Longer clock, heavier orders

Twenty markets on both coasts. Transit runs two to three weeks, orders run larger, and pre-shipment inspection is part of the process in several countries.

Shipping to South America

South America splits into two routings. Atlantic-coast destinations — Cartagena, Barranquilla, Georgetown, Paramaribo, Santos, Montevideo, Buenos Aires — run direct from South Florida. Pacific-coast destinations like Guayaquil and Callao route via Panama and add time. Either way, plan two to three weeks on the water rather than the week the Caribbean gets.

The order profile is different too. Commercial, institutional and high-rise residential work dominates, which means structural material in volume: rebar, cement and concrete accessories, structural panel, commercial HVAC, elevator-adjacent equipment and large flooring and finish lots. Because container counts are higher, loading efficiency matters more here than on any other lane — we plan the load plan around cubic yield, not just weight.

Documentation is where this lane demands the most attention. Several countries require pre-shipment inspection or certification by an appointed body before the goods leave the U.S., and some require documentation in Spanish or Portuguese with specific consular or notarized formats. All of it is workable, but none of it is fast if it starts after the container is loaded — which is why we raise it during quoting rather than at booking.