Every hour a container sits is an hour of cost. Demurrage clocks, per diem charges, congested truck gates, and long drayage runs to inland warehouses all quietly erode margin on freight that has already crossed an ocean. For importers moving volume through the Pacific Gateway, the distance between the terminal gate and the first set of dock doors matters more than almost any other variable in the inbound supply chain.
That is exactly the gap our newest facility closes. As of August 1, 2026, 18 Wheels Warehousing and Trucking has taken possession of a 210,000 square foot distribution facility at 3995 27B Avenue in Delta (Tsawwassen), positioned directly adjacent to Deltaport, Canada's primary container terminal. It is one of the shortest drayage moves available to shippers arriving through Metro Vancouver, and it is now part of our national network.
Why a Deltaport-Adjacent Warehouse Changes the Math
Deltaport handles the majority of container volume entering Western Canada. Historically, boxes coming off that terminal have been trucked well inland before they can be stripped, sorted, and staged, which adds mileage, driver hours, and delay to every single unit. When gate congestion spikes or a vessel arrives late, that inland trip is where free time gets burned.
Locating capacity minutes from the Deltaport gate compresses that first leg dramatically. Shorter runs mean more turns per truck per day, less fuel per container, and a much better chance of clearing free time before demurrage and per diem charges begin. It also gives shippers a buffer: when the terminal is busy, containers can be pulled and staged in a secure yard rather than sitting at the port or waiting on a slot at a distant facility.
The practical result is a faster, cheaper, and more predictable first mile for import cargo, plus a stronger export staging position for Canadian producers shipping outbound through the same terminal.
What the New Delta Facility Offers
The site was selected specifically for high-volume, port-centric 3PL work. Key features include:
- 210,000 square feet of premium industrial space in Tsawwassen's core industrial corridor
- 36 foot clear height, allowing high-density racking and better cube utilization per square foot
- 12,000 pallet positions in the Phase 1 racking investment, with installation beginning the first week of September
- 35+ loading dock doors for high-volume inbound and outbound flow
- Onsite heavy container stackers for direct yard staging, empty handling, and flexible container sequencing
- Fully gated yard with 24/7 onsite security monitoring
- Minutes from the Deltaport gate, reducing drayage transit time and demurrage exposure
The container stackers deserve a note of their own. Having heavy handling equipment on site means we can accept, stage, and reposition boxes in our own yard instead of depending entirely on terminal timing. For customers running high container counts, that flexibility is often the difference between a smooth week and a scramble.
The Services Running Out of Delta
The facility is built for the full port-to-door sequence rather than storage alone:
- Container destuffing and stuffing. Boxes are pulled, stripped, and palletized on site, then returned quickly to keep per diem down.
- Transloading. Ocean container contents are consolidated into domestic 53 foot trailers for onward linehaul, improving cost per unit on long domestic legs.
- Cross docking. Freight with a known destination can move dock to dock without ever entering inventory.
- Container drayage. Our own trucking fleet handles the terminal move, so the pull and the strip are managed by a single accountable party.
- Intermodal transfers. Cargo destined for Central and Eastern Canada can be sequenced directly into rail or highway networks.
- Short and long term storage. Once Phase 1 racking is live, high-density pallet storage supports ongoing distribution programs.
How Delta Fits Into the Wider 18 Wheels Network
A port facility is only as valuable as what sits behind it. This site is not a standalone warehouse, it is the front door to a national distribution network that 18 Wheels has been building for more than 30 years.
Cargo arriving at Delta can move directly into our Metro Vancouver footprint, including our Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, and Vancouver facilities, where specialized capabilities such as food grade and HACCP warehousing, refrigerated storage, bonded and sufferance space, excise licensed programs, and full co-packing services are already in place.
A container can be pulled at Deltaport in the morning, stripped in Delta, and have its contents repacked, shrink wrapped, labelled, or built into pallet displays at a sister facility without ever leaving our custody.
From there, our Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Brampton, Mississauga, and Halifax locations extend the same program coast to coast. For an importer, that means one partner, one point of contact, and one chain of custody from the vessel to the retail door, instead of a handoff between a drayage carrier, a transload operator, a co-packer, and a linehaul provider.
That single-provider model is where the real savings usually show up. Each handoff between vendors adds paperwork, dwell time, and the risk of a detail getting lost. Removing those seams shortens cycle time in a way that a rate card alone never captures.
Phase 1 and What Comes Next
We took possession on August 1 and began infrastructure rollout immediately. Phase 1 centres on the 12,000 pallet racking investment, with installation starting the first week of September and the facility targeted for complete operational readiness within 60 days.
Yard operations, container handling, and transload capacity are the first capabilities online, which means shippers dealing with congestion or free time pressure right now can start using the site while racking is going in.
Need Help With Your Inbound Program?
If you are moving containers through Deltaport and want to model what a shorter first mile does to your landed cost, we are happy to run the numbers with you. Bring your container volumes, dwell history, and destination mix, and our team can map out what the Delta facility, our drayage fleet, and the wider network would look like for your freight.
Request a warehousing quote or request a trucking quote to get started.
