Service
Container Drayage
Moving your container from the marine terminal or rail ramp to where it actually needs to be — on equipment we own, inside the window we quoted.
- Marine terminal and rail ramp pulls
- Live unload or drop-and-hook
- Appointment windows held, not estimated
What drayage actually is
Drayage is the short leg that connects the long ones. A container crosses an ocean, then sits at a terminal until a truck takes it the last twenty or forty miles to a warehouse, a rail ramp or a yard. It is a rounding error in total distance and a disproportionate share of where shipments go wrong.
It goes wrong for boring reasons. The appointment slot is gone. The chassis pool is empty. The carrier double-booked the driver. None of these are exotic problems, and all of them cost you either demurrage at the terminal or per diem on the box.
Why owning the chassis changes the answer
We run 15 chassis of our own. On a normal day that is invisible to you. On a bad day — a vessel bunching, a pool running dry, a holiday week — it is the entire difference between your container moving and your container waiting.
It also removes a line from your invoice. A chassis split, where the box and the chassis are in different places and someone has to go and marry them up, is a charge that exists because the carrier is renting equipment. We are not renting it.
Live unload or drop-and-hook
If your unload is quick and you have the door time, a live unload is simplest: the driver waits, you strip the container, the driver takes it back.
If your unload is slow, or your doors are committed, drop-and-hook is usually cheaper even though it looks like more moves. We drop the loaded container, you take as long as you need, we collect it later. You stop paying for a driver to sit in your yard.
If you are not sure which applies, describe the site and the unload and we will tell you which one we would book.
The clock that actually matters
Two clocks run on an import container and people mix them up. Demurrage is charged by the terminal for the box sitting on their ground past its free days. Per diem is charged by the steamship line for you holding their container past the allowed time once it has left.
Pulling a container early and putting it in our yard stops the demurrage clock. It does not stop per diem — only returning the empty does that. Knowing which one is running tells you whether you need speed or space, and those are different services.
Common questions
Which terminals and ramps do you pull from?
The Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma terminals, and the Northwest rail ramps. Tell us where the box is and we will confirm on the call.
How far in advance do you need to know?
The sooner the better, because appointment availability — not our capacity — is usually the constraint. If a last free day is close, say so immediately and we will tell you straight away whether it is achievable.
Can you return the empty?
Yes. Returning the empty is what stops per diem, so it is part of the job rather than a separate errand.
Need a container moved?
Tell us what is landing and when it has to be on the dock. We will come back with a rate and a window we can actually hold.