York — APM Terminal | 4 working days | $350 | line and terminal in one rate | US import D&D rate tables |
| New York and New Jersey | ONE | New York, excluding Maher Terminal | not published | $350 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | advisory, import demurrage update |
| New York and New Jersey | HMM | WHILE STAYING AT New York / New Jersey Terminals (Except Port Liberty, Maher Terminal New York, NY) | 4 Working days | $355 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendment 1157 |
| New York and New Jersey | CMA CGM | NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY | 4 working days | $360 | line and terminal in one rate | D&D tariffs US import |
| New York and New Jersey | Maersk | Newark and New York City Area Terminalsthe first column heading is cut short in the source document itself — “Dry / Non-” | 4 working days | $455 | not publishedthe tariff does not say whether terminal storage is included | US import demurrage |
| New York and New Jersey | Hapag-Lloyd | NEW YORK, NY (MAHER TERMINAL) | DOD + 4WD | $465 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| New York and New Jersey | Hapag-Lloyd | NEW YORK, NY (ALL OTHER TERMINALS) | DOD + 4WD | $625 | line and terminal in one rate | carrier haulage |
| One carrier of the nine appears nowhere in this table and it is not an omission. MSC publishes its own import rate at Port Everglades alone and passes the terminal’s charge through at cost at 15 named terminals; Evergreen’s tariff document contains no rate at all — sections 3 and 4 are headings over attachments the file does not carry. | ||||||
eight US import tariffs transcribed line by line · comparable slice built 08/01/2026
What an empty-looking cell means: not published — the source publishes no figure here
| Port | Dry | Special equipment | Tank | Working reefer | Reefer ÷ dry | Lines read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | $255 | $425 | $425 | $490 | 1.92× | 35 |
| New Orleans | $257 | $370 | $387 | $505 | 1.96× | 31 |
| Charleston | $260 | $385 | $385 | $487 | 1.87× | 23 |
| Seattle and Tacoma | $260 | $405 | $405 | $560 | 2.15× | 51 |
| Miami and Port Everglades | $262 | $455 | $500 | $570 | 2.18× | 33 |
| Baltimore | $265 | $395 | $350 | $487 | 1.84× | 29 |
| Jacksonville | $265 | $405 | $375 | $550 | 2.08× | 31 |
| Savannah | $265 | $430 | $400 | $487 | 1.84× | 23 |
| Tampa | $265 | $382 | $415 | $490 | 1.85× | 22 |
| Houston | $270 | $395 | $395 | $487 | 1.80× | 23 |
| Norfolk | $270 | $435 | $425 | $487 | 1.80× | 24 |
| Mobile | $270 | $397 | $510 | $570 | 2.11× | 23 |
| Los Angeles | $275 | $420 | $415 | $570 | 2.07× | 49 |
| Long Beach | $280 | $420 | $420 | $577 | 2.06× | 46 |
| New York and New Jersey | $355 | $575 | $500 | $747 | 2.10× | 45 |
| Across the country the four boxes sit at $265, $405, $415 and $505 — dry, special equipment, tank, working reefer. Special and tank land within ten dollars of each other because 58 of their lines are literally the same price: those tariffs print one figure headed “Special and Tank”, and it stands in both columns here. The reefer costs about twice the dry box and is given half the free time — four working days against two, and three against one at Los Angeles and Long Beach — so the same week of delay costs roughly three times as much. That multiplier is the steadiest number in the whole reading: 1.80 to 2.18 across fifteen ports. Tanks are also the least published class: five of the nine tariffs price them, and Maersk names a tank only at Newark and Miami. | ||||||
eight US import tariffs transcribed line by line · comparable slice built 08/01/2026
| Carrier | What the tariff calls it | What the tariff says it covers | Free time | First paid day, dry box |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZIM | detention | all ports | 4 working days, beginning on the day of interchange | $160 |
| Yang Ming | detention | All ports / All terminals | 4 working days | $170 |
| CMA CGM | detention | ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 4 working days | $180 |
| MSC | detention | ALL TERMINALS | 4 working days | $185 |
| MSC | per diemMSC’s own word for the box outside the terminal — what the other eight tariffs call detention | outside the marine terminal, until returned | 4 working days | $185 |
| Four rates inside twenty-five dollars, four identical free-time allowances, and no port named anywhere. Set that beside demurrage, which runs from $80 to $625 depending on the port and the terminal: the same choice that moves one bill by a factor of nearly eight does not move the other at all. CMA CGM is the only carrier here that varies detention geographically, and only for California and Hawaii, and only from the second tier — the first paid day is the same everywhere. One warning about the word itself: MSC uses “detention” for the box inside the terminal, which every other tariff here calls demurrage. And what MSC calls per diem is the box outside the terminal — which is what the other eight call detention. The two standard words are swapped, the rates in MSC’s two tables are identical to the dollar, and only the free time differs: two days for special equipment and reefers under detention against three under per diem. Per diem itself is published by one tariff of the nine. Chassis per diem is a different charge from a different biller and no document we hold carries its rate — that is gap G. | ||||
