Drayage

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A dray at a railroad car, modeled at the Steam Museum in Swindon, UK Horse dray.JPG
A dray at a railroad car, modeled at the Steam Museum in Swindon, UK
Shipping containers at the terminal at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey. Units in the foreground have been placed on chassis and await drayage to their destination. Line3174 - Shipping Containers at the terminal at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey - NOAA.jpg
Shipping containers at the terminal at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey. Units in the foreground have been placed on chassis and await drayage to their destination.

Drayage is the transportation of shipping containers by truck to its final destination. [1] [2] Drayage is often part of a longer overall move, such as from a ship to a warehouse. Some research defines it specifically as "a truck pickup from or delivery to a seaport, border point, inland port, or intermodal terminal with both the trip origin and destination in the same urban area". [3] Port drayage is the term used when describing [4] short hauls from ports and other areas to nearby locations. It can also refer to the movement of goods within large buildings such as convention centers. Drayage is a key aspect of the transfer of shipments to and from other means of transportation. The term drayage is also used for the fee paid for such services.

Contents

Domestic drayage is when product from a marine container is transloaded into a 53-foot domestic container and then moved inland. Marine drayage is when the product remains in the marine container until it reaches its final destination. Every import or export that arrives or leaves an ocean port must at some point be moved by drayage. [5]

An estimated 30 million marine containers move in and out of the United States on an annual basis. [5] Each one of these containers require at least two drayage moves.

History

The term originally meant "to transport by a sideless cart", or dray. Such carts, pulled by dray horses, were used to move goods short distances, limited by the physical limitations of a dray horse. Dray activities generally occurred at marine ports, spreading to canal and rail terminals. Over time, the dray horse was replaced by the semi-truck tractor.

The study of drayage is a relatively new area, as recent events have elevated the prominence of the dray industry. Economically, NAFTA and the growth of globalized trade have dramatically increased imports and exports that are shipped in marine shipping containers. Furthermore, the rise in fuel costs has limited the options for cost-cutting along the supply chain. Although drayage is a very small component (both in terms of time and distance) of the supply chain, its cost and potential problems can be disproportionately high.

In intermodal freight transport, marine drayage is the transport of containerized cargo by specialized trucking companies between ocean ports or rail ramps and shipping docks. [6] [7] Once the cargo is loaded into a container, it is not touched again until it reaches its destination. [8]

According to logistics industry publication FreightWaves, legacy players in the domestic drayage industry include J. B. Hunt Transport Services, Hub Group, Schneider National, XPO, Inc., and Swift Transportation. [9] The largest marine drayage company in the United States is IMC Companies. [10] There are also a number of drayage tech startups, including Dray Alliance, DrayNow, and Book Your Cargo who create software that brokers to drayage companies. [11]

Marine versus domestic drayage

Domestic drayage: In domestic drayage, product from a marine container is transloaded into a 53-foot domestic container and then moved inland.

Marine drayage: In marine drayage, the product remains in the marine container until it reaches its final destination. Every shipping container that arrives or leaves an ocean port must at some point be moved by marine drayage. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freight transport</span> Physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo

Freight transport, also referred as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been extended to refer to transport by land or air as well. "Logistics", a term borrowed from the military environment, is also used in the same sense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Containerization</span> Intermodal freight transport system

Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers. Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port</span> Maritime facility where ships may dock to load and discharge passengers and cargo

A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermodal container</span> Standardized reusable steel box used for transporting goods

An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or cargo container, (or simply “container”) is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – such as from ships to trains to trucks – without unloading and reloading their cargo. Intermodal containers are primarily used to store and transport materials and products efficiently and securely in the global containerized intermodal freight transport system, but smaller numbers are in regional use as well. It is like a boxcar that does not have wheels. Based on size alone, up to 95% of intermodal containers comply with ISO standards, and can officially be called ISO containers. These containers are known by many names: freight container, sea container, ocean container, container van or sea van, sea can or C can, or MILVAN, or SEAVAN. The term CONEX (Box) is a technically incorrect carry-over usage of the name of an important predecessor of the ISO containers: the much smaller steel CONEX boxes used by the U.S. Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermodal freight transport</span> Cargo transport using multiple containers

Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation, without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damage and loss, and allows freight to be transported faster. Reduced costs over road trucking is the key benefit for inter-continental use. This may be offset by reduced timings for road transport over shorter distances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOB (shipping)</span> International Chamber of Commerce term referring to transfer of liability from seller to buyer

FOB is a term in international commercial law specifying at what point respective obligations, costs, and risk involved in the delivery of goods shift from the seller to the buyer under the Incoterms standard published by the International Chamber of Commerce. FOB is only used in non-containerized sea freight or inland waterway transport. As with all Incoterms, FOB does not define the point at which ownership of the goods is transferred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-sea shipping</span> Movement of cargo and passengers by sea along a coast, without crossing an ocean

