Hotshot and flatbed freight nationwide (lower 48). Dry van truckload across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. USA only — no cross-border, no drayage, no rail, no temperature-controlled freight. Drayage is excluded, so this page starts at a port-area transload, cross-dock or distribution warehouse, with the freight reloaded into a 53-foot van.
Distance, drive time and the hours-of-service math
OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap (checked October 18, 2026) puts the run at about 247 miles from Garden City to downtown Atlanta, 220 to McDonough on the south side and 263 to Norcross on the northeast side, about 241 to the Hartsfield cargo area and 258 to Fulton Industrial on the west side. Two-thirds of it is I-16, which FHWA's route log lists at 165.71 miles end to end; the rest is I-75 north from Macon.
49 CFR 395.3 allows 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window that opens when the driver comes on duty after 10 hours off, with a 30-minute break once 8 hours of driving pass without one. At a 50 mph planning average with a fuel stop, the run takes about 4 h 45 m to 5 h 35 m, depending on the side of the metro. That shapes the lane:
- One way, same day, comfortably. With 2 hours at each dock, a delivery uses about 9 of the 14 hours.
- A same-day round trip, only to the south metro. To a Henry County DC (~220 mi, about 4 h 45 m each way) the road time is about 9.5 h, under the 11-hour cap. After a 30-minute pre-trip, a 1.5-hour load and a 2-hour unload, the 14-hour window has about 30 minutes left. Airport, downtown, west-side and Gwinnett receivers (about 241–263 mi) don't fit with those dock times.
- No second loaded leg. A driver unloading in Atlanta at noon can't reload and get back inside the window, so carriers price an empty return or an Atlanta layover.
Why the freight runs this way
The Georgia Ports Authority reported Savannah's busiest September on record, 504,015 TEUs, up 3.7% on a year earlier, with loaded imports up 5.5%, and credited an extended peak season and Savannah's proximity to major retail distribution centers (GPA, October 7, 2026). Much of that cargo is unloaded near the port and reloaded into vans for inland DCs, and metro Atlanta is the nearest large market.
Where the receiver sits matters. Cushman & Wakefield's Q2 2026 Atlanta industrial report lists I-85 North as the largest submarket (about 201 million sq ft), then I-75 North (118 million), I-20 West/Fulton Industrial (106 million), I-75 South/Henry County (84 million) and Airport/South Atlanta (81 million). I-75 South took 26.8% of the quarter's new leasing. A Henry County DC sits on I-75 before the Perimeter; a Gwinnett receiver means crossing the metro.
Where the time goes
Savannah end: port traffic, not port gates
Dry vans don't enter Garden City Terminal, but they share its roads. GPA counts about 15,000 truck gate moves a day. A warehouse load "ready at 7:00" still depends on its container being pulled and unloaded first.
I-16 and Macon
I-16 is mostly four-lane rural interstate past Statesboro, Metter and Dublin, and rarely sets the schedule. The exception is its west end: GDOT's I-16/I-75 interchange rebuild in Macon, which the department has said runs through 2030 (Construction Equipment Guide, July 2024). Check 511GA for lane shifts before dispatch.
The Atlanta approach
ATRI's 2026 bottleneck list, built from 2025 truck GPS data, ranks I-75 in McDonough 10th in the country, with trucks averaging 42.7 mph at peak against 47.6 off-peak. North-side deliveries add I-285 at I-85 North (3rd) or I-75 at I-285 North (5th). Reach south-metro DCs before the morning peak or in the late-morning lull, and avoid north-metro appointments that put the truck on the top end of I-285 in the afternoon.
Transit table: ready time to delivery window
Solo driver, 50 mph plus a 20-minute fuel stop, rolling from a Garden City or Pooler warehouse at the stated time. Arrivals exclude Atlanta peak delay; Friday afternoon loads usually deliver Monday.
| Rolling at | South metro (~220 mi) | West and airport (~241–258 mi) | Northeast (~263 mi) | Realistic delivery window |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5:00 a.m. | ~9:45 a.m. | ~10:10–10:30 a.m. | ~10:35 a.m. | Same day, late morning |
| 8:00 a.m. | ~12:45 p.m. | ~1:10–1:30 p.m. | ~1:35 p.m. | Same day, early afternoon |
| 11:00 a.m. | ~3:45 p.m. | ~4:10–4:30 p.m. | ~4:35 p.m. | Same day only if the DC receives until about 5 p.m.; otherwise next morning |
| 2:00 p.m. | ~6:45 p.m. | ~7:10–7:30 p.m. | ~7:35 p.m. | Next-morning appointment |
Direction and backhaul
The heavier flow runs inland. BTS's FAF6 estimates for 2022 (see Market context) show about five truck tons moving from the Savannah region to Atlanta for every three moving back, across all truck types. Imports become van loads to Atlanta DCs; the coastward leg carries export cargo and coastal replenishment. An Atlanta-to-Savannah load is often the one a carrier wants for its return, which helps price and availability; a Savannah-to-Atlanta load in peak season competes with every import load leaving the same warehouses.
