Old Port of Miami

The Old Port of Miami — located on Biscayne Boulevard, between 9th and 13th streets — had two piers that were built in 1912 and, by the late 50s, provided docking facilities that were limited, poorly designed and ill-kept. In a 1954 article, the Miami Herald described the old port as “miserable.” At the time, less than 300,000 tons of freight was moving through the port.

New Port of Miami

Construction of the New Port of Miami began in 1960, on some spoil banks created from the dredging of the ships channel. The new facility was officially inaugurated in 1965. The seaport now presented the transportation community with an exciting opportunity: not only could it continue handling the conventional ships, but it provided dedicated piers for Roll-on Roll-off type vessels and cruise ships as well. The New Port of Miami also had cargo consolidation warehouses with railroad loading facilities that made the movement of less-than-trailerload (LTL) shipments much easier.

Innovation in Maritime Transportation

In the 50s and 60s, conventional break-bulk vessels were the primary method of shipping for the majority of ports throughout the world. However, Miami did not have any major shipping line operation from its facilities. The large conventional carriers operated from ports such as New York, Philadelphia and New Orleans to Latin America, with an average sea voyage of 30 to 45 days. American goods were handled eight to ten times from the U.S. factory until they reached their destination in the Americas. With so many handlings, the cargo suffered delays, damages, pilferage and high shipping costs.

In 1961, Coordinated Caribbean Transport initiated the first viable and reliable Roll-on/Roll-off type service between the Port of Miami and Central America. Trailers were loaded on especially designed vessels that carried 13 trailers from Watson Island directly to Central America, and the cargo was untouched until it reached the customs area or the customer’s warehouse in the country of destination. Soon thereafter, Ro/Ro shipping, in conjunction with the U.S. railroad’s piggyback system, began moving trailers loaded with cargo on the railroads from anywhere in the U.S. to Miami, where they were loaded on the Ro/Ro ships. Those trailers were then transported directly inland to the clients’ warehouses in the Americas — a true door-to-door service.

When the concept was introduced, Latin America had to make changes in the road limitations affecting weights and lengths, as well as in their Customs regulations, to accommodate the new type of service. Other companies, such as Chester, Blackburn & Roder — which later became Seaboard Marine — and Wallenius Lines followed with similar services, and Miami became the leader in Ro/Ro service in the Americas.

The Port of Miami was at the forefront of this revolutionary method of shipping. Ro/Ro vessels could handle vehicles and road-building equipment, and also bring refrigerated imports such as vegetables, fruits, meats and seafood from the foreign countries — with none of the delays and extra handling associated with conventional ships. The Miami shipping lines were non-conference carriers, offering lower ocean rates and providing a better service transporting the cargo to its destination in five days or less. The trend started by the Ro/Ro operators serving Latin America was soon followed by other carriers who came to the Port of Miami to provide additional services to those destinations.

International Freight Forwarders

Another key factor in Miami’s historic development was the number of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, who needed and wanted to work. The high number of immigrants also created a market for their types of food; they then set out to fill those needs by becoming importers, exporters, bankers and international freight forwarders. The Miami shipping lines, by working with the forwarders, were able to break down the resistance of U.S. shippers against using the Port of Miami. This was accomplished by representatives from the railroads, trucking companies, forwarders, shipping lines and the Port of Miami who traveled to the Americas and convinced the shippers and consignees that Miami offered a more efficient and cost-effective means of ocean transportation.

Cargo is sold F.O.B. Miami

It used to be that the U.S. exporters controlled the routing of their freight by selling the products CIF (cost, insurance and freight) foreign port. The forwarders and shipping lines convinced the overseas consignees to buy FOB (freight on board) Miami, thus giving the routing control of the cargo to the consignees and their forwarders — another major victory in our efforts to bring the cargo to our South Florida ports.

The combination of factors mentioned above — which were geared toward increasing the movement of cargo through Miami — gained momentum when major corporations began setting up local distribution warehouses, and importers of foreign goods started using Miami. Car manufacturers GM, Chrysler and Ford, and farm and construction equipment companies such as Caterpillar and John Deere, which had been using northeastern ports for their shipments to Latin America, started moving their vehicles and equipment through Miami. Those companies realized that we offered reliable service with less handling and less damages, and at a lower cost. Our community excelled and the Miami community- shipping lines, forwarders, brokers, truck lines, airlines, railroads, local government officials and the Port of Miami working together- started to dominate the exports and imports to and from the Americas, earning Miami the well deserved title of “Gateway of the Americas.”