Hurricane Season 2026: A Drayage Contingency Plan for PortMiami and Port Everglades Shippers

Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and 2026 is already shaping up to be another above-average year for named storms. For Florida shippers moving containers through PortMiami and Port Everglades, that calendar is not abstract — it dictates whether your freight clears the gate on time or sits inside a closed terminal for a week.

This post walks through what changes at the ports when a tropical system enters the cone, what drayage carriers do to keep your boxes moving, and the contingency steps you can build into your supply chain right now.

What “port closure” actually means

When the U.S. Coast Guard sets Port Condition Yankee (sustained gale-force winds expected within 24 hours), commercial vessel traffic stops. By Port Condition Zulu (winds within 12 hours), the port is essentially shut: no inbound vessels, no outbound vessels, and terminals begin securing cranes and equipment.

PortMiami and Port Everglades publish their own emergency updates and follow Coast Guard sector commands. Gate hours can compress to half-days, then close entirely. Even after the storm passes, terminals need 24-72 hours to inspect equipment, restore power, and resume normal operations. That is when you discover whether your container is reachable.

The 24-72 hour window

Once a named storm is forecast to track within striking distance of South Florida, drayage capacity tightens fast. Every importer with cargo on the terminal calls their carrier at the same time, and the limiting factor is no longer chassis or driver hours — it is appointment slots and gate throughput.

A practical rule of thumb: if your container is available for pickup and a storm is 72 hours out, pull it now. If it is 48 hours out and you have not booked an appointment, you may not get one. If it is 24 hours out, you are at the mercy of the gate.

Demurrage and per diem under storm conditions

Steamship lines and terminals usually issue “force majeure” notices that pause free-time clocks during the closure window — but the rules are not uniform. Some lines pause demurrage only for the days the terminal physically cannot release cargo. Per diem on chassis and containers often does not pause if the box is already outgated.

This matters because a load you pull on Friday before a Sunday landfall can sit in a yard for a week after the storm if the consignee’s facility loses power. Your carrier should be tracking both clocks and flagging when free time ends.

Pre-storm checklist

Smart shippers run this list every June:

• Identify high-priority SKUs that absolutely cannot wait through a 5-7 day port closure. Pre-position inventory in a Miami-area warehouse before the season peaks.
• Pre-authorize early pickup with your customs broker so a container can be outgated the moment it is available, not after a chain of approval emails.
• Have a secondary yard. If your Doral or Medley warehouse is in an evacuation zone, line up storage at a partner facility farther inland.
• Update your power-of-attorney with your drayage provider so they can move containers on your behalf without case-by-case authorization.
• Confirm your generator plan. Refrigerated containers waiting in a yard need power. A 40-foot reefer at 0 deg F draws roughly 8-12 kW continuously.

What a drayage partner should do during the storm

A good carrier earns its rate the week of a hurricane. Concretely, that looks like:

1. Daily situation updates — vessel ETAs, terminal hours, gate closures, and which appointments are still bookable.
2. Container-level status — last free day, demurrage exposure, and a pre-storm pull recommendation for every box.
3. Yard storage offer — pulling containers to a private yard so they are out of the terminal but still secure.
4. Reefer monitoring — temperature checks and genset fueling for cold cargo while terminals are dark.
5. Post-storm priority sequencing — which boxes to move first when gates reopen, based on demurrage exposure and customer urgency.

After the storm

Recovery is its own logistics problem. Terminals typically reopen for empty returns first, then export laden, then import laden. Chassis pools rebalance over several days as carriers reposition equipment. Trucking rates from Miami inland often spike for 7-10 days as backed-up volumes flush through the system.

If your contract rate does not include a force-majeure surcharge clause, expect a conversation about temporary rate adjustments. Reputable carriers will document the cost basis (driver overtime, weekend gates, repositioning) rather than apply a flat premium.

How Go Freight handles hurricane season

Go Freight operates an asset-based drayage fleet with a secure yard in Miami, so when terminals close, we have somewhere to put your containers. Our team monitors NOAA advisories and Coast Guard port conditions in real time and pre-stages appointments 72 hours ahead of expected landfall for every customer with active boxes on the water.

We also coordinate with reefer monitoring partners for temperature-controlled cargo and maintain relationships at both PortMiami and Port Everglades so we can pivot a discharge between ports when one terminal is congested or closed.

Plan the season, not the storm

The shippers who get through hurricane season cleanly are not the ones with the best storm-week response — they are the ones who built the contingency into their June through November planning. Inventory positioning, free-time buffers, secondary warehouse capacity, and a drayage partner who picks up the phone at 6 a.m. on a Saturday all matter more than any single move during a storm.

Want a hurricane-season drayage review of your Florida supply chain? Call Go Freight at (786) 244-3235 or visit our Container Drayage service page to start the conversation.

Sources: U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami port-condition guidance; Port Everglades Emergency Updates; Shipping Through Atlantic Hurricane Season 2026 — iContainers.