How shipping containers and the Port of Portland play a vital role in Oregon’s economy

On a sunny afternoon in June a dozen trucks line up on North Marine Drive in Portland, waiting to turn into marine Terminal 6 where they’ll drop off or load up large shipping containers.

It’s a fairly typical Tuesday at the Port of Portland’s shipping container terminal: Trucks show up with containers full of lentils, hay, animal feed, grass seed and other Oregon agricultural goods that are loaded onto large cargo ships and sent to other countries, then the rigs leave with containers carrying consumer goods from overseas points of origin, including in Asia.