Ports, rail hubs and surcharges
Which US port has the lowest container import fees?
The short answer
Freight Benchmarks found that extra charges after arrival averaged $35 per shipment at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the lowest of the 13 published ports and rail hubs, and $360 at the Minneapolis–St. Paul rail hub, the highest (US import container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026). The share paying a delay fee ran from 7.3% to 74.4%.
Cite this figure: Average extra charges per shipment at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the lowest of the published ports
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Average extra charges per shipment at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the lowest of the published ports: $35. Average per shipment over all 460 US import container shipments at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, including those that paid none. Shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/answers/which-port-has-lowest-fees/#fig-ports-min-expected-accessorial-usd (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure: Average extra charges per shipment at the Minneapolis–St. Paul rail hub, the highest of the published ports
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Average extra charges per shipment at the Minneapolis–St. Paul rail hub, the highest of the published ports: $360. Average per shipment over all 536 US import container shipments at the Minneapolis–St. Paul rail hub, including those that paid none. Shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/answers/which-port-has-lowest-fees/#fig-ports-max-expected-accessorial-usd (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure: Share of US import container shipments at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico that paid at least one delay fee, the lowest of the published ports
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Share of US import container shipments at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico that paid at least one delay fee, the lowest of the published ports: 7.3%. Share of 460 US import container shipments at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico; 95% range 4.6% to 11.5%. Shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/answers/which-port-has-lowest-fees/#fig-ports-min-any-delay-fee-incidence-pct (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure: Average extra charges per shipment, all published ports
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Average extra charges per shipment, all published ports: $174. Average per shipment over all 8,298 US import container shipments across all published ports, including those that paid none. Shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/answers/which-port-has-lowest-fees/#fig-national-expected-accessorial-usd (CC BY 4.0)
How the ports are ranked
Two measures, both per shipment and both from what importers were billed. Average extra charges spreads every accessorial charge, from demurrage and storage to chassis splits and waiting time, across all shipments at the port, including the ones that paid nothing extra. The share paying a delay fee counts shipments charged demurrage, per diem, storage or chassis extra days at least once. Across all published ports the figures are $174 and 34.8%. The table below ranks every published port and rail hub, and recomputes the order with every monthly refresh.
Why ports differ
Time and handling drive most of the gap. Containers that wait longer for a pickup appointment pay more storage and demurrage. Where chassis aren’t kept with the containers, truckers bill chassis splits. Some ports pass on tariff charges such as wharfage as separate lines. And containers railed to an inland hub are handled twice, as explained in why container fees are higher at inland rail hubs.
The cheapest port is the one near your customer
A port with low fees after arrival can still be the expensive choice if the goods then travel hundreds of miles by truck, or if the ocean rate to it is higher. Compare whole routes: the ocean rate, the drayage or rail to your door, the transit time, and the extra charges at the port. Use the table to see which ports run lean, then ask for each candidate’s fees in writing.
What the figures can’t tell you
The figures describe the importers in the data, their goods and their habits, not every importer at that port. Ports with fewer shipments have wider uncertainty, so treat close neighbors in the table as ties. 10 more ports had enough shipments but not enough different importers to publish; they appear once they meet the publication rules.
| Rank | Port or rail hub | Paid a delay fee | Extra fees per shipment | Shipments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Juan seaport | 7.3% | $35 | 460 |
| 2 | Miami seaport | 12.6% | $63 | 964 |
| 3 | Savannah seaport | 13.4% | $102 | 145 |
| 4 | Long Beach seaport | 20.5% | $129 | 736 |
| 5 | New York / New Jersey seaport | 29.3% | $155 | 343 |
| 6 | Houston seaport | 28.0% | $161 | 211 |
| 7 | Los Angeles seaport | 35.3% | $183 | 578 |
| 8 | Chicago inland rail hub | 44.9% | $191 | 712 |
| 9 | Omaha inland rail hub | 52.6% | $236 | 554 |
| 10 | Port Everglades seaport | 28.7% | $248 | 94 |
| 11 | Seattle seaport | 35.5% | $250 | 123 |
| 12 | Tampa seaport | 23.0% | $261 | 87 |
| 13 | Minneapolis / St. Paul inland rail hub | 74.4% | $360 | 536 |
| All published ports | 34.8% | $174 | 8,298 |
What to do
- Start from where the goods are going, then compare the ports and rail hubs that can reach it.
- For each candidate, add the ocean rate, the drayage or rail to your door, and the port’s average extra charges from the table.
- Open each port page to see which fees drive its average, and ask for those fees in writing.
- Weigh transit time and the risk of a delay against the fee difference before you switch ports.
Questions
What is the cheapest port to import a container into the US?
It depends on where the goods are going. Fees after arrival are only part of the landed cost, and trucking from a distant port can outweigh a lower fee. Freight Benchmarks ranks every published port and rail hub by average extra charges per shipment and by the share of shipments that paid a delay fee.
Why are import fees higher at some ports than others?
Mostly because of time and handling: how long containers wait for pickup, whether a chassis is where the container is, the port's own tariff charges, and how far the container travels after it lands. Containers railed to inland hubs are handled twice, which adds chassis splits and chassis days.
Are West Coast or East Coast ports cheaper?
Freight Benchmarks doesn't publish regional averages, because a region made up mostly of one unpublished port would reveal that port's figures. Compare individual ports instead; each published port has its own page.
How reliable are the port rankings?
Each published port has at least 10 importers behind it, and an importer cap keeps any single importer from dominating a figure. Smaller ports have wider uncertainty, so read close rankings as ties and check the shipment counts in the table.
Sources
- Freight Benchmarks methodology: publication rules for ports
- Freight Benchmarks figures: Anonymized line-item forwarder invoices billed to US importers, contributed through the Freight Benchmarks data partner program, in which every partner is a licensed US freight forwarder and customs broker. Aggregates only. See the methodology.
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