What is Drayage?
Drayage – sometimes referred to simply as “dray” – is a specialty logistics service that carries freight over a short distance. It is an essential part of intermodal shipping and is usually part of a longer logistics process.
Drayage also means:
- Name of the fee charged for the services
- Vehicle used to collect shipment at a border, ocean port or intermodal point.
The service isn’t a one-size-fits-all method. Here are six types of drayage classifications from Intermodal Association of North America (IANA):
- Cross-Town or Inter-Carrier — A movement of an intermodal unit “across town” from one railroad to another for continuance of the move.
- Door-to-door — Retail drayage involving over-the-road movement of a unit to a customer location.
- Expedited — A movement of an intermodal unit over-the-road to get it there on time. This exceptional drayage usually involves time-sensitive freight.
- IMX or Intra-Carrier — A movement of an intermodal unit from a carrier’s rail hub to the same carrier’s intermodal hub. IMX drayage extends the reach of an intermodal hub.
- Pier — An over-the-road movement of an intermodal unit from a carrier’s rail hub to a port’s dock or pier.
- Shuttle — A movement of an intermodal unit either loaded or empty from a hub to another parking lot because the railroad has run out of room at the hub.
The classification of service you select depends on your shipping needs. Shippers should determine which type of drayage service best serves the cargo for delivery to complete the next leg of the journey as it may be necessary for a freight container to transfer via drayage service multiple times during shipment.
Reducing Costs In Freight
Why Drayage Service is Needed
How MercuryGate Supports Drayage
The MercuryGate TMS platform enables you to schedule complex intermodal, global moves that may include ocean, rail, less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload, and cartage all at once. Consolidate shipments across locations, and even measure the amount of C02 emission you reduced as a result. Use actual contract rates, even from carrier application programming interfaces (APIs). The opportunities are as extensive and varied as your business model.
