What is Drayage?
Drayage is a term used in domestic and international trade, in order to describe the process of transporting goods over short distances. It is used for minor transporting of goods and can include the trucking of containerized cargo from one port to another, or even from one port to a railyard, where the load will begin the next phase of its journey. With drayage, the cargo can also be shipped directly to its ultimate destination.
Drayage typically serves the same metropolitan area and rarely gets out of this given area, making a faster and more efficient transport of the goods. This process can typically be completed within one shift of a trucker.
What are some drayage classifications?
- Inter-carrier drayage: the movement of units between short distances between different carriers. Example: railroad & truck
- Intra-carrier drayage: Similar to intra-carrier, which takes freight one rail yard to an intermodal location, all of which is controlled by the same carrier
- Door-to-door drayage: This is when shipping units are taken to a customer through roadways
- Expedited drayage: This is when shipping units are transported over-the-road quickly and efficiently for time-sensitive goods.
- Shuttle drayage: This is when an intermodal unit is temporarily taken to a parking lot from its origin, when the hub is overcrowded. This happens for both empty and loaded units.
- Pier drayage: This is when an intermodal unit is taken to a dock or pier from a previous rail hub, when utilizing roadways.