Your container cleared the port. Now clear the dock.
Container unloading, transload, and cross-dock in Houston, a short dray from the port terminals — received, verified, and moving again instead of accruing demurrage, detention, and delay. From $425 per 40′ floor-loaded container at volume.
The most expensive place your freight can sit is in a container.
Every day a container waits — at the terminal, on a chassis, outside a warehouse that can’t receive it — the meter runs: demurrage, detention, chassis fees, and a sales channel waiting on inventory. Importers through Houston lose more to the week after vessel discharge than to the ocean crossing itself.
We’re a short dray from the port terminals, and receiving is a scheduled, documented operation: the container is unloaded, counts are verified against the packing list, damage or shortage is photographed and reported the same day, and freight moves to its next leg — into storage, into FBA prep, onto outbound pallets, or cross-docked straight back out. Even if your DCs or current fulfillment sit outside Houston, we transload at the gateway and feed your network — and when you’re ready for the full advantage, we fulfill from the gateway too: devan to doorstep, one inventory pool, one operation.
What’s included
- 20′ and 40′ floor-loaded container unloading — from $295 and $425 at volume
- Count verification against the packing list, with same-day photo documentation of exceptions
- Cross-dock and transload to outbound LTL, FTL, or parcel
- Palletizing, sorting, and carton labeling off the container
- Flow-through into storage, FBA prep, or DTC fulfillment — one receiving event, every channel
- Drayage and onward freight coordinated through established carrier partners
Receiving & transload rates.
| Inbound type | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20′ floor-loaded container | $350 · 1–5 | $330 · 6–10 | $295 · 11+ |
| 40′ floor-loaded container | $495 · 1–5 | $475 · 6–10 | $425 · 11+ |
| Pallet | $12 · 1–25 | $11 · 26–100 | $10 · 101+ |
| Carton | $5.00 · 1–100 | $4.50 · 101–500 | $4.00 · 501+ |
Carton receiving includes up to 24 units per carton; additional units are $0.10/unit. Receiving and putaway timing is confirmed when your delivery is scheduled. These are starting rates that improve by tier as your volume scales, applied automatically in the month they’re earned — see the full schedule on our pricing page. Final pricing is confirmed in a tailored proposal built on your actual volume, SKU mix, and dimensions — typically within one business day.
Run by people who’ve stood on both sides of the dock.
Our founder ran the inbound dock inside an Amazon fulfillment center and directed enterprise 3PL operations — including port-adjacent receiving and consolidation — at Maersk. Containers here are an operation with a schedule and a paper trail, not a parking problem.
Run alongside
Every service shares one Houston inventory pool, so you can add channels without adding vendors:
Transload, answered straight.
What does it cost to unload a container in Houston?
Standard & Port unloads 40-foot floor-loaded containers at $495 each for 1–5 containers, $475 for 6–10, and $425 at 11+, and 20-foot containers at $350/$330/$295 by the same tiers. Palletized freight is received at $12–$10 per pallet by volume tier.
How close are you to the Port of Houston?
Our facility is in Houston at 10795 Hammerly Blvd, a short dray from the port terminals — close enough to turn containers quickly and keep demurrage and detention off your invoice.
Can you send freight onward after unloading?
Yes. Freight can cross-dock to outbound LTL, FTL, or parcel, flow into storage, or go straight into FBA prep or DTC fulfillment — one receiving event feeding every channel you sell.
Do you coordinate drayage from the port?
We coordinate drayage and onward freight through established carrier partners, scheduled against our receiving dock so the container moves once and unloads on arrival.
Should I transload in Houston or haul containers to a Dallas warehouse?
If your freight arrives through Port Houston, devanning at the gateway avoids roughly 240 miles of drayage and linehaul to a DFW warehouse — before a single unit stores or ships. Houston-first routing lets you store at the port and inject only the inventory that needs to move inland: fewer touches, lower inland freight, and faster availability. Dallas works better as a node you feed than as a detour your containers take.
Have a container on the water right now?
Send the ETA, container count, and load type. You’ll get receiving pricing and a dock schedule back — typically within one business day.