Crating and export crates in Miami

The Americas gateway

Miami moves goods between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean by sea and air. PortMiami, on Dodge Island, handles containers and cruise traffic, and the airport handles cargo to cities across the hemisphere and beyond.

That lane mix means Spanish-language paperwork, port-of-discharge fees in small harbors and receiving docks with no crane. We ask for the destination city, not just the country, since a crate bound for an island may need different handling from one going to a hub.

Customs brokers in the metro are fast, and forwarders consolidate small loads into mixed containers bound for Central America, the Caribbean and South America. A consolidated container is unloaded and sorted by hand, so every crate must stand up to being moved without a forklift: skid runners notched for a pallet jack, a lid that takes a person's weight and corner cleats that survive a drop.

Air cargo at Miami International

The airport has a large cargo apron and heavy freighter traffic, with perishables, electronics, pharmaceuticals and machinery in the mix. Exporters here ship spares, test equipment and repair parts by air all the time.

Air carriers price by dimensional weight, so cleated plywood and a light cleat frame help. We confirm the crate height against aircraft contours when the carrier is known and apply tip indicators and handling pictograms.

Art, design and fair freight

Miami hosts major art fairs and many galleries, so paintings, sculpture and installations leave in volume. These crates carry high-value, low-weight contents.

Artwork gets a sheathed, cleated-plywood crate with museum-style interior padding, and large sculpture gets a solid skid with saddle blocking. See our artwork and sculpture crate pages for the details.

Installation art and large sculpture can exceed the usual crate sizes. We build a long or tall crate with a base frame and removable side, and note on the spec which side opens, so the registrar at the far end sees how to unpack without damage.

Marine industry: yachts, engines and gear

Boat builders, yacht refit yards and chandlers around the metro ship engines, propellers, electronics and fittings. Marine engines are heavy, oily and easy to crush at the oil pan.

We build engine crates with a strongback, studs through the mounting holes and blocking at the flywheel housing. VCI wrap and desiccant protect against salt air in the container.

Yacht refit yards also ship large parts: davits, winches, stabilizer fins, even small tenders. Anything that is longer than a standard board gets a long crate with intermediate skids. Send the length, the weight and the lift points with your request.

Aviation parts and maintenance

Aircraft maintenance shops and parts brokers in the metro ship components to Latin American operators. Parts range from small avionics to landing-gear assemblies.

Each part gets a crate sized to its inside dimensions, with soft-contact blocking and caps on open ports. Where a tag or release certificate travels with the part, we leave a pocket on the crate for it.

Heat, humidity and the tropical wait

Container yards in South Florida are hot and humid, and moisture condenses overnight. Crates with bare steel need VCI film or barrier bags and desiccant sized to the enclosed air.

Pine skids can pick up mildew when wet for long stretches; we advise on seals and ventilation when the load will wait. Tell us how long the wait will be.

Mold is a real risk in Miami. Wood that gets wet in a humid container can grow mildew within days, and a mildewed crate arriving abroad is a rejected crate. We recommend dry lumber at the point of build, a ventilated gap under the lid if the load can breathe, and desiccant in sealed builds.

Quote notes for Miami shippers

Send inside dimensions, gross weight, destination city, quantity and the delivery date. Say whether the load goes by air or sea.

Crates are built to order and delivered to your dock in the metro. For overseas lanes, solid-wood parts need an IPPC heat-treatment stamp where the destination requires it, and plywood is exempt.