Seasonality
- Import peak runs from late summer into fall as retailers stock for the holidays; GPA said typhoon delays in Asia stretched the 2026 peak into September.
- Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10 (NOAA National Hurricane Center), on top of the import peak. A storm that disrupts the port leaves a transload backlog behind it. In a mandatory evacuation GDOT can run all four I-16 lanes westbound toward Dublin; during Hurricane Dorian, eastbound travel past Exit 39 was closed until contraflow ended (WTOC, 2019). Hold Savannah-bound loads.
- Late winter is usually the quietest stretch.
Accessorial pitfalls on this lane
- Booked versus built. Warehouses sometimes book pickups before the container is unloaded; the truck then waits (detention) or leaves (truck ordered not used).
- Floor-loaded cartons. If import freight goes into the van floor-loaded, dock time runs to hours and receivers commonly charge lumper fees. Say which it is.
- Missed windows. I-75 traffic that costs a Henry County or South Fulton appointment can become a next-day redelivery plus layover.
- Paperwork. Receivers check PO and often container or seal numbers; a mismatch can mean a refusal.
Worked example (illustrative)
22 pallets of imported flat-pack furniture, about 30,000 lbs, palletized at a Pooler transload, for a Henry County retail DC about 220 miles away. Pickup Tuesday 5:30 a.m., delivery appointment noon. Solo driver, 50 mph, live load and unload. Not a quote.
| Time | What happens | Driver clock |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00 a.m. | Driver comes on duty near Savannah. | Window closes 7:00 p.m. |
| 5:30–7:00 | Check-in, 22 pallets loaded, sealed, bill of lading with PO numbers. | 2 h on duty |
| 7:00 | Rolls west on I-16; 20-minute fuel stop at Dublin. | Driving |
| ~10:40 | Through the Macon interchange onto I-75 north. | ~3 h 40 m on the road |
| ~11:45 | Arrives and checks in for the noon appointment. | ~4 h 45 m on the road |
| 12:00–2:00 p.m. | Live unload; this also satisfies the 30-minute break rule. | On duty, not driving |
| ~6:45 p.m. | Back near Savannah, empty. | 15 min to spare |
What breaks it: load two hours late and the truck reaches McDonough around 1:45 p.m., past the appointment. Worked in late or rescheduled, the driver can't get home inside the 14-hour window, so layover or detention follows. The fix: a pickup time the warehouse can hit, or an appointment with slack.
Market context (dated snapshot, reviewed October 22, 2026)
Spot market direction, two dated reports. DAT's free weekly Dry Van Report published October 13, 2026 (week ending October 10) had national dry van spot rates rising week over week, with load posts down, truck posts up and its Southeast origin region edging up. The report published October 19 (week ending October 17) had the national rate essentially unchanged and its Southeast origin region slightly lower. We describe direction only; the figures are DAT's to publish (see DAT Trendlines); later weeks are in the Freight Market Pulse.
Port and long-run flows. Savannah's record September was import-led (GPA, October 7, 2026). BTS released Freight Analysis Framework version 6 on July 31, 2026, with 2022 as its data year. In its Data Tabulation Tool (total flows, all commodities, checked October 18, 2026), trucks carried about 12.8 million tons from the Savannah region (FAF zone 132) to the Atlanta region (zone 131) in 2022, and about 7.7 million tons the other way.
What to include in a request for this lane
- Pickup facility type and address, and whether the freight is built and on the dock
- Ready time, pickup hours, and live load or drop trailer
- Pallet count, palletized or floor-loaded, weight, and whether it stacks
- Receiver ZIP, appointment window, who books it, and lumper policy
- PO, container and seal references the receiver will check
- Frequency, and any Atlanta-to-Savannah freight that could balance the lane
For the seven-state picture, see Southeast dry van; other lanes are on the corridors page. When you're ready, tell us about your freight. We'll contact you the day we open and use these details only for that. No account, no spam.