Portland, Oregon · West Coast
Port of Portland (Oregon) container demurrage & detention dispute guide
Oregon's only international container terminal, Terminal 6, reopened under Harbor Industrial as Oregon Container Terminal in 2026, serving exporters and regional importers.
- Authority
- Port of Portland
- Container terminals
- 1
The port at a glance
Terminal 6 on the Columbia River is Oregon's only international container terminal. The Port of Portland approved Harbor Industrial Services as its operator in September 2025 after preparing to end container service, and the facility began operating as Oregon Container Terminal on January 7, 2026. Its customers are heavily export-oriented: Oregon and Idaho agricultural shippers (hay, frozen potatoes, cranberries, grass seed) and regional manufacturers that would otherwise truck or rail boxes to Seattle and Tacoma.
D&D exposure at a single-terminal port with limited vessel calls is concentrated. A missed or blanked call can leave export containers waiting a week or more for the next vessel, and detention keeps running on equipment the exporter cannot deliver. Empty supply is also tighter than at larger gateways, so exporters often pull empties from depots and face carrier rules on where those empties may be picked up and returned.
The mistake Portland shippers make is assuming a short or irregular service schedule explains every extra day. It does not. Days lost to a carrier's schedule change or a blanked sailing are a different category from days lost to the shipper's own loading delays, and only the second category plainly serves the incentive purpose of detention.
Container terminals
Terminal 6 (Oregon Container Terminal)
Harbor Industrial Services · Oregon's only international container terminal; operating under Harbor Industrial since January 7, 2026
Appointments & empty returns
- Gate procedures, receiving windows and any appointment requirements at Terminal 6 are set and published by the terminal operator, Oregon Container Terminal (Harbor Industrial Services).
Chassis
Portland is an authorized start/stop location for Pacific Northwest chassis pools, including TRAC Intermodal's Pacific Northwest Pool.
Where D&D builds up at Portland.
Limited and irregular vessel calls
With fewer services than larger gateways, a single blanked or delayed call can add days of detention on export boxes that were ready on time. Keep the original schedule and every revision.
Operator transition
Terminal 6 changed operators at the start of 2026. Gate hours, receiving rules and contact points for relief requests changed with it; confirm the billing party and terminal records used on each invoice.
Empty availability and depot rules
Exporters often depend on depot empties under carrier rules on pickup and return locations. When a designated depot will not release or accept equipment, per diem days are disputable.
Cross-gateway drays and rail
Shippers who divert boxes to Seattle or Tacoma when Portland calls are unavailable incur long drays and extra free time burn. The cause of a diversion matters when disputing the extra days.
River and weather closures
Columbia River conditions, winter weather and wildfire smoke can disrupt vessel calls and gate operations. Record closure notices for billed days.
Free time and disputes at Portland
Free time for Portland containers is set by the ocean carrier's tariff or your service contract, and by the terminal operator's schedule for any storage billed by the MTO. There is no published port-wide free time. Export detention invoices must include the earliest return date, the allowed free time and its start and end dates, the specific dates charged and the applicable rule, among the 20 minimum elements of § 541.6.
Most Portland disputes are export detention disputes tied to schedule changes. Where the exporter was ready and the vessel was not, the billed days did not serve detention's purpose under 46 CFR § 545.5. A clean timeline of booking, ERD, vessel schedule revisions and gate attempts makes that case.
Invoices must arrive within 30 calendar days of the date the charge was last incurred (§ 541.7), and you have at least 30 calendar days from issuance to request relief (§ 541.8). Many Portland exporters ship through NVOCCs, so check the pass-through timing rules in § 541.7(b) and (c). ATAHSKIA's OSRA Audit Engine checks each invoice on arrival and flags those issued outside the window.
Portland D&D FAQ
Who operates the container terminal at the Port of Portland?
Harbor Industrial Services operates Terminal 6 as Oregon Container Terminal under a lease approved in September 2025, with operations starting January 7, 2026.
Can I dispute detention when my Portland sailing was blanked?
Yes. If the carrier blanked or delayed the call and your container was ready, the extra days did not serve the incentive purpose of detention. Submit a relief request within the § 541.8 window with the schedule history attached.
Does Portland have different D&D rules from Seattle or Tacoma?
The federal rules are the same everywhere: Part 541 invoice requirements and timing, and the incentive principle in § 545.5. Free time comes from the carrier's tariff or your contract, not from the port.
Audit your Portland invoices.
Send your recent D&D invoices for a free audit. We report what is recoverable within 48 hours.