Next to two giant ports
The Port of Long Beach is a container port described as the second busiest in the United States and among the world's largest shipping ports. It occupies 3,200 acres of land with 25 miles of waterfront, and it adjoins the separate Port of Los Angeles, which occupies 7,500 acres of land and water with 43 miles of waterfront. Long Beach is described as a major gateway for US-Asian trade. Further up the coast, the Port of Oakland and the Port of San Diego serve other regions.
For a small drayage carrier or logistics firm, that proximity is the opportunity and the cost structure.
What the port day looks like in dollars
| Event | Cost to the operator |
|---|---|
| Waiting in a terminal line | Driver time and fuel with no revenue while idle |
| Empty return or repositioning | Fuel and wear with no load |
| Chassis and equipment charges | Daily fees that continue while a load waits |
| Customer invoice | Paid weeks later, sometimes after dispute over accessorial charges |
A port day can run longer than planned, and that shows up in the driver's pay and the truck's fuel before it shows up in an invoice.
A drayage week, for illustration
An operator runs four trucks. Each makes an average of three port moves a day, five days a week. Fuel, driver pay and maintenance across the fleet reach $26,000 a week. Customers pay at 30 to 45 days, and some accessorial charges are disputed. By the time the first invoices are paid, the operator has covered five or six weeks of costs. These figures are an example and not our terms. We make no promise about any specific operation.
Warehousing and the other side of logistics
Logistics is defined as the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services and related information. A logistics company near the port may handle cross-docking, transloading, storage and last-mile delivery. Each service has its own cost: space, labor, forklifts and insurance, with customer payments lagging.
If your business is trucks, see equipment financing. If it is payroll and fuel, see working capital. If it is a gap between big months, see revenue-based financing.
What we need to see
We fund from $25,000 to $5,000,000, with funding in as little as 24 hours after the file is complete. A FICO score of 500 or higher is considered, no tax returns are required, and we read about three months of business bank statements. The application takes about five minutes with a soft credit pull. Sole proprietors can apply, including owner-operators. A clean separation of business and personal accounts speeds the review. If your credit has been through a rough stretch, the Long Beach bad-credit page may help. Start here.