Camp Lejeune truck gate: a delivery driver's guide to base access

The short version

Camp Lejeune's truck entrance is the Piney Green Gate. Military OneSource, the Defense Department's own installation guide, puts it plainly: the truck entrance is east of the main visitor gate, at Piney Green. [3]

Piney Green is a weekday gate. It is reported open inbound Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m., and closed on weekends and federal holidays. If your appointment is Saturday, you have a problem to solve before you leave. [1][7]

Commercial vehicle inspections are reported to run a shorter window than the gate itself, 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Arrive in the afternoon and you may find the gate open but nobody to inspect you. [7]

Since September 1, 2025, Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River require REAL ID-compliant identification as the primary credential for contractors, vendors and visitors. [5]

Call before you roll. The base's own regulations were not publicly readable when we checked, and the guide sites that publish gate hours disagree with each other on the details. [1][2][7]

Piney Green: the gate you actually want

Camp Lejeune sits in Onslow County next to Jacksonville, on the New River, covering roughly 153,439 acres with 14 miles of Atlantic beachfront. It is big enough that picking the wrong gate costs you real time. [3]

Piney Green Gate is on the northeastern side of the base. Military OneSource describes it as the truck entrance, separate from the Main and Wilson gate area off Highway 24 where visitors go. [3][7]

Reported inbound hours are Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with outbound running later. One source says outbound closes at 5 p.m. and another says 6 p.m. Both agree the gate is closed weekends and federal holidays. [1][7]

The commercial vehicle inspection window is the number that matters most, and only one source publishes it: 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. That is narrower than the gate hours, so treat early morning as the safe arrival. [7]

We could not confirm a street address for the gate from any page we were able to load. Navigate to Piney Green Gate by name, or get directions from your receiving unit rather than trusting an address you found in a listing. [3][7]

The other gates, and why they are not for you

The Main Gate, also called the Holcomb Gate, and the Wilson Gate are both reported open 24 hours, and the Wilson Gate area is where the visitor center sits. These are the passenger vehicle entrances off Highway 24. [1][7][3]

Sneads Ferry Gate, sometimes called the 172 Gate, and Stone Bay Gate are on NC 172 on the south side, both reported open around the clock. Midway Park and Camp Johnson gates feed housing and Camp Johnson directly. [1][7]

Triangle Outpost Gate off NC 172 is a commuter gate with peak-hours-only access, roughly 5:30 to 8 a.m. and 3:30 to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Reduced hours there were reported to be continuing indefinitely, though we could not confirm the current schedule. [1][7]

Sources are inconsistent about whether Main, Holcomb and Wilson name the same gate or different ones, and one listing appears to place two of them at the same building. Do not plan a delivery around a gate name you found online without confirming it. [1][7]

Getting cleared: REAL ID, IARA and DBIDS

As of September 1, 2025, REAL ID-compliant identification is the primary credential for unaffiliated people seeking access, which covers contractors, vendors, suppliers and service providers. If your license is not REAL ID-compliant, deal with that before you take a load onto the base. [5]

An alternate form of ID can still work. Present one and you get a DBIDS credential or a paper pass instead. Existing DBIDS cards stay usable until they expire. [5]

Vetting at the Visitor Control Center means identity validation, a criminal background check, a photograph and digital fingerprinting. The background check runs when you pre-register through IARA, the base's online pre-registration system. Pre-registering is worth the trouble. [5]

The commanding general framed the REAL ID switch as simplifying access control while keeping the base secure, and as cutting the base's reliance on card-printing systems. [5]

Two listings give different contacts for the pass office. One puts Pass and Registration at Holcomb Boulevard, Building 818, at 910-451-7735, with a visitor center line of 910-451-3478. Another puts a Visitor Control Center on Wilson Boulevard at 910-451-7734. Try both numbers rather than assuming one is wrong. [2][7]

Contractor vetting is described as running out of a trailer near Building 812, the first building on the right after the Main Gate, Monday through Thursday. A second source describes a contractor vetting office at the Main Gate with a different weekday window. This is exactly the kind of detail to confirm by phone. [2][7]

Security posture and the wait at the gate

In March 2026, Camp Lejeune heightened security following a U.S. Northern Command directive, adding 100 percent ID checks and random vehicle inspections at all entry points. [6]

The Trusted Traveler Program was suspended under those measures. That program previously let a DoD-affiliated sponsor vouch for passengers without individual vetting, so its suspension means everyone in the truck gets checked individually. [6]

Under the heightened posture, unvetted visitors have to report to the Visitor Center to request access before entering. For a delivery driver without a CAC, that is most people reading this. [6]

Officials told drivers to expect longer wait times and possible inspection stops at all entry points. That was March 2026 reporting, and we could not confirm whether the same posture holds as of September 2026. Security levels move with world events and change on short notice. [6]

Getting there

NC Highway 24 is the main approach from the southwest and feeds the Main and Wilson gate area where the visitor center is. Remember that the truck gate is further east, so plan the extra leg. [3]

NC Highway 172 comes in from the south side through Hubert and Sneads Ferry. US Highway 17 South reaches the newer training areas on the base. [3]

Jacksonville sits immediately next to the base. Wilmington is roughly an hour and a half out, and Fayetteville closer to three hours via NC 24. Treat those as rough figures, because the mapping sources we found disagreed and none of them are official. [3]

NCDOT publishes a statewide truck restriction table and has studied rail freight into Camp Lejeune, but neither document was readable when we checked, so we cannot tell you about weight or size restrictions on the approach roads. Ask your permit service if you are running oversize. [3]

Hazmat and the things nobody publishes

We could not find or load any page describing hazmat or ammunition delivery procedures at Camp Lejeune. Rather than guess, we will say it straight: those loads go through separate and more restrictive screening, and you need to arrange it with the base in advance. [3]

The same goes for conduct rules on base. The traffic order that would cover gate procedures, speed limits and commercial vehicle rules was not publicly readable, so we are not going to quote rules we could not verify. [3]

The general rule at any military installation still applies. Photography of secure areas is restricted, and if you are not sponsored you stay escorted. When in doubt, ask the guard rather than finding out the hard way. [6]

Before you roll

Get a point of contact on base with a phone number, and confirm the Piney Green Gate hours and the inspection cutoff for the day you are coming. The published hours conflict between sources and the base's own page would not load for us. [1][7]

Pre-register through IARA if you can, so the background check is done before you are sitting at the gate with a loaded trailer. [5]

Check that your license is REAL ID-compliant, and aim to arrive in the morning rather than the afternoon, since the inspection window is reported to close at 1:30 p.m. [5][7]

Build in extra time for 100 percent ID checks and random inspections, and do not plan a weekend delivery through Piney Green, because that gate is reported closed weekends and holidays. [6][1][7]

If you also run to Fort Bragg, Seymour Johnson or Cherry Point, our guide to NC military base deliveries covers their gates, and our Fort Bragg guide covers the Knox Street Truck Plaza in detail. [3]