Drayage is a key service that involves shipping items for a short distance between long hauls and intermodal transport. It is an essential part of the shipping and transport process.
Drayage is a crucial component of major industries. Container companies employ drayage to transport a variety of goods, like automobiles, steel, metals, and many more. Containers can be more than 1,000 tons.
Classifications of Drayage Transport
Drayage companies are classified based on their size as well as their efficiency in the handling of the cargo. The Intermodal Association of North America has created a few classifications of drayage into these categories
Expedited Drayage
The ideal type of drayage that is suitable for time-sensitive tasks. The individuals in charge favor using this technique when the task needs to be completed as swiftly as is possible.
Road freight is often the method of transport for such services.
Inter-Carrier Drayage
This kind of drayage involves the movement of products from one transportation medium to another.
A good example is the short distances between trains and the rail system.
Intra-Carrier Drayage
A transport company typically prefers to use intra-carrier transfers for the transportation of products between two hubs that the same company owns.
For instance, containers could require transportation to an intermodal hub and railway station.
Pier Drayage
It uses an auto carrier to move products from a prior railroad hub or rail station to a pier unit, or the hub for piers.
The method relies on highways to reach the Pier.
Shuttle Drayage
Sometimes, the goods and cargo overcrowd the hubs. To alleviate this problem the shuttle drayage moves certain units to a storage or parking space temporarily.
In both cases, empty or loaded units could need this kind of drayage.
Door-to-Door Drayage
This method allows containers to be delivered directly to retail customers usually via roads and trucks.
Drayage is an enormous issue for the majority of logistics and transportation firms. It’s also a hugely underserved and under-appreciated component in the chain of supply.
In recent years there have been a lot of startups and businesses that are now offering special products to tackle these issues.
Drayage services are essential because they effectively transport cargo between the dock and its desired location.
Although drayage is an insignificant element of the logistics chain, it plays an essential function that shippers cannot ignore.