Port of Liverpool

Container haulage from the Port of Liverpool

We collect containers from the Port of Liverpool, at Royal Seaforth and Liverpool2, and deliver them across the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands. Every collection runs on a Peel Ports VBS appointment, booked against your release and your free time.

Terminals: Royal Seaforth and Liverpool2, both run by Peel Ports
Booking system: VBS appointments, in hourly slots
What we move: 20ft, 40ft, high cube, overweight

Price a Liverpool collection

The port

Two terminals at Seaforth, one booking system

The Port of Liverpool handles containers at two terminals, both at Seaforth on the Mersey, north of the city centre. Royal Seaforth is the longest serving. Liverpool2 is the £400m deep-water terminal Peel Ports opened in 2016, built to unload two 380 m ships at once.

For an importer in the North West or Yorkshire, the box lands close to where it is going, and the haulage leg is short enough to plan tightly around the appointment and the free time.

Jagelo Haulage has moved more than 75,000 containers since 2019. Liverpool is one of the six ports we collect from, and it gets the same method as the rest: book against the release and the free time, and say early when a box is at risk.

Liverpool at a glance

Operator: Peel Ports Group
Terminals: Royal Seaforth and Liverpool2
Liverpool2: Two 380 m ships at once
Gate: 10-lane AutoGate
Collections: Hourly appointments on VBS

Terminal details from Peel Ports.

What we move

Containers we collect from Liverpool

The everyday work is 20ft and 40ft boxes, standard and high cube, on skeletal trailers. Heavy boxes and regulated cargo each change the vehicle, the route or the paperwork, which is why the quote form asks about them up front.

20ft, 40ft and high cube: Standard and high cube, to ISO dimensions. The bulk of the work out of both terminals.
Overweight: Planned against axle weights and the route, so the load is legal on the road as well as on paper.
Animal feed, Category 3: Covered by our APHA registration, quay to premises. A short list of hauliers can take it.
Hazardous: Send the UN number and class with the request and we confirm whether we can take it before we quote.

Services

Merchant haulage

You book the haulage, not the shipping line. Your slot, your rate, your say.

FCL container transport

Full container loads in 20ft, 40ft, high cube and 45ft, port to door.

Overweight containers

Heavy boxes planned against axle weights and route, legal on the road.

Refrigerated containers

Reefers moved with the power and timing the temperature needs.

Out of gauge

Flat racks and open tops, with the route planned before collection.

Animal feed, Category 3

APHA registered to carry Category 3 feed in containers. Most hauliers are not.

How it runs

Getting your box through the AutoGate at Liverpool

Peel Ports runs every collection at Liverpool through its Vehicle Booking System: an appointment for the vehicle, in an hourly slot, checked at the AutoGate. A collection is only as good as the appointment behind it, so this is where the work is.

Release and clearance

You tell us the container number and shipping line. Customs status at Liverpool runs through Destin8, the port community system, so we check the line’s release and the customs position before anything is booked.
The VBS appointment

We book the slot against the box’s availability and your free time. Working-day slots from 05.00 to 08.00 and 13.00 to 16.00 are peak and carry a charge. An appointment left to expire, or cancelled after 45 minutes past the hour, is a no-show, so we book once and book right.
The AutoGate

Drivers carry Peel Ports’ Truck Card, which holds the AutoGate and port security passes; a driver without one needs a single-use emergency pass. If the appointment is at risk from a late vessel or a hold, you hear it from us while there is still time to act.
Delivery and the empty

Delivered to your postcode on the agreed day. The empty goes back to wherever the shipping line nominates, so tell us the return depot if you know it: it changes the price.

Lanes

Where Liverpool boxes go

The lanes we run most out of Liverpool are the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands. We deliver across Great Britain beyond those.

National Highways calls the A5036 the port’s main link to the motorway network: it runs from the docks to Switch Island, where the M57 and M58 meet. The M58 heads east to the M6 at Orrell. The M57 runs south to the M62 at Tarbock, and the M62 is the road east to Manchester and over the Pennines.

The A5036 is already congested, in National Highways’ own words, and its improvement scheme was cancelled after the October 2024 budget. We plan Liverpool collections with its queues in the timing. Same day collection and delivery is realistic on the shorter lanes when the booking allows it.

Free time, and quay rent

Demurrage starts when the shipping line’s free time ends. Quay rent is the terminal’s own charge: Peel Ports’ 2026 schedules give a laden import the day it is received plus five calendar days free, and the daily rate climbs after that. On a delayed box the days usually cost more than the haulage, so we plan against the free time you actually have.

Lanes we run most

North WestMerseyside, Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire
YorkshireEast over the Pennines on the M62
MidlandsSouth on the M6

Merchant haulage

Why book the Liverpool leg yourself

With carrier haulage the shipping line arranges the truck, on its own schedule and at its own rate. With merchant haulage you book the haulier: you choose the day, you see the rate, and you have one number to call when the plan changes.

At Liverpool the appointment rules make that control worth having. A missed slot is a no-show charge and a new booking, and a hold that lands after booking needs someone watching the release and the free time together. We rebook against your free time and tell you where it stands.

How merchant haulage works

What we need to book

Container number and shipping line
Terminal, if you know it
Release and customs position
Delivery postcode and the day you need it
Gross weight, if the box is heavy
Return depot for the empty, if you know it

Licences and cover

What stands behind a Liverpool collection

The same freight liability limit on every box, whether it moves on our vehicle or a partner’s. Partners run on their own operator licences.

Operator licence: OF2023521; 40 vehicles and 40 trailers, on the DVSA public register.
Freight liability: £6,500 per tonne; Under RHA 2024 conditions, five times the RHA standard of £1,300. Subcontracted loads carry the same limit. Up to £10,000 per tonne by arrangement for high value freight.
Waste carrier and dealer: CBDU471791; Environment Agency, upper tier.
Animal by-products, Category 3: U1433815/TRANS; APHA registration to carry animal feed in shipping containers, quay to premises.

All licences and cover

Questions

Liverpool container haulage, answered

Who books the VBS appointment at Liverpool, you or us?

We do. Every collection at Liverpool needs a Vehicle Booking System appointment for the vehicle, in an hourly slot, made in Peel Ports’ Customer Access Portal. What we need from you is the container number, the shipping line and confirmation that the box is released and customs cleared.

If anything changes, tell us early. Amending an appointment carries a charge, and one left to expire is charged as a no-show.

Do you collect from both Royal Seaforth and Liverpool2?

Yes. Both are Peel Ports terminals at Seaforth, and both run on the same Vehicle Booking System under the same appointment rules. Tell us which terminal the box is at if you know it.

How quickly can you collect from Liverpool?

When the container is released and an appointment is available, the collection follows the booking. Same day delivery is realistic on the shorter lanes when the booking allows it. On longer runs we say at quote stage whether it is same day or next morning.

Do you handle overweight containers out of Liverpool?

Yes. Overweight boxes are planned against the axle configuration and the route so they are legal on the road, not only on paper. Tell us the gross weight at quote stage, because it changes the vehicle.

Can you move hazardous containers from Liverpool?

Send the UN number and class with the request for a price and we will confirm whether we can take it before we quote. Hazardous cargo changes the vehicle and the paperwork, so it is never something to mention on the day.

Is haulage from Liverpool only for the North West?

No. The North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands are the lanes we run most out of Liverpool, and we deliver across Great Britain beyond those.

We also collect from Felixstowe, Southampton and the three Thames terminals, so a forwarder who splits work between ports deals with one haulier.