Specialized Freight · Driver Training VideoPort & Terminal Operations

Start with your credential

If you're hauling in or out of a secure marine terminal, you need a valid TWIC card — the Transportation Worker Identification Credential. No TWIC, no access, no exceptions. Keep it current, keep it on you, and don't let it lapse in the middle of a run.

At the gate, have your paperwork ready before you roll up — booking number, container number, chassis number. A slow gate backs up the whole line behind you, and a driver who causes that gets remembered for the wrong reason.

Once you're inside the yard, the rules change. Terminal speed limits are low — walking-to-jogging pace, well under highway habit — because you're sharing pavement with top picks, RTG cranes, and hostlers that have limited sightlines and don't stop like a car does.

Before you ever move a loaded chassis, check the twist locks. All four corners, every single time. A twist lock that isn't fully seated and locked means that container can shift — or come off the chassis — the moment you turn or brake hard. Locked before you pull away.

Do the same chassis pre-trip you'd do on any trailer — tires, brakes, lights, the ICC bumper, landing gear. A chassis you picked up off the pool isn't one you packed yourself, and you're responsible for it the moment you hook to it.

Your company standard: high-visibility vest on anytime you're out of the cab in the yard. Hard hat wherever it's posted, especially near crane operations. No phone in hand while the truck is moving, in the yard or out on the road.

If a container's weight doesn't match the verified gross mass on the paperwork, stop and get it sorted before it goes anywhere. A mismatched weight is a fine for the company and a stability problem you're carrying down the highway.