Shipping Modes
Drayage
The short-distance road movement of a container between a port, rail terminal, depot, and the shipper or consignee's premises.
In depth
Drayage is the first and last road leg of a container journey, usually within a metropolitan area. It is short in distance but a persistent source of cost and delay: terminal appointment systems, gate queues, chassis availability, and driver hours all constrain it, and congestion at either end quickly turns into detention and demurrage. Drayage capacity is also the usual bottleneck when a port is congested, because the boxes can be discharged far faster than trucks can move them out.
Key points
- Short-haul road movement at either end of a container journey
- Constrained by terminal appointments, gate queues, and chassis supply
- Delays convert directly into demurrage and detention
- Often the real bottleneck during port congestion