LumpList

The lumper service directory

by the makers of LumpLogix

Metro record

Lumper services in Memphis

Memphis works freight on air hub time: five Class I railroads, the FedEx World Hub and river terminals keep lumper crews on second and third shift.

30 lumping companies on the record

Lumping companies serving Memphis, TN

Agency & coverageService linesEngagementGoogle ratingContact

Dock labor in Memphis, TN

Agencies on the record
30
Dispatching to the metro directly
2
Covering the whole state
5
Nationwide operators
23
Places inside the market
10

Memphis moves freight around the clock. Five Class I railroads serve the market: BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Canadian National, with the BNSF Memphis Intermodal Facility, Union Pacific's Marion terminal in Arkansas, CN's Harrison Yard and the Norfolk Southern intermodal facility at Rossville all within a short dray of local docks. The FedEx World Hub at Memphis International sets the clock for time-definite freight, the International Port of Memphis works barge at Presidents Island, and I-40, I-55, I-22 and the I-269 loop tie it together.

Warehouse space follows those corridors, not city limits. DeSoto County, Mississippi, meaning Southaven, Olive Branch and Horn Lake, carries buildings for Williams-Sonoma, Medline and Milwaukee Tool. Crittenden County, Arkansas puts West Memphis and Marion minutes from the Tennessee docks at the I-40 and I-55 junction. Southeast Memphis near the airport runs medical and parts distribution, Nike has long operated its distribution campus in Frayser, and Fayette County space near Rossville keeps filling in.

Dock labor here is shaped by cutoffs. Air hub deadlines and the medical device and pharmaceutical distributors clustered near the airport push receiving into evening and overnight shifts, so freight unloaders work second and third turn as a matter of course. Rail-drayed import boxes arrive floor loaded and eat hours a warehouse crew does not have, retail replenishment tightens from late summer into the holidays, and cold storage adds freezer work at its own pace. Ford's BlueOval City at Stanton, up I-40 in Haywood County, is pulling supplier freight further east of the metro.

Last reviewed September 2026

Memphis, TN on the record

  1. Memphis is served by five Class I railroads, BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Canadian National, with intermodal terminals including the BNSF Memphis Intermodal Facility, Union Pacific's Marion, Arkansas terminal, CN's Harrison Yard and Norfolk Southern's Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility at Rossville, Tennessee.

    Source: BNSF, Union Pacific, CN and Norfolk Southern intermodal facility listings

  2. The FedEx World Hub operates at Memphis International Airport, which ranks among the world's leading cargo airports by tonnage handled.

    Source: FedEx; Airports Council International world airport traffic rankings; Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority

  3. The International Port of Memphis on the Mississippi River, centered on Presidents Island, is one of the largest inland ports in the United States.

    Source: International Port of Memphis

  4. I-40, I-55 and I-22 converge on Memphis, and the I-269 outer loop links the DeSoto County, Mississippi and Fayette County, Tennessee warehouse corridors.

    Source: Tennessee Department of Transportation; Mississippi Department of Transportation

  5. Ford's BlueOval City assembly and battery complex is located at Stanton, Tennessee, on I-40 in Haywood County, roughly an hour east of Memphis.

    Source: Ford Motor Company; State of Tennessee project announcements

  6. Nike operates a long-established distribution campus in the Frayser area of Memphis, and Williams-Sonoma, Medline and Milwaukee Tool operate distribution facilities in the Olive Branch and Southaven area of DeSoto County, Mississippi.

    Source: Company facility announcements; DeSoto County Economic Development Council

Inside the Memphis, TN market

Southaven, MSOlive Branch, MSHorn Lake, MSWest Memphis, ARMarion, ARSoutheast Memphis and the airport industrial areaFrayserPresidents IslandMillingtonRossville and Fayette County

By service

By crew model

Nearby metros

Reading for Memphis, TN operators

Questions about dock labor in Memphis, TN

Why do so many Memphis warehouses need overnight lumper crews?

The FedEx World Hub sets late cutoffs for time-definite freight, and the medical device and pharmaceutical distributors clustered near Memphis International build their schedules around them. Receiving runs into the evening and overnight, so third-party unloading here is routinely a second and third shift purchase rather than a day-shift one.

Does a Memphis lumper crew have to cross state lines to reach my dock?

Often, yes. The market spans Shelby and Fayette counties in Tennessee, DeSoto County in Mississippi and Crittenden County in Arkansas. Confirm that a provider staffs the side of the river or the state line your building sits on, since West Memphis and Marion, Southaven and Olive Branch, and southeast Memphis are separate labor pools inside one metro.

What makes rail intermodal freight different for dock labor in Memphis?

Import containers drayed from the BNSF, Union Pacific, CN and Norfolk Southern terminals frequently arrive floor loaded rather than palletized. Unloading, sorting and restacking those boxes takes hours a receiving team cannot absorb, which is the most common reason Memphis DCs buy trailer unloading by the container.