Great Lakes Port Data | 2020 Top 50 Global Freight

2020 Essential Revenue and Operating Information for the 50 Largest Global Freight Carriers

Up Front

Freight carriers across the world experienced dramatic market shifts and volume swings in 2020.
The new trade deal between U.S., Mexico and Canada provides market certainty for North American trade.
The world’s largest freight carriers have navigated unprecedented circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rankings

 

Great Lakes

Port Name City Type of Freight TEUs Volume of Freight Tonnage
Ashtabula Harbor Ashtabula, Ohio dry bulk NA 4,254,537
Buffington Harbor Buffington, Ind. NA NA 1,634,865
Drummond Island Port Drummond Island, Mich. NA NA 1,260,854
Fairport Harbor Point Fairport Harbor, Ohio NA NA 1,957,879
Indiana Harbor East Chicago, Ind. dry bulk, liquid bulk, heavy lift NA 11,910,541
Port Clinton Marblehead, Ohio NA NA 1,889,279
Port Dolomite Clark Township, Mich. NA NA 2,766,412
Port Inland Gulliver, Mich. NA NA 4,327,245
Port of Alpena Alpena, Mich. NA NA 2,237,836
Port of Calcite Calcite, Mich. special project cargo NA 7,759,361
Port of Chicago Chicago dry bulk, liquid bulk NA 16,866,792
Port of Cleveland Cleveland container, dry bulk, liquid bulk, heavy lift, special project cargo NA 11,778,910
Port of Conneaut Conneaut, Ohio NA NA 3,487,058
Port of Detroit Detroit dry bulk, liquid bulk, passenger NA 14,837,762
Port of Duluth-Superior Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis. break bulk, dry bulk, liquid bulk, heavy lift, passenger NA 35,102,200
Port of Gary Gary, Ind. NA NA 8,600,449
Port of Grand Haven Grand Haven, Mich. NA NA 1,321,003
Port of Green Bay Green Bay, Wis. dry bulk, liquid bulk NA 2,156,416
Port of Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario container, break bulk, dry bulk, liquid bulk, special project cargo NA 11,628,319
Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor Portage, Ind. container, dry bulk, liquid bulk, heavy lift NA 8,496,097
Port of Milwaukee Milwaukee dry bulk NA 2,301,557
Port of Monroe Monroe, Mich. NA NA 1,195,210
Port of Montreal Montreal container, break bulk, dry bulk, liquid bulk, passenger NA 38,041,530
Port of Sandusky Sandusky, Ohio NA NA 2,247,534
Port of Silver Bay Silver Bay, Minn. NA NA 6,248,656
Port of St. Clair St. Clair, Mich. NA NA 6,192,710
Port of Stoneport Stoneport, Mich. NA NA 4,141,455
Port of Toledo Toledo, Ohio NA NA 8,899,825
Port of Toronto Toronto container, break bulk, dry bulk, liquid bulk, passenger NA 2,172,750
Presque Isle Harbor Presque Isle, Mich. NA NA 7,473,094
Two Harbors Two Harbors, Minn. dry bulk NA 17,208,207

Extras

Seaports have experienced huge volume swings in 2020.
If your company appears in the 2020 list, you have a few ways to announce it. Visit our logo library to get web- and print-ready graphics.
North America’s busiest cargo airports.
Learn more about Transport Topics’ Top 50 Global Freight Carriers publication.
Find out where the Top 50 Global Freight Carriers are based.
FedEx and UPS face their biggest test yet amid e-commerce growth and early holiday shopping.

Global Freight News

GovernmentBusinessLogisticsGlobal Freight

CK Hutchison Unit Seeks $2 Billion in Panama Ports Dispute

Panama Ports cites the Central American nation's “illegal state takeover” of the Balboa and Cristobal ports, and challenged a Feb. 23 executive decree it said authorized the seizure of its assets.

March 6, 2026
GovernmentBusinessLogisticsGlobal Freight

Panama Surprised by Higher Canal Traffic Amid Trade Wars

Canal revenue increased 8%-10% in the first five months of its fiscal year 2026, which started in October, compared to the same period a year earlier. The canal saw a record $5.7 billion in FY 2025. 

March 6, 2026
GovernmentBusinessFuelLogisticsGlobal Freight

Maersk Suspends More Container Services on Middle East Risks

Maersk will temporarily halt its FM1 Service, which connects the Far East to the Middle East, and its ME11 Service, which links the Middle East to Europe, according to a notice to customers on March 6.

March 6, 2026
GovernmentBusinessFuelLogisticsGlobal Freight

Strait of Hormuz Shipping Is at Near-Total Halt

A review of shipping signals have confirmed only two commercial transits in the past 24 hours, the Joint Maritime Information Center said in a note on March 6.

March 6, 2026
GovernmentBusinessLogisticsGlobal Freight

CK Hutchison Port Sale Plan Stalls Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting

CK Hutchison's plans to sell its global ports are at an impasse a year after the deal was announced, with hopes pinned on a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to yield a breakthrough.

March 6, 2026
BusinessTechnologyLogisticsGlobal FreightPrivateTop 50Top 100

Amazon Web Outage Strands Customers

Amazon.com's website and mobile app malfunctioned for some users March 5, with critical features like product listings and checkout options producing error pages. 

March 5, 2026
GovernmentBusinessLogisticsGlobal Freight

USPS Taps Restructuring Advisers Amid Cash Crunch

The Postal Service hired consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal in recent days to develop a plan, Postmaster General David Steiner said March 4 in an interview.

March 4, 2026
GovernmentBusinessSafetyFuelLogisticsGlobal Freight

Shippers and Oil Traders Seek Details on Trump’s Convoy Plan

With ships unable or unwilling to transit the Strait of Hormuz, producers cannot export, supertanker costs are skyrocketing and storage at many Persian Gulf refineries is filling up fast. 

March 4, 2026
BusinessLogisticsGlobal FreightTop 50

Kuehne + Nagel to Cut 2,000 Jobs as War Pressures Markets

The conflict in the Middle East creates additional unknowns. “The whole issue of supply chain reliability will become more important,” CEO Stefan Paul told journalists on March 3.

March 3, 2026
GovernmentBusinessSafetyFuelLogisticsGlobal FreightTop 100

Containership Giants Move Freight Away From Gulf Hot Spots

Some carriers are canceling bookings temporarily, skipping some port calls, warning of delays and implementing surcharges to transport containers through the conflict zone. 

March 2, 2026

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