eight US import tariffs transcribed line by line · comparable slice built 08/01/2026
| Port group as the tariff defines it | Export free days | Export first paid day | Import free days | Import first paid day | Export against import |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALL US PORTS (EXCEPT THOSE NOTED BELOW) | 5 | $170 | 4 | $270 | 37% cheaper, and a day more free time |
| ALASKA (USDUT) | 45 | $150 | 45 | $150 | identical in both directions |
| BOSTON (USBOS) | 5 | $155 | 4 | $245 | 37% cheaper, and a day more free time |
| HAWAII (USHNL) | 10 | $40 | 7 | $100 | 60% cheaper, and a day more free time |
| NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY | 5 | $275 | 4 | $360 | 24% cheaper, and a day more free time |
| Export is cheaper than import at every group that carries both, and gives more free time doing it — except Alaska, where the two are the same number. Detention is identical in both directions, $180 after four days: the charge for the box away from the terminal does not care which way it is going, while the charge for its time on the terminal does. One page of this export tariff prices automobiles only, at Port Liberty and Maher, with eight free days — the longest allowance CMA CGM gives anywhere in the United States. MSC passes export demurrage through at cost and ZIM sends export to the terminals’ own tariffs, so neither publishes a number; the other six tariffs do not mention export at all. | |||||
eight US import tariffs transcribed line by line · comparable slice built 08/01/2026
| What is in the box | Storage free time | Storage, first paid day | Demurrage free time | Demurrage, first paid day | What the box does to the price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| standard dry container | 1 calendar day | $175 | 4 working days | $270 | the rate every other row here matches |
| reefer carried with the unit switched off | 1 calendar day | $175 | 4 working days | $270 | nothing — the same $175 as every other box |
| reefer with the unit running | 1 calendar day | $175 | 2 working days | $485 | nothing — the same $175 as every other box |
| special equipment — open tops, flat racks, tanks | 1 calendar day | $175 | 4 working days | $320 | nothing — the same $175 as every other box |
| Four boxes, one rate. A reefer with its unit running costs $485 a day for standing on the terminal and $175 for standing in a trucker’s yard — the same $175 as a dry box, a switched-off reefer and a flat rack. Across the 96 reefer rows in this reading that can be matched to a dry rate at the same carrier, the same port and the same terminal, not one is equal: the reefer runs from 1.50 to 3.82 times the dry rate, and by port median from 1.80 to 2.18. Off the terminal that multiplier is 1.00. Two more things collapse with it — the rate does not escalate — one tier, $175, and it never rises again, where 67 of the 71 demurrage and detention tables in the same file climb through two, three or four steps — and it does not change direction (import and export are printed identically, which is not true of demurrage). The free-time clock is the trap. Storage free time is counted in calendar days and demurrage free time in working days, and both conventions are printed in the header of their own page of the same document: a box dropped in a yard on Friday is paying by Sunday. And this is not terminal storage — that charge sits on the terminal’s own tariff, is billed by the terminal, and is still gap A. What one tariff of the nine publishes here is the carrier’s charge for its box in somebody else’s yard. | |||||
CMA CGM D&D tariffs United States, effective 01/21/2025 — trucker yard storage on page 12 of the import half and page 19 of the export half · read 08/01/2026
What Table B is, and what it is not yet. Forty-nine rate lines from Yang Ming, ONE and HMM, taken from the documents themselves rather than from anyone’s summary of them. Six tariffs — Maersk, ZIM, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM, MSC, COSCO and Evergreen — were read for Table A and have not been transcribed line by line yet, so this table says three of nine rather than nine of nine. Nine of the Yang Ming lines in the export are superseded by later ones and are not shown: where a port appears twice, the row with the later effective date is the one that governs.
