The Port manages five industrial parks around the metropolitan area, and they own and operate the dredge Oregon to help maintain the navigation channel on the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers.

[2] In 1891, the Oregon Legislature created the Port to dredge and maintain a shipping channel from the city of Portland to the Pacific Ocean.

[4] Port authorities, including James H. Polhemus, the general manager of the port from 1923 to 1936, were found guilty of mismanagement, both through conflict of interest and cronyism, as well as negligence, sale of equipment at lower than assessed prices, carelessness, and preferential treatment of some private shippers.

The unpaid job of Port commissioner remains one of the choicest rewards that a governor can bestow upon his close friends and largest political backers.

[7] In May 2014, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (which represents dockworkers at all West Coast ports, including Portland) was intentionally and unlawfully slowing work, with the goal of driving business out of the Port of Portland, partly due to a dispute over having their workers setup electrical connections to refrigerated containers rather than workers belonging to a different union.

In 2013, when first announcing its intent to withdraw from Portland, Hanjin stated: “The actual charges have substantially increased, and when productivity doesn’t meet our norms, the cost goes up even more.” as the cause for its departure to other ports.

"[11][12] To replace connections to Idaho, the Port began a barge service carrying pulse exports from Lewiston to Portland in December of that year.

[14] In November 2017, the port announced that container service to Portland would resume in January 2018 with Hong Kong–based Swire Shipping.

[6] In November 2019, ICTSI Oregon won $94 million in damages in a jury trial verdict against ILWU for unlawful labor practices including "work stoppages, slowdowns, ‘safety gimmicks’ and other coercive actions," which occurred between August 2013 and March 2017 and resulted in all shippers vacating the Portland terminal.

Terminals are served by rail (Union Pacific and BNSF railroads), connecting interstates, and river barges.

The airport offers scheduled nonstop passenger service flights to over 69 domestic destinations and 11 international cities.

PDX serves the commercial, passenger, transport needs of the Portland Metro area, while Hillsboro Airport, also owned by the Port, serves an integral part of the region's transportation system, providing well-maintained, financially viable general aviation facilities to businesses and residents of Washington County and beyond.