Container drop yards are growing as a needed service in the maritime industry, providing a secure location to store trailers, containers, and chassis’ while awaiting pickup. Ceres Terminals Incorporated and Gulf Winds, opened a container yard at Barbours Cut Container Terminal in 2022 providing dedicated container yard and trucking services.

The Port of Houston is one of the busiest ports in the United States, handling cargo internationally and providing services to the fastest-growing region in the United States. With a growing intermodal presence, a booming population and distribution centers sprouting up around Houston, proximity and convenience to the marine terminals will be central to businesses' success when vying for international cargo being handled within the Port of Houston. Ceres and Gulf Winds have maintained a strategic partnership delivering best-in-class services for the last 14+ years in La Porte, Texas, establishing themselves as pivotal service providers in the port.

“Ceres is constantly seeking opportunities to provide reliable service to customers,” said Adam Brooks, Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer at Ceres Terminals. “When the yard space became available, we knew that Ceres and Gulf Winds had an opportunity to offer a unique full-service experience.”

The venture enables both companies to leverage their sought-after expertise. Gulf Winds provides the strength of its truck fleet, which has recently surpassed over 700 trucks, as well as a stable pool of 3,000+ chassis. Meanwhile, Ceres offers vital assets such as a terminal operating system, top loaders, and other container handling equipment, International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) labor, and its longtime expertise in container yard operations management.

The drop yard is a 75-acre off-terminal depot, directly adjacent to Port Houston’s Barbours Cut Terminal, offering a secure location for the storage and staging of containers.

The location of the terminal is key as it is port-adjacent to both Barbour’s Cut and Bayport Container Terminal. “It allows us to take the full suite of both companies' services and apply them equally at both of the Port Houston container terminals,” Brooks said.

With the resources from both companies, customers are provided with storage of loaded containers – import and export services, empty container depot services, off-hire/sale box depot services, chassis, and trucking services, warehousing, final mile drayage, tracking and tracing, and EDI capabilities.

“We’re extremely excited about the partnership,” said BJ Tarver, Gulf Winds CEO. “It is not only an additional growth opportunity for our company, but we can also offer additional services to our customers.”

To see a short video about our Houston facility, please click on the link: https://youtu.be/rNpIrRs6Luo