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The lumper service directory

by the makers of LumpLogix

Metro record

Lumper services in Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas-Fort Worth is an inland port without an ocean: two Class I intermodal terminals and four interstates feed warehouse clusters that keep lumper crews working year round.

40 lumping companies on the record

Lumping companies serving Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

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Dock labor in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

Agencies on the record
40
Dispatching to the metro directly
7
Covering the whole state
13
Nationwide operators
20
Places inside the market
10

North Texas moves freight through rail and rubber rather than a waterfront. On the north side, AllianceTexas in Fort Worth, Haslet and Roanoke is built around the BNSF Alliance Intermodal Facility and Fort Worth Alliance Airport, with FedEx operating a regional air hub there. On the south side, the Union Pacific Dallas Intermodal Terminal at Wilmer anchors the International Inland Port of Dallas across Wilmer, Hutchins, Lancaster and DeSoto. Between them sit the airport-adjacent distribution belt in Coppell, Grapevine and Grand Prairie, the older cross-dock stock in Garland and Mesquite, and newer big-box product south along I-35E toward Midlothian and Waxahachie.

The corridors explain the work. I-35W and I-35E carry cross-border truckload north from Laredo, I-45 links the region to the Port of Houston, I-20 runs the east-west lane, I-30 heads for Little Rock and Memphis, and US 287 feeds the Panhandle. Much of what lands on a North Texas dock has already been dray or line-hauled, so the labor is transload, sortation and rebuild rather than first-touch import discharge.

Demand for lumper services in Dallas-Fort Worth follows retail and food. Big-box and e-commerce distribution centers pull floor-loaded containers off the Wilmer and Alliance ramps through the August to November import peak, while foodservice and grocery operations, including Ben E. Keith's Fort Worth base, run steady refrigerated dock labor. Building products and appliance freight tied to regional construction keep third-party unloading crews busy through the shoulder months.

Last reviewed September 2026

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX on the record

  1. The BNSF Alliance Intermodal Facility sits inside the AllianceTexas development in north Fort Worth and Haslet, alongside Fort Worth Alliance Airport, making it the region's northern rail-to-truck transfer point.

    Source: BNSF Railway intermodal facilities list; Hillwood AllianceTexas

  2. Union Pacific's Dallas Intermodal Terminal is located in Wilmer, south of Dallas, and anchors the warehouse district marketed as the International Inland Port of Dallas across Wilmer, Hutchins, Lancaster and DeSoto.

    Source: Union Pacific intermodal terminal directory; City of Lancaster economic development

  3. Dallas-Fort Worth is the crossing point of I-35W and I-35E, I-20, I-30 and I-45, with US 287 running northwest, which is why truckload freight from Laredo and the Gulf Coast is rebuilt here rather than at a port.

    Source: TxDOT Texas highway system; I-35 trade corridor documentation

  4. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport handles scheduled international air cargo and is ringed by the Coppell and Grapevine distribution cluster, generating expedited and airfreight recovery dock work.

    Source: Dallas Fort Worth International Airport cargo operations

  5. FedEx operates a regional hub at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, tying parcel and air sortation volume to the same north Tarrant County warehouse district served by the BNSF ramp.

    Source: FedEx facility announcements; Fort Worth Alliance Airport

  6. Ben E. Keith Foods is headquartered in Fort Worth and runs broadline foodservice distribution from North Texas, one source of steady refrigerated and frozen dock labor in the metro.

    Source: Ben E. Keith Company

Inside the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX market

AllianceTexas (Haslet and Roanoke)CoppellGrand PrairieArlingtonLancasterWilmer and HutchinsDeSotoGarlandMesquiteMidlothian and Waxahachie

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Reading for Dallas-Fort Worth, TX operators

Questions about dock labor in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

Does freight in North Texas arrive as containers or as floor-loaded trailers?

Both, and the mix decides the crew. Containers drayed from the Union Pacific ramp at Wilmer or the BNSF Alliance facility often arrive floor loaded and need hand unload and palletization. Truckload coming north on I-35 from Laredo and west from the Gulf Coast is more often palletized, which turns the job into sortation, restack and cross-dock rebuild.

When does lumper demand peak in Dallas-Fort Worth?

The heaviest stretch runs from August through November, when import volume moving inland by rail hits the Wilmer and Alliance ramps ahead of holiday retail. A second bump follows in late winter as grocery and foodservice resets move through. Construction-driven building products and appliance freight smooth out the slower months.

Is refrigerated dock work common here?

Yes. North Texas is a redistribution point rather than a growing region, so cold chain work centers on grocery and broadline foodservice distribution centers instead of field-run produce. Crews handling that freight need cooler and freezer experience, temperature-recording discipline and comfort working the pace of a food distribution dock.