Small ocean carriers and NVOCCs in Florida work four broad families of trade lanes: the domestic lane to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the foreign Caribbean, and Central and South America. Each runs through different ports and, more importantly, under a different mix of rules for vessels, export filing and U.S. Customs manifests. Knowing which bucket a shipment falls into is the first step to getting its paperwork right.
From a dispatcher's chair, Nassau, San Juan, St. Thomas and Santo Domingo can look like the same job: short-sea Caribbean freight, mostly containers and loose cargo, often consolidated in South Florida. Legally they are four different situations. The vessel you may use, the export filing you need and whether the cargo enters U.S. Customs on the way back all depend on whether the destination is a U.S. point covered by the coastwise laws, a U.S. territory that is not, or a foreign country.
That is why experienced documentation teams classify every booking by lane type before anything else. The rest of this guide walks through the four families and the rules that drive each one, using the official sources rather than rules of thumb.
The table below summarizes what the statutes and regulations say for each family. It is a starting point for training and system setup, not legal advice; confirm specific cases with your customs broker or a maritime attorney.
| Lane family | Coastwise (Jones Act) rules | Outbound EEI in AES | Typical Florida gateways |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | Apply (46 U.S.C. 55101(a)) | Listed in 15 CFR 30.2, subject to exemptions | JAXPORT; also South Florida ports |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Not currently (55101(b)) | Listed in 15 CFR 30.2, subject to exemptions | South Florida ports, Puerto Rico |
| Foreign Caribbean | Do not apply (foreign trade) | Required for exports unless exempt | PortMiami, Port Everglades, Miami River, others |
| Central and South America | Do not apply (foreign trade) | Required for exports unless exempt | PortMiami, Port Everglades, others |
The two U.S. lanes are the ones teams most often get wrong, so they come first.
Under 46 U.S.C. 55101, the coastwise laws apply to the United States including its island territories and possessions, which covers Puerto Rico. Cargo between Florida and Puerto Rico must therefore move on vessels that meet the requirements of 46 U.S.C. 55102: wholly owned by U.S. citizens and documented with a coastwise endorsement. JAXPORT, in its own words, handles nearly 90 percent of sea trade between the island and the U.S. mainland, which is why so much of this lane runs through Jacksonville.
Domestic for vessels does not mean invisible for statistics. 15 CFR 30.2 lists shipments to Puerto Rico from the United States, and from Puerto Rico to the United States, among those that require EEI in the Automated Export System, unless an exemption applies. Our detailed guide to JAXPORT and the Puerto Rico trade lane covers this lane in depth.
The U.S. Virgin Islands are a U.S. territory, but 46 U.S.C. 55101(b) excludes them from the coastwise laws until the President declares otherwise by proclamation. That opens the lane to a wider range of vessels than Puerto Rico. At the same time, 15 CFR 30.2 lists shipments to the U.S. Virgin Islands from the United States or Puerto Rico among those that require EEI, again subject to exemptions.
For a small NVOCC this is a lane where staff often apply the wrong template: some treat St. Thomas like San Juan and forget that the carrier options differ, while others treat it like a foreign port. A lane code in your system, tied to the correct document and filing set, prevents both errors.
Everything south and east of Florida outside U.S. jurisdiction is foreign trade. Outbound, the EEI rules in 15 CFR 30.2 apply to exports to foreign countries, with exemptions such as the low-value rule in 15 CFR 30.37, which applies to each Schedule B or HTS classification valued at $2,500 or less from one USPPI to one consignee on a single conveyance, unless a license or other condition requires filing. Inbound, cargo arriving from foreign ports is reported to U.S. Customs through the ACE ocean manifest, and NVOCCs operating on these lanes must hold an FMC license and publish a tariff.
South Florida's ports describe themselves around this trade. On its cargo page, Port Everglades says it has 26 cargo container services primarily focused on north-south trade with Caribbean and Latin American countries, and reports a record 1.167 million TEUs for its fiscal year from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. PortMiami calls itself the Cargo Gateway of the Americas, located at the crossroads of north-south and east-west trade lanes. Many small carriers also run break-bulk, project and consolidated cargo to the islands from terminals on the Miami River.
Florida is unusual in having several working cargo gateways along one coastline, and small carriers often use more than one. The choice is rarely about the port alone; it follows the services available for the lane, the type of cargo, where the shippers are and how the cargo reaches the vessel.
For your records, the port of loading is more than a label. It drives which terminal receives the cargo, which cut-offs apply, which underlying carrier issues the master bill, and which Coast Guard sector notices you follow in hurricane season. Capture it on the booking, not in a note, so every downstream document and report can use it.
A lane-aware operation sets the rules once and lets the system apply them. When a booking is entered, the destination decides which documents print, which filings are required and which checks run before the cargo can sail.
GDZ-ISIS is built in Miami-Dade for carriers and NVOCCs working out of PortMiami, the Miami River, Port Everglades, the Port of Palm Beach, JAXPORT and Port Tampa Bay, with bookings, bills of lading, ACE manifest filing and accounting in one system. You can read more on the shipping line software for Florida page or ask for a demonstration.
Broadly four: the domestic lane to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the foreign Caribbean, and Central and South America. Each has its own mix of vessel rules, export filing and Customs requirements.
It is a U.S. territory, but 46 U.S.C. 55101(b) excludes it from the coastwise laws until a presidential proclamation says otherwise. EEI is still listed in 15 CFR 30.2 for shipments there from the mainland or Puerto Rico, subject to exemptions.
Not always. 15 CFR 30.37 exempts each Schedule B or HTS classification valued at $2,500 or less from one USPPI to one consignee on one conveyance, unless a license or other rule requires filing. Confirm with your forwarder or customs broker.
Port Everglades says its container services are primarily focused on north-south trade with Caribbean and Latin American countries, and PortMiami calls itself the Cargo Gateway of the Americas. JAXPORT leads on Puerto Rico, and many small carriers use the Miami River.
Because the required filings, carrier options and pricing differ by lane. Tagging each booking by lane lets the system apply the right documents and checks automatically and lets you report margins by lane.