If you import through the Port of New York and New Jersey and want to stop bleeding money on demurrage and per diem, the lever is geography: pull the container to a warehouse close to the terminal, strip it the same day, send the empty back. Nexus Warehouse is at 99 Kero Rd in Carlstadt, NJ — 15 miles from Port Newark — and we do port and rail pickup and drop, transloading and cross-docking. Floor-loaded freight comes off the box onto pallets at $10 per pallet in, and the container goes back to the carrier instead of sitting behind your building collecting daily charges.
The port moved 8.89 million TEUs in 2025, the second-busiest US gateway, with imports up 1.7% to 4.5 million TEUs and rail volume up 12.4% (Port Authority of NY & NJ). More boxes through the same gates means less slack for a container nobody is unloading.
Demurrage and per diem are two different bills from two different companies
Most sellers get this wrong, and it costs them. Demurrage is charged by the marine terminal for your container taking up ground space inside the terminal past its free time. Per diem — often called detention — is charged by the ocean carrier for keeping their container outside the terminal past its free time. Different party, different clock, different fix. A warehouse cannot argue demurrage down; it can only help end it by taking the box as soon as it is released. Per diem is the opposite: that clock starts when the box hits the road, and it is almost entirely in your control.
| Demurrage | Per diem (detention) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who bills you | Marine terminal / port operator | Ocean carrier (steamship line) |
| What you pay for | Ground space in the terminal | Use of the carrier’s equipment |
| Where the box is | Inside the terminal gate | Your yard, dock, or in transit |
| Clock starts | After free time on a released container | When the box leaves the gate |
| Clock stops | When the box exits the gate | When the empty is accepted back |
| How you shorten it | Clear holds early, book the pull | Strip fast, return the empty fast |
| Free time set by | Terminal tariff and your contract | Your carrier service contract |
We will not quote you a daily rate or a free-day count — those live in your own contracts and vary by line, terminal and season. Pull them up before you plan a pickup. Also check this: the per diem clock usually stops when the empty is accepted at the return location, not when the driver leaves our yard. If that location is full and turns him away, the meter keeps running.
Why 15 miles from Port Newark is the whole ballgame
Both clocks are measured in days, and a drayage day is measured in round trips. Fifteen miles from the terminal leaves room in a working day for the pull, the strip and the empty return. Sixty or eighty miles out usually does not — the box overnights at the dock, and that is an extra per diem day on every container. Across a season that dwarfs whatever you saved on a cheaper rate inland.
Rail works the same way. With rail volume up 12.4%, more freight lands at ramps rather than marine terminals, and ramp free time is typically tighter. We do port and rail pickup and drop from Carlstadt; confirm coverage for your specific terminal or ramp when you book, since not every ramp works the same way.
What a same-day pull, strip, and return looks like
- Send us the container number, bill of lading, last free day and empty return location — before the vessel discharges, not after the first demurrage notice.
- The box gets pulled and brought to 99 Kero Rd. Chassis sourcing and drayage are arranged as part of the pull.
- We strip it at our dock. The first 2 hours of storage on arrival are free, so freight moving straight back out picks up no storage charge.
- Floor-loaded cartons get palletized and restacked at $10 per pallet in. Overweight containers get reworked into legal loads.
- Freight goes into storage, gets consolidated, or gets cross-docked onto an outbound truck at $10 per pallet out. Daily cutoff is 9 PM.
- The empty goes back and the per diem clock stops.
What actually delays a pull
Nobody misses a last free day on purpose. The usual causes, most of them visible days ahead:
- Customs hold or exam. A CBP exam or partner-agency hold freezes the box where it sits, and demurrage generally keeps accruing.
- Freight not released. Unpaid ocean freight, a missing telex release, or an original bill of lading still in the mail. Most common, most avoidable.
- No appointment. Terminals meter gate traffic by appointment, and a day’s slots can be gone before you look.
- Chassis shortage. No chassis, no move — even with the container released and an appointment in hand.
- Terminal congestion. Vessels bunch, gates back up, turn times stretch.
Work backward from your last free day, not forward from vessel arrival, and tell your warehouse the plan before the ship berths. Call 877-456-4113 or use our contact page with the container number and last free day, and we will tell you what we need to receive it.
This article is one part of a wider picture. For the full sequence — what happens to a container after discharge at Port Newark, what every handling step costs at published rates, and which clock is running against you at each stage — see Importing Through Port Newark: the complete warehouse and 3PL guide.
Common questions
Can a warehouse get demurrage waived?
No. Demurrage is billed by the terminal under its tariff, and disputes run through your carrier or customs broker, not your warehouse. What a nearby warehouse does is shorten the window in which the charge can accrue.
How far is Nexus Warehouse from Port Newark?
We are at 99 Kero Rd, Carlstadt, NJ 07072, about 15 miles from Port Newark. That distance is what makes a pull, strip and empty return realistic inside one working day instead of spilling into a second per diem day.
What does it cost to transload a container in Carlstadt?
Standard pallets are $10 in and $10 out, and the first 2 hours of storage on arrival are free. Container size and how the freight is loaded set your pallet count, so send the packing list and we will size it. Details are on our pricing page.