About
We Built PortFlow Because East Coast Port Operations Deserved Better.
Our Mission
To eliminate preventable port costs for freight forwarders, importers, and drayage providers at East Coast terminals — by building the operational layer their teams need but don't have time to run.
PortFlow Logistics exists because freight forwarders and importers at East Coast terminals were losing thousands of dollars every month to preventable demurrage charges — and the solutions available to them were either too expensive, too complex, or designed for enterprise operations they couldn't afford.
We built PortFlow as a managed port operations partner — not software, not a dashboard, not another subscription. A service that monitors your containers, pre-checks your documentation, manages your last-free-days, and sends proactive alerts before problems become charges. Delivered on a flat monthly retainer, up and running in under a week, without adding headcount to your team.
How It Works
Managed Operations, Not Just Software.
Most visibility tools give you a dashboard. PortFlow gives you operational action. The difference matters when you're managing cargo across multiple East Coast terminals with a 48-hour window before demurrage starts.
Our AI pulls container status data from East Coast terminal systems every 6 hours, calculates last-free-day timelines, and fires automated alerts at 72, 48, and 24-hour intervals — before the demurrage clock starts. We don't wait for you to log in and check. We push the information when it matters.
On the documentation side, we pre-check ISFs, BOLs, customs entries, and delivery orders before submission. We're looking for the errors that cause customs holds — wrong HTS codes, missing references, mismatched consignee information — and we flag them before they become delays that cost $150–$300 per container per day.
And unlike a SaaS platform, when something needs a phone call or a direct intervention, our team makes it. That's the managed services model — you pay for outcomes, not access.
Why East Coast
East Coast Terminals Each Have Their Own Rules.
Seagirt, Port Newark, Port Elizabeth, Norfolk, Wilmington, and Philadelphia each operate with their own gate protocols, cutoff schedules, appointment systems, and congestion patterns. Generic logistics software treats all ports the same. PortFlow doesn't.
We built for East Coast terminals because that's where our clients move cargo. Knowing the specific quirks of each terminal's appointment system, understanding how chassis availability fluctuates by day of week at Port Newark, recognizing how reefer container LFD windows work at Baltimore versus Norfolk — that operational knowledge only comes from working these terminals every day.
The East Coast port corridor handles hundreds of millions of tons of cargo annually and serves as the primary import/export gateway for the eastern United States. The freight forwarders and importers operating through these terminals deserve operational infrastructure built for their specific environment. That's what we built.
The Founder
Built by Someone Who Knows the Port.
Craig Butler
Founder, PortFlow Logistics
Craig is a Maryland-based logistics and operations professional with direct experience managing cargo movement through East Coast port terminals. Having worked through the operational realities of Baltimore, New York/NJ, and Virginia firsthand, he built PortFlow to address the specific gaps he saw costing shippers and freight forwarders avoidable money.
PortFlow is the infrastructure Craig wished existed when he was managing port operations manually — automated where automation makes sense, human-managed where human judgment matters, and priced for the mid-market operators who need it most.
Your Team Runs the Business.
We Run the Port.
Book a free 20-minute Port Ops Review. We'll identify your top three operational risk areas and show you exactly what it costs your operation today — and what it stops costing when PortFlow is in place. No pitch deck. No commitment. Just a direct conversation.
Book My Free Port Ops ReviewNo commitment · 20 minutes · Focused on your East Coast port operations