Metro record
Lumper services in Inland Empire
The Inland Empire is the back lot of the San Pedro Bay ports, and warehouses from Ontario to Perris keep lumping companies working import freight year round.
46 lumping companies on the record
Lumping companies serving Inland Empire, CA
Inland Empire · Northern New Jersey · CA · +1
Unclaimed listing. Is this your agency?
Inland Empire · Los Angeles · CA
Unclaimed listing. Is this your agency?
Inland Empire · Los Angeles · CA
Unclaimed listing. Is this your agency?
Dock labor in Inland Empire, CA
- Agencies on the record
- 46
- Dispatching to the metro directly
- 15
- Covering the whole state
- 11
- Nationwide operators
- 20
- Places inside the market
- 10
The Inland Empire is where San Pedro Bay import freight goes to be sorted. Boxes leave the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by truck on SR 60 and I-15, or by rail to BNSF's San Bernardino Intermodal Facility, then land in the warehouse belt running from Ontario and Chino east through Fontana, Rialto and Redlands, and south through the Mira Loma cluster in Jurupa Valley to Moreno Valley and Perris. Colton Crossing, where the BNSF and Union Pacific main lines meet on a grade separated flyover, sits in the middle of it.
What fills those buildings sets the dock work. Retail and apparel distribution centers, among them Skechers in Moreno Valley and Ross Stores in Perris, take floor loaded ocean containers that have to be broken down and palletized by hand, which is the steady work for freight unloaders here. Amazon Air's regional hub at San Bernardino International Airport and the UPS air operation at Ontario International Airport add parcel and cross dock volume. Cold storage around Ontario and the Agua Mansa corridor in Colton and Rialto carries produce, and Coachella Valley table grapes and citrus, also inside Riverside County, put reefer trailers on those doors from late spring into summer.
Demand follows the import calendar. Crews build from midsummer into the fourth quarter as retailers pull holiday inventory inland, and drayage rhythm matters: port turn times push drivers to arrive late, so second and third shift trailer unloading is normal. Operators shopping lumper services in the Inland Empire should expect bilingual crews, weekend coverage and hand unload work quoted per container.
Last reviewed September 2026
Inland Empire, CA on the record
BNSF operates the San Bernardino Intermodal Facility, one of the inland ramps serving containers moving off the San Pedro Bay ports.
Source: BNSF intermodal facilities list
Colton Crossing, where the BNSF and Union Pacific main lines intersect in Colton, was rebuilt as a grade separated rail flyover.
Source: Caltrans and Union Pacific Colton Crossing project
I-10, I-15, I-215 and SR 60 form the truck grid tying Inland Empire warehouses to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Source: Caltrans
Ontario International Airport hosts a UPS regional air hub, and Amazon Air operates a regional air hub at San Bernardino International Airport.
Source: Ontario International Airport Authority; San Bernardino International Airport Authority
Riverside County's Coachella Valley ships table grapes and citrus in a spring and early summer window, ahead of the San Joaquin Valley deal.
Source: USDA AMS shipping point data
Named distribution operations anchoring the metro's warehouse clusters include Skechers in Moreno Valley and Ross Stores in Perris.
Source: Company distribution center announcements and City of Moreno Valley and City of Perris records
March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County operates as a joint use cargo airport, the March Inland Port, under the March Joint Powers Authority.
Source: March Joint Powers Authority
Inside the Inland Empire, CA market
By service
- Trailer & Container Unloading (Devanning) in Inland Empire, CA
- Outbound Loading in Inland Empire, CA
- Sorting & Segregation in Inland Empire, CA
- Palletizing, Restacking & Wrapping in Inland Empire, CA
- Railcar Unloading in Inland Empire, CA
- Refrigerated / Freezer Dock Work in Inland Empire, CA
- Transloading & Cross-Docking in Inland Empire, CA
- Rework (Repackaging, Relabeling, Kitting) in Inland Empire, CA
- Returns & Salvage Processing in Inland Empire, CA
- General Warehouse Labor in Inland Empire, CA
- Load Inspection & Damage Documentation in Inland Empire, CA
- Yard Management & Trailer Spotting in Inland Empire, CA
- Inventory Counting & Cycle Counts in Inland Empire, CA
- Order Selection & Pick / Pack in Inland Empire, CA
By crew model
Nearby metros
Reading for Inland Empire, CA operators
- How facilities find a lumping company, and how to be the one they call
Where a warehouse manager looks when a crew falls through, the two-minute check they run before calling, why directories carry the search, and the five things an agency controls on a listing.
5 min read - Hiring lumpers for the fourth quarter: where agencies find crews and how they keep them
Fourth quarter hiring is a race against every warehouse, parcel hub, and retailer in your metro. What works is not a better ad. It is a shorter path from application to first shift, and a reason to come back Tuesday.
6 min read - Detention, dwell time, and the receiving dock: where the hours go and what unloading has to do with it
Detention invoices are the bill for hours your dock already spent. A look at where trailer time actually goes, which parts unloading labor controls, and how to measure the gap before the carrier does.
6 min read
Questions about dock labor in Inland Empire, CA
When is lumper demand highest in the Inland Empire?
Two peaks. Import volume off the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach builds from midsummer into the fourth quarter as retail inventory moves inland, and Coachella Valley table grapes and citrus add reefer work in late spring and early summer.
Why do so many Inland Empire warehouses use third party unloading?
The metro's buildings take floor loaded ocean containers rather than palletized domestic freight. Handstacking a 40 foot box onto pallets is slow, physical work, so receiving departments buy it by the container from lumper crews instead of staffing to peak.
Do lumper crews here work nights?
Regularly. Drayage drivers pulling from the ports are limited by terminal turn times and by traffic on I-710, SR 60 and I-15, so trailers reach inland docks late in the day. Second and third shift dock labor is standard across Ontario, Fontana and Perris.