We have seen how the pluperfect is translated as 'I had x-ed' in the active form.
For all verbs to form the pluperfect you need to have
the perfect stem + the imperfect of the verb 'I am'
The perfect stem is the same for whoever is doing it so for the verb porto, portare, portavi, portatus the perfect stem comes from the verb in the perfect form which is portavi.
Therefore we will use the perfect stem which is just 'portav' since the 'i' indicates that 'I carried' we do not need this.
Once you have the perfect stem you have to add the imperfect of the verb 'I am'.
So depending on who 'had x-ed' the endings change.
sum, esse, fui are the different forms of the verb 'I am' and the imperfect endings are the following for whoever is doing it.
I was = eram
You (singular) were = eras
He was = erat
We were = eramus
You (plural) were = eratis
They were = erant
Therefore if we want to say 'they had carried' we use
i) the perfect stem: portav-
+
ii) the imperfect of sum, esse, fui for 'they' = erant
So portav + erant = portaverunt (they had carried)