Why this column cannot simply be sorted
US container port demurrage cannot be sorted as one column, and three differences are the reason. A line-only rate covers the carrier’s own charge while the terminal invoices storage separately, so it is not the same quantity as an all-in rate. Tiers differ: some tariffs step up after three days, some after four, some after five. And the day numbering itself differs — some carriers count from discharge including free time, others from the first paid day.
How many free days each port allows, and which of them publish a rule you can read, is a separate ranking: how many free days each port allows.
What we are paid
- Nothing, by anyone in this market. No carrier, port, terminal or intermediary has paid to appear here, to be positioned here, or to be left out.
- No outbound link on this site is a referral link, and there is no affiliate code on this domain.
- If that ever changes, the rate goes on the page carrying the link, at one rate, the same for everyone — and a ranking position still will not be for sale.
Three of the five lines are not in this ranking, and here is which
What a 40-foot import container actually pays at a US port, and what we could price
Terminal handling · consensus only, never a columnTerminal storage · gap A, about 80 tariffs unreadDrayage · gap F, no comparable set existsChassis · gap G, pool tariffs unreadLocal fees · gap J, read at two ports of thirty
Three of the five lines the port choice moves are not in this ranking. Terminal storage is gap A: about eighty terminal tariffs, unread. Drayage is gap F: no comparable rate set exists for US ports from one dated source with a stated sample size — not in the pages that rank for these queries and not in ours. Chassis is gap G. Local fees are read at two ports of thirty, Houston and Los Angeles, and marked everywhere else. An index built from one line and presented as five would be the most damaging thing on this site, so this page ranks the line it read and names the four it did not.
Every port profile carries the same stack with the same hatching: every US container port we cover. The status system behind each figure, and the full list of what has not been read, is on how every figure here is sourced.
What the market compares when it compares US ports
US container ports are compared in this market by the one line the port choice barely moves. Here is what holds the results for the queries this page answers — measured, not asserted.
| What the results look like | Value |
|---|---|
| What holds the top of the head queries | volume tables — a federal series whose address ends in 2020, an encyclopaedia article, two industry associations |
| Hub pages on the subject | 0 |
| The single widest URL | 9 of 60 queries |
| Paid ads above the organic result | 60 of 60 |
| Pages ranking that price the first paid day by port and by terminal | none we found — this is why Table B exists |
our own capture of the sixty port-choice queries, Google US, 07/25–07/26/2026
The volume tables are not wrong, they answer a different question — and how they are built is worth knowing before trusting a sorted column: how the volume tables are built.
Why the stack cannot be summed from one source
US container port charges cannot be summed from one document, because each line has its own biller, its own clock and its own tariff. That is the structural reason this page ranks one line instead of publishing a total.
