February 24, 2022 - By : Derby Logistics
What Is Drayage?
What Is Drayage? A Guide from Derby
What is drayage? It’s a process that we all use, but not everyone understands the term or its origins. To put it simply, drayage is the transportation of goods over short distances.
For example, you might organize your cargo into a container and have a truck haul it from one port to another or to a railyard. When it comes to intermodal shipping, it’s an essential aspect of making your supply chain work.
Typically, this short-haul solution involves a single shift for a trucker. In many cases, they stick to one metropolitan area. However, it’s possible to include it with transloading for an efficient transportation solution.
Important Aspects of Intermodal Drayage
As mentioned above, this process usually takes a single shift. It’s a single link in your supply chain to aid the longer haul. However, the term itself has taken on several meanings in the logistics sector. For instance, people also use the term to refer to pickups at borders, terminals, and seaports.
Additionally, people use it to refer to the fee on their invoices for these services. Across industries, many people utilize this process for an array of situations. For instance, a routine freight move utilizes numerous modes of transportation.
In this case, drayage happens when the team needs to transfer the freight from a truck to a train. At that point, everyone updates their shipping documents. Moreover, they might reorganize or palletize the cargo for the next leg of the journey.
Different Types of Drayage
- Intra-carrier: In this process, the freight travels between two different locations owned by the same carrier. Here, it’s possible to transport the cargo from an intermodal hub to a railyard.
- Inter-carrier: This involves moving units a short distance between different carriers. For example, we might haul goods from a distribution center to a port.
- Expedited: This is over-the-road transportation of time-sensitive goods.
- Shuttle: In this process, we temporarily relocate an intermodal unit due to overcrowding at the origin.
- Door-to-door: This involves delivering goods from a sender to a customer across roads.
- Pier: In this process, a truck uses roadways to transport cargo to a pier or dock from its previous hub.
Oftentimes, people consider drayage in terms of intermodal shipping or containers on a ship. However, there are other services people don’t always consider.
Shopping malls often have a centralized dock where receivers pick up orders. This helps to limit congestion in parking areas and public-facing shops.
Additionally, trade shows often have deliveries go to a warehouse, employing outside services to take in exhibitor’s displays.
Interested in Drayage Services?
Now that you have a better understanding of these services, you might see new ways to optimize your operations. If you want to improve the efficiency of your supply chain, contact the team at Derby Logistics today.