The modern terms short-sea shipping, marine highway and motorways of the sea, as well as the more historical terms coastal trade, coastal shipping, coasting trade and coastwise trade, all encompass the movement of cargo and passengers mainly by sea along a coast, without crossing an ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail freight transport</span> Practice of transporting cargo by rail

Rail freight transport is the use of railways and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freight rate</span> Cost of transporting goods

A freight rate is a price at which a certain cargo is delivered from one point to another. The price depends on the form of the cargo, the mode of transport, the weight of the cargo, and the distance to the delivery destination. Many shipping services, especially air carriers, use dimensional weight for calculating the price, which takes into account both weight and volume of the cargo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dry port</span> Inland intermodal terminal connected by road or rail to a seaport

A dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport, operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standard Carrier Alpha Code</span> Two to four letters identifier for freight carriers

The Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) is a privately controlled US code used to identify vessel operating common carriers (VOCC). It is typically two to four letters long. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association developed the SCAC code in the 1960s to help road transport companies computerize data and records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transloading</span>

Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped internationally from one inland point to another. Such a trip might require transport by truck to an airport, then by airplane overseas, and then by another truck to its destination; or it might involve bulk material loaded to rail at the mine and then transferred to a ship at a port. Transloading is also required at railroad break-of-gauge points, since the equipment can not pass from one track to another unless bogies are exchanged.

The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is an autonomous agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns The Port of Virginia, a group of facilities with their activity centered on the harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island</span>

From the start of railroading in America through the first half of the 20th century, New York City and Long Island were major areas for rail freight transportation. However, their relative isolation from the mainland United States has always posed problems for rail traffic. Numerous factors over the late 20th century have caused further declines in freight rail traffic. Efforts to reverse this trend are ongoing, but have been met with limited success.

Urban freight distribution is the system and process by which goods are collected, transported, and distributed within urban environments. The urban freight system can include seaports, airports, manufacturing facilities, and warehouse/distribution centers that are connected by a network of railroads, rail yards, pipelines, highways, and roadways that enable goods to get to their destinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Marine Highway Program</span> Network of navigable waterways in the United States

The United States Marine Highway Program is a United States Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative authorized to increase use of the United States' 29,000 mi (47,000 km) of navigable waterways to alleviate traffic and wear to the nation's highways caused by tractor trailer traffic. The program is managed by the Maritime Administration's Office of Ports & Waterways Planning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toll Domestic Forwarding</span>

Toll Domestic Forwarding (TDF) is a division of the Toll Group specialising in freight forwarding by road, rail and sea within and between Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ExpressRail</span> Intermodal rail facilities at New York Harbor

ExpressRail is a network of on- or near-dock rail yards supporting intermodal freight transport at the major container terminals of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The development of dockside trackage and rail yards for transloading has been overseen by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which works in partnership with other public and private stakeholders. As of 2019, four ExpressRail facilities were in operation, with a total built capacity of 1.5 million lifts.

The freight technology sector, also known as FreightTech, refers to software companies and technologies which assist in supply chain management and the movement of freight. In the five years following 2014, investment in FreightTech companies grew from $118 million to $3 billion per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container chassis</span>

A container chassis, also called intermodal chassis or skeletal trailer, is a type of semi-trailer designed to securely carry an intermodal container. Chassis are used by truckers to deliver containers between ports, railyards, container depots, and shipper facilities, and are thus a key part of the intermodal supply chain.

References

  1. Hooser, Katie George (May 18, 2023). "What is Drayage?". IMC: What is Drayage. p. 1. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  2. "What is Drayage? | CCC Transportation, LLC". www.ccctrans.com. Retrieved 2017-05-07.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. Harrison, Robert; Nathan Hutson; Jolanda Prozzi; Juan Gonzalez; John McCray; Jason West (February 2009). "The Impacts of Port, Rail, and Border Drayage Activity in Texas" (PDF). Center for Transportation Research, the University of Texas at Austin. p. 2. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  4. "What is Drayage?". globalforwarding.com. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  5. 1 2 "What is Drayage? | A White Paper by Katie George Hooser". www.whatisdrayage.com. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  6. Bloomberg.com: Financial Glossary
  7. What is Drayage?
  8. "Detroit, Michigan Intermodal Transport and Drayage | Courtesy Transfer Inc". Courtesy Transfer Inc. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  9. September 6, Sarah Harris; Read, 2021 • 4 Min (2021-09-06). "What Are the Top Drayage Companies?". FreightWaves Ratings. Retrieved 2021-10-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. Mall, Scott (2022-10-14). "FreightWaves Classics: IMC Companies – drayage-focused for 40 years". FreightWaves. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  11. "Drayage sector is hot corner for tech startups". www.dcvelocity.com. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  12. "What is Drayage? | A White Paper by Katie George Hooser". www.whatisdrayage.com. Retrieved 2023-05-18.