| Line of the stack | Billed by | Owed by | Which document sets it | Do we have it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrier demurrage | Ocean carrier | Consignee or the counterparty named on the invoice, not both | the carrier’s own US import tariff | read in full — nine tariffsnine US import demurrage tariffs · read 07/28–08/01/2026 |
| Terminal storage | Marine terminal operator | Cargo interest, usually via the carrier | the terminal’s tariff | not checked yetgap A — about 80 documents |
| Terminal handling | Ocean carrier | Whoever the Incoterm assigns | the carrier’s tariff, by port | not checked yet |
| Drayage | Motor carrier | Cargo interest | a quote, not a published tariff | not publishedgap F — no comparable dated set with a sample size |
| Chassis per diem | Chassis pool or carrier | Motor carrier, passed through to you | the pool tariff | not checked yetgap G |
| Local fees | Port authority or terminal | Motor carrier or cargo interest, by fee | the port’s fee schedule | two ports of thirtyPort Houston and Port of Los Angeles · read 07/26/2026 |
What an empty-looking cell means: not checked yet — we have not read the document yet not published — the source publishes no figure here
Five documents, five billers, one container. A single invoice can carry two storage-like charges for the same days — the carrier’s demurrage and the terminal’s storage — and both be correct, because the clocks are separate and so are the parties.
Your rights under US federal rule
The invoice for the days in this table
US import demurrage billed against any of the rates in this table answers to a Federal Maritime Commission rule, codified as 46 CFR Part 541 and in force since 05/28/2024. The rule has since been before the D.C. Circuit twice, and the decision of 09/29/2025 reshaped billing for motor carriers, so the text to read is the current one at eCFR rather than any summary of the 2024 announcement, including ours.
What an invoice has to contain, what a missing element does to the obligation to pay it, and how the dispute runs at the carrier are on the federal rules your invoice has to meet.
46 CFR Part 541, effective 05/28/2024 · D.C. Circuit 09/29/2025 · read 07/26–07/30/2026. Descriptive, not legal advice: the tariff and invoice in your own file govern your case.
The three ports where the first paid day is cheapest, and what that does not mean
US container ports with the cheapest first paid day are cheap for reasons worth knowing before acting on the order, and in two of the three cases the reason is that nobody wrote a line for them.
1 · Miami and Port Everglades — median $262
A 4.5-fold spread inside one group, $110 to $490 — the second-widest in the reading. The low end is MSC at Port Everglades, the only US port where MSC publishes an import rate of its own; everywhere else it passes the terminal’s charge through at cost. This site published $65 here until 08/01/2026, and that was MSC’s twenty-foot rate read against everyone else’s forty-foot box. The comparable figure is $110. Miami and Port Everglades are also two ports counted as one group, which is why a median built on it describes the group and not your box.
nine US import demurrage tariffs · read 07/28–08/01/2026
2 · Savannah — median $260
Seven tariff lines, a narrow band of $165 to $300, and the port itself publishes the hour its free-time clock starts. Yang Ming names Savannah separately at $260 with five working days free, which is the kind of line that makes a port checkable rather than cheap.
Yang Ming tariff export, effective 01/01/2026 · read 07/29/2026
3 · Norfolk — median $260
Identical to Savannah, and identical for a reason that is itself the finding: $260 is the residual group’s number in most of the tariffs rather than a figure written for this port. A rate that a carrier did not write for you is not a discount.
nine US import demurrage tariffs · read 07/28–08/01/2026
The two ports most people ask about are not in this order at all. Until 08/01/2026 no rate line here named Houston or Charleston, because six of the nine tariffs were unread PDFs. Both are named outright now — COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd and Yang Ming each give Charleston a line of its own, and five tariffs name Houston. What survives is the shape of the trap: a port can look cheap because a carrier declined to distinguish it, so every row below says whether the price is the port’s own or the group’s.
What the whole stack looks like at each of them: what it costs to land a box at savannah, what it costs to land a box at houston, what it costs to land a box at charleston.
Where the ranking does not apply
US container port rates in this ranking apply to a 40-foot dry import container sitting at the port. Four situations move the number, and the fourth removes it.
- A rail ramp is not the port, and the rates differ. Maersk publishes 190/250/280 at ramps against its port rates, CMA CGM 160/210/260, Hapag-Lloyd 160/220/250 and ZIM 165/200/230. If your box moves inland under the carrier’s bill, the ramp tariff governs, not this table.
- A 45-foot box costs more. CMA CGM runs up to $900 at New York, and ONE charges $640 on days 10–29 and $870 from day 30 for a 45-foot container against $540 and $770 for a 20 or 40.
