Freight shipping in Ontario

Ontario as a freight market

Ontario is the center of the Inland Empire's logistics industry. Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 cross here, State Route 60 runs along the south side, and Ontario International Airport, one of the largest air cargo airports in the country, sits between them. The warehouses started around the airport and spread in every direction: north into Rancho Cucamonga, where the distribution buildings line Interstate 15 and the streets between the 10 and the 210; south into the Ontario Ranch area, where dairy land is still being turned into logistics parks; and west into Chino and Montclair.

Both major railroads pass through: the Union Pacific line runs through Ontario and the BNSF line through Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. For a truck the two cities are one market, and the busiest one in our records.

What our records show here

Counting Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Chino together, this area touched several loads a week between January and September 2026, and had loads in all but a few weeks of the year. About three loads in four were deliveries, and about half of all of them were dropped trailers, the highest share of any place we serve.

Three inbound lanes carry most of it. Dry vans from the south end of the Central Valley, about 190 miles over the Tejon Pass, arrive a couple of times a week, and a good share ride on our own trucks. Dry vans from the Salinas Valley and Central Coast, about 330 miles, arrive about twice a week with partner carriers. And dry vans and power only loads from the Phoenix area, roughly 330 miles along Interstate 10, arrive more than once a week, mostly as dropped trailers. The main outbound lane is the return trip into the Central Valley, a couple of loads a week, more than half of them on our own trucks.

Why drop trailers work here

Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga receive the same lanes week after week, the receivers have yards with room for trailers, and the distance from the valleys is short enough for a trailer to cycle. So on the Central Valley lane about three deliveries in four are drops: the driver sets the loaded trailer at the receiver's door, picks up an empty and goes, and the receiver works the trailer when the shift allows. The Phoenix lane sees plenty of drops as well. The drop trailer service page explains how it is set up.

Getting to Ontario

Ontario is about 36 miles east of central Los Angeles and about 15 miles east of our office in Covina on Interstate 10, so local moves are same day and our own trucks pass through daily. From the valleys and Phoenix it is a next day delivery in our records, and often the same evening from the south valley when the load picks up early. The approach matters: the 10 and the 15 both back up at the Ontario interchange in the afternoon, and the 60 is the usual way around for deliveries on the south side.

Equipment we run to Ontario

Dry vans, overwhelmingly, with power only loads from Phoenix and the occasional flatbed. Some of our own 53 foot dry vans live in the trailer pool here, parked at customer sites so a trailer is always ready to load. Partner carriers haul most of the loads, vetted through Highway before each one, and our own trucks about three in ten.

Seasonal and local notes

The lanes into Ontario follow the agricultural calendar even though the freight is dry. In harvest months the valleys fill with trucks on produce and dry van capacity tightens, so a day or two of notice goes a long way. Summer heat in the Inland Empire runs past 100 degrees and a dropped trailer sits in the sun, which matters for heat sensitive freight. We have no office or yard in Ontario; the trailers we keep here are at customer sites, and each one is dispatched from Covina.

Data center and heavy equipment freight

The Inland Empire's data center and industrial builds bring transformers, switchgear and generators through Ontario on flatbeds and lowboys, and the Interstate 15 route north to Las Vegas and Utah starts here. See the data center freight section.