LumpList

The lumper service directory

by the makers of LumpLogix

State record

Lumper services in Washington

Washington moves import containers off the Northwest Seaport Alliance docks, tree fruit out of the Columbia Basin and Alaska seafood, and lumping companies work all three.

28 lumping companies on the record

Lumping companies serving Washington

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Dock labor in Washington

Agencies on the record
28
Based or dispatching in state
5
Nationwide operators
23

Container volume enters the state through the Northwest Seaport Alliance, the joint marine operation of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, and moves inland by way of BNSF's Seattle International Gateway and its Tacoma intermodal yard. Most of those boxes stop first in the Kent Valley, the warehouse belt running along SR 167 and I-5 from Renton through Kent, Auburn, Sumner and Fife, where Amazon, REI and Starbucks all run publicly documented facilities and Boeing's Renton and Everett plants pull parts freight north. Seattle-Tacoma is where that dock labor market sits.

East of the Cascades, I-90 carries freight to Spokane, the distribution point for the Inland Northwest, where BNSF's Yardley yard and warehouses in Spokane Valley and Airway Heights anchor the work.

Demand follows the crop and the vessel. Washington apple harvest runs from late summer into November, and controlled atmosphere storage ships fruit out of Wenatchee, Yakima and Quincy the rest of the year; cherries move in June and July, hops through the Yakima Valley in late summer. Alaska seafood returns to cold storage at Seattle's Terminal 91. Freight unloaders here handle reefer pallets and dry cross-dock volume in the same week, which is why third-party unloading crews in this state are usually booked for both.

Last reviewed September 2026

Washington on the record

  1. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma market and operate their marine container terminals jointly as the Northwest Seaport Alliance, with terminals including Terminal 5 and Terminal 18 in Seattle and Husky Terminal, Washington United Terminals and Pierce County Terminal in Tacoma.

    Source: Northwest Seaport Alliance

  2. BNSF operates the Seattle International Gateway intermodal facility near downtown Seattle and an intermodal facility in Tacoma, both feeding the transcontinental route east over Stampede and Stevens Pass toward Spokane.

    Source: BNSF intermodal facilities list

  3. BNSF's Yardley yard in Spokane is the railroad's principal Inland Northwest terminal, sitting on the I-90 corridor that runs from Seattle east through Spokane to Idaho.

    Source: BNSF Railway; WSDOT I-90 corridor

  4. SR 167, the Valley Freeway, is the primary truck route linking the Kent Valley warehouse cluster to the Port of Tacoma and I-5.

    Source: WSDOT SR 167 corridor

  5. Washington apple harvest runs from roughly August into November, and controlled atmosphere storage in the Wenatchee and Yakima valleys ships fruit through much of the following year; sweet cherries ship in June and July.

    Source: USDA AMS shipping point data; Washington State Tree Fruit Association

  6. Publicly documented distribution and processing facilities in the Kent Valley corridor include the REI distribution center in Sumner, Starbucks' Kent roasting plant, and Amazon fulfillment operations in Kent and DuPont.

    Source: Company facility disclosures; City of Sumner and City of Kent economic development records

  7. Terminal 91 in Seattle serves the North Pacific fishing fleet and associated cold storage, making Seattle the return point for much of the Alaska seafood harvest.

    Source: Port of Seattle

Inside the Washington market

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Reading for Washington operators

Questions about dock labor in Washington

When is lumper demand highest in Washington?

Two peaks overlap. Tree fruit and hops out of the Yakima Valley and Columbia Basin push reefer volume from August into November, while import boxes off the Northwest Seaport Alliance terminals build ahead of the fall retail season and land in Kent Valley DCs at the same time. Cherry season in June and July adds a short, fast burst.

Do ILWU dock rules apply to lumper crews in Washington?

Longshore jurisdiction covers work inside the Seattle and Tacoma marine terminals. Third-party unloading crews work the inland warehouses and cross-docks in Kent, Auburn, Sumner, Fife and Spokane Valley, where the trailer is unloaded at a private facility rather than on the dock, so those crews are hired directly by the facility or the receiver.

Is cold chain experience necessary here?

For most of the state, yes. Between Columbia Basin potatoes and onions, Wenatchee and Yakima controlled atmosphere fruit, and Alaska seafood coming back through Seattle cold storage, a crew that only handles dry freight will turn down a large share of the available work.