- Reefers, flat racks, open tops and tanks are priced separately, usually with shorter free time — two working days rather than four in the HMM tariff, at $435 against $270 on the first paid day at Los Angeles and Long Beach.
- MSC has no general US import demurrage rate. It passes the terminal’s charge through at cost at fifteen named terminals and publishes one rate of its own, at Port Everglades: $65 for a twenty-foot box and $110 for the forty-foot box this ranking is built on. The forty-foot figure is the one in the table.
Ramp and 45-foot rates: the same nine tariffs · read 07/28–08/01/2026. ONE advisory effective 01/23/2026 · read 07/28/2026. HMM tariff HDMU-040 rule 101-1 · read 07/29/2026.
How often these rates change
US import demurrage tariffs change by amendment, and an amendment can be on file before the version it replaces has expired. We caught one while reading: the HMM tariff in force expired 07/31/2026, and its successor was already filed effective 08/01/2026.
| Port group | In force to 07/31/2026 | From 08/01/2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA; Tacoma, WA | $263 | $265 |
| The other twelve groups, Los Angeles to New York | unchanged | unchanged |
HMM tariff HDMU-040, rule 101-1, amendments 1146 and 1157 · read 07/29/2026
So a rate on this page is as of the date beside it and not a day later, which is why every row carries one. The nine tariffs are re-read on a quarterly cycle, and any change to a number here goes into the corrections log with its date.
Questions about comparing US ports on cost
Which port has the lowest first paid day in this ranking?
On the one cost line we read in full, New Orleans, with a median first paid day of $257 against $355 at New York and New Jersey. But the whole country fits inside a factor of 1.40 on this line, so the port you pick moves it far less than the carrier you sail with. Three of the five lines the port choice moves are not published in comparable form, so this is a ranking of one line rather than of total cost.
What is the best US port to import from China?
The port is the smaller variable. Median demurrage across ports spans a factor of 1.7, while inside New York alone the tariffs span a factor of 4.9. Which carrier you book, and which terminal its service calls at, moves this bill more than which port you pick.
Why is New York the most expensive?
Its median first paid day is $355, the highest we measured, and it holds the highest single line too, at $625 — Hapag-Lloyd under carrier haulage at terminals other than Maher. New York holds the cheapest lines in the whole set as well: $80 and $82 at Maher, APM and Port Liberty, which are line demurrage only, with the terminal billing storage separately. One port, a 7.8-fold spread, and both ends of the national table.
What does line demurrage only mean on my invoice?
The carrier is charging its own portion and the terminal will bill you for storage separately. A line-only figure is not comparable with an all-in one, which is why our median excludes those rows and the table marks them.
Do all carriers charge the same at the same port?
No, and the difference is large. At New York the first paid day runs from $80 to $625 across the nine tariffs we read. At Los Angeles and Long Beach it runs from $165 to $370.
How much does demurrage cost per day at US ports?
Between $80 and $625 for the first paid day across the nine tariffs, then rising in tiers that differ by carrier. Both extremes are special cases and both sit in New York: $80 is COSCO at Maher, which is line demurrage only with the terminal billing storage on top, and $625 is Hapag-Lloyd under carrier haulage at the other New York terminals.
Is ocean freight part of the port choice?
Barely, and it is the line most published comparisons use. The port choice moves terminal handling, storage after free time, drayage, the chassis and local fees. Ocean freight is set by the trade lane and the carrier's contract, not by which berth the ship reaches.
Why does this ranking not include drayage?
Because no comparable drayage rate set exists for US ports from one dated source with a stated sample size — not in the pages that rank for these queries and not in ours. The line is hatched in every row of the stack and named under the table.
US container ports are the wrong variable to optimise on this line, and that is the useful finding of the page: the carrier and the terminal move the first paid day more than the port does. The two things worth doing next are both linked above — the port profile for the berth your service actually calls at, and the free-time ranking, because a day of ambiguity at the start of the clock costs the same as a day at the end of it.