Service area

Charleston drayage coverage — every SCPA terminal, regional reach.

We operate from Charleston, SC, with daily pickups at every SCPA terminal. Local Charleston drayage is the bulk of what we run; regional Southeast lanes are an everyday part of the operation.

SCPA terminal coverage

Every Charleston container terminal, every shift.

Wando Welch Terminal

USCHA

1 Wando Drive, Mount Pleasant, SC. SCPA's flagship container terminal — highest volume, deepest berths, biggest vessels.

  • Type Container / breakbulk
  • Cate Freight ops Daily pickup, return, pre-pull

North Charleston Terminal

USNCH

2300 7th Street, North Charleston, SC. Original North Charleston terminal on the former Navy base. Direct I-526 / I-26 access.

  • Type Container / breakbulk
  • Cate Freight ops Daily pickup, return, pre-pull

Hugh Leatherman Terminal

USCHL

100 Leatherman Boulevard, North Charleston, SC. SCPA's newest terminal. Modern ship-to-shore lines and gate technology.

  • Type Container / breakbulk
  • Cate Freight ops Daily pickup, return, pre-pull

Columbus Street Terminal

USCST

200 Columbus Street, Charleston, SC. RoRo and breakbulk facility. We work it on demand for breakbulk and project moves.

  • Type RoRo / breakbulk
  • Cate Freight ops On-demand

Rail-served drayage

Charleston rail ramp drayage — Norfolk Southern and CSX.

The Port of Charleston is dual-served by both Class I railroads, Norfolk Southern and CSX. When a box routes intermodal instead of straight to a warehouse, we run the port-to-rail leg — pulling the container off the SCPA terminal and dropping it at the ramp, or drawing an inbound rail container out to its consignee.

Navy Base Intermodal Facility (NBIF)

SCPA's near-dock rail yard on the former Navy Base in North Charleston, roughly a mile from the Hugh Leatherman Terminal. Built dual-served by Norfolk Southern and CSX, it ties Charleston containers to inland markets like Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, and Louisville by rail.

How we run the rail leg

Whether you need a pre-pull staged ahead of a rail cutoff or an inbound intermodal container drayed from the ramp to your door, we handle the truck side. See transload and port-to-rail drayage for the full workflow, or start a Charleston drayage quote.

Local Charleston drayage

The metro lanes we run constantly.

  • Charleston peninsula and downtown
  • North Charleston, Hanahan, Goose Creek
  • Mount Pleasant, Daniel Island, Cainhoy
  • Summerville, Ladson, Lincolnville
  • Moncks Corner, Bonneau
  • Ravenel, Hollywood, Adams Run
  • James Island, Johns Island, Folly Beach
  • Walterboro, Round O
  • St. George, Harleyville
  • Yemassee, Beaufort

Regional Southeast lanes

Where else we run drays out of Charleston.

South Carolina

  • Columbia, Cayce, Lexington
  • Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Inman
  • Florence, Darlington, Hartsville
  • Hilton Head, Bluffton, Beaufort
  • Sumter, Camden, Lugoff

Adjacent states

  • Savannah, Augusta, Atlanta metro (Georgia)
  • Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Statesville (North Carolina)
  • Wilmington, Fayetteville, Lumberton (NC)
  • Knoxville and east Tennessee
  • Florida panhandle on request
Don't see your destination? Send us the ZIP. If it's a one-off we don't run regularly, we'll either quote it or hand you a clean referral. We don't pretend to cover lanes we can't run well.

Distance reference

Approximate drayage miles from the Port of Charleston.

One-way highway miles from Wando Welch Terminal to common consignee metros. Use them as a planning estimate — we quote the exact lane against your delivery ZIP.

South Carolina

  • Charleston metro — 0–25 mi
  • Summerville — ~30 mi
  • Moncks Corner — ~40 mi
  • Walterboro — ~50 mi
  • Beaufort / Hilton Head — ~75 mi
  • Columbia — ~110 mi
  • Florence — ~140 mi
  • Greenville / Spartanburg — ~210 mi

Adjacent states

  • Savannah, GA — ~110 mi
  • Augusta, GA — ~145 mi
  • Wilmington, NC — ~180 mi
  • Charlotte, NC — ~205 mi
  • Fayetteville, NC — ~225 mi
  • Atlanta, GA — ~310 mi
  • Knoxville, TN — ~370 mi
  • Nashville, TN — ~520 mi

Distances are interstate-driven approximations from Wando Welch and round-trip by ZIP. Local Charleston metro drays generally turn same day; regional lanes inside SC turn day-of or next morning depending on dispatch time and consignee appointment windows.

Common questions

Charleston drayage FAQ

Which Charleston port container terminals does Cate Freight serve?
All three SCPA container terminals — Wando Welch (USCHA) in Mount Pleasant, North Charleston (USNCH), and Hugh Leatherman (USCHL) — every shift, for pickup, empty return, and pre-pull. We also work Columbus Street (USCST) on demand for RoRo and breakbulk. Send the booking or container number and we'll confirm which terminal your box cut to.
Will you deliver a container straight to my warehouse from the Port of Charleston?
Yes — port-to-warehouse drayage to your dock is the bulk of what we run. Most loads stay inside the tri-county (Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties) where receiving docks sit minutes off I-526 and I-26 — North Charleston, Hanahan, Goose Creek, Ladson, Summerville, Moncks Corner, and Mount Pleasant. Give us the delivery ZIP, the live-unload or drop-and-hook preference, and the appointment window, and we route it.
Do you run drayage from Charleston to Columbia, Greenville, or the Upstate?
Yes. We run I-26 west to the Columbia distribution cluster (~110 mi), and on to Newberry, Spartanburg, and Greenville (~210 mi) via I-85. The Camp Hall Commerce Park and Ridgeville megasite up I-26 are routine drays for us. Regional lanes are quoted by mileage against your delivery ZIP.
Do you handle Charleston-to-Atlanta or Charleston-to-Savannah drayage?
Yes. We pull longer regional drays into Georgia — Savannah (~110 mi), Augusta (~145 mi), and the Atlanta metro (~310 mi) — plus Charlotte (~205 mi) and east Tennessee. Beyond the immediate Southeast we quote case by case rather than promise a lane we can't run well.
How far from the Port of Charleston will you deliver?
Local Charleston metro drays (0–25 mi) turn same day when the box is released. Regional South Carolina lanes — Columbia, Florence, Greenville-Spartanburg — turn day-of or next morning depending on dispatch time and the consignee's appointment. Adjacent-state lanes into GA, NC, and TN are everyday work; send the ZIP and we'll walk the lane before quoting.
Can you dray a container to or from the Charleston rail ramp?
Yes. The Port of Charleston is dual-served by Norfolk Southern and CSX, and the Navy Base Intermodal Facility (NBIF) sits about a mile from Hugh Leatherman. We handle the truck side of intermodal — staging a pre-pull ahead of a rail cutoff, or drawing an inbound ramp container out to its consignee. See our transload and port-to-rail drayage workflow for detail.

Need a container moved?

Send the booking, terminal, and delivery ZIP. We'll come back with a quote — usually inside the hour during business hours.

Request a quote Call dispatch