Drayage is a service that plays an essential role in the cold chain logistics industry. If you are looking for information about drayage services, you came to the right place. Here at Trojan Horse Trucking Services, we will be discussing an article about drayage service and how it works. If you want to know more information about this, we encourage you to keep reading below.
What is Drayage?
Drayage is a service that focuses on transporting goods across short distances. It usually includes trucking and transferring cargo inside containers from one port to another or from a port to a rail yard. It is an important service of intermodal shipping.
Drayage is a short-distance hauling solution that usually involves a single shift of a truck driver and is focused on serving a metropolitan area which makes it a quicker and more efficient way of transporting cargo.
What Are the Different Classifications of Drayage Services?
Business owners must know which classification of drayage service will suit their cargo delivery needs. Sometimes, a shipping container must be transported through drayage services multiple times during the shipment.
Door to Door
This type of drayage focuses on delivering goods from the seller directly to their customers via roadways. Truck delivery will be done to deliver the container of goods to your retail clients.
Expedited Drayage
This type of drayage focuses on transporting high-priority cargo that needs to be transported quickly.
Inter-Carrier Drayage
This type of drayage involves the movement of trucks in short distances. It also involves the transport of cargo between different types of carriers. The transportation of cargo from one distance to another like the trucking terminal to a rail yard is an example of inter-carrier drayage.
Intra-Carrier Drayage
This type of drayage involves transporting cargo to two different locations owned by the same trucking company. For example, goods will be transported from a freight hub to a rail yard.
Pier Drayage
This type of drayage involves a trailer truck utilizing roads and highways to transfer freight units from a rail hub to a pier.
Shuttle Drayage
This type of drayage involves a freight unit taken to a temporary spot like a parking lot because there is overcrowding at the original freight hub. This occurs for both empty and loaded trailers.
The drayage process involves shipping cargo over a short distance via roadways. Drayage is commonly used in intermodal shipping. It is a shipping service that moves containers for a truck, rail, or ship. Drayage is an important part of moving cargo because it can affect the success or failure of shipping goods and products.
Drayage is an important part of the container shipping industry, and according to the Intermodal Association of North America, there are more than 60 million drayage transports every year in North America. It also refers to niche shipping services that transport containers and trailers for trucks, ships, and rails.
Trucking companies that offer drayage services must get bonding and licenses so that they can operate and function properly. They transport containers from warehouses, rail hubs, ports, and piers. This usually includes transporting big steel shipping containers from rail cars and ship decks, then loading them on trucks. The containers will be taken to a warehouse or storage site as a part of the preparation for the next step in the freight shipping process. Drayage services are an important part of the logistics process.
Transporting Goods and Cargo Using Drayage Services
The transport of goods in containers using drayage services usually lasts shortly in comparison to its travel journey from its origin. When a shipment arrives in a port or pier, the drayage service designated truck drivers will move quickly to transfer the cargo assigned to them. Drayage service also involves the transport of freight from a warehouse to a port or to deliver it to its designated destination in a specified distance, which is usually short and limited within a state.
What is Intermodal Shipping?
Intermodal shipping is the process of transporting freight that is involved in two or more methods of shipping. Intermodal shipping usually includes a combination of transporting cargo via sea, air, or land. Intermodal shipments use a unique type of container so the cargo or freight can be transported continuously without the need to unpack them.
Approximately 95 % of international goods are transported using shipping containers. This is where intermodal shipping comes in, as it allows different types of cargo to be transported anywhere else in the world.
Drayage services are the ones responsible for connecting shipping containers from one place to another. It may include transporting a shipping container from a port to a rail hub to transport it to its designated destination. It also works in connecting containers of cargo from one freight hub to another. Drayage services may also include moving containers from a dock at an ocean pier to a trucking hub or rail yard so they can be transported to their designated destination.
Drayage Service and the Cold Chain Logistics
Drayage service also includes shipping containers that are refrigerated, which makes them a part of the cold chain. They are also called reefer containers and are equipped to preserve perishable goods at low temperatures during their shipment. Reefer containers are effective in maintaining temperature for goods that require cold temperatures. Goods like medicines, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other food products are usually shipped with reefer containers.
The cold chain must be maintained, especially for services that need to transport ice cream and fresh produce. Cold chain logistics is the process of shipping, keeping, and handling cold and frozen products. Refrigerated containers are designed to stay cold whether they travel by land, air, or ocean. Reefer containers have built-in insulation foam to support their cooling mechanisms. It is like a refrigerator, it has a compressor, condenser, and evaporator that functions together to keep the container stay cool. Cold chain logistics needs drayage services to transport cargo from one mode of shipping to another.
What is the Importance of Drayage Services?
Drayage services are used by different businesses such as retail venues and trade shows. Just like moving cargo at a port, there are plenty of things that happen behind the scenes of trade shows and shopping malls. For example, shopping malls are consist of different stores which get the cargo in and out of the mall, they benefit from using drayage service to bring in their shipment from a trailer truck to their store. Even though malls have delivery hubs, the short distance that a drayage services covers is an important aspect that a store needs regularly.
Trade shows benefit from using drayage service to move exhibitors with ease. The trucking company that is tasked to deliver the shipment to the trade show’s location will then transport the cargo within a short distance from the loading dock to their designated space on the tradeshow. When the show is done, the carrier will then move everything back to the loading dock for pickup and delivery.
What Are the Different Types of Drayage Containers?
Shipping containers come in different sizes and have different functions. A normal shipping container size is 20, 40, or 45 feet in length and may range from 6-8 feet in height. The containers are usually made from aluminum or steel. A refrigerated container can transport cargo and should preserve a low temperature during the shipment.
Here are some of the container types that are commonly used in drayage services.
- Standard or Dry – The most commonly used container for shipping dry materials. The available sizes are 20, 40, or 10 feet.
- Flat Rack – This container has collapsible sides; it allows the sides to be folded so it can be used to shipping different types of products.
- Open top – This container has a removable top part so any materials with different heights can be shipped easily.
- Refrigerated – This container is temperature regulated, has controlled low temperature, and can be used to ship products that are perishable such as fruits, meats, and vegetables.
- Tunnel – This container has doors on both ends which makes loading and unloading of cargo faster and easier.
If you are based in Arizona and you need an intrastate drayage service, you must contact Trojan Horse Truck Services. We offer trailer pickup and delivery and trailer spotter services. If you are interested to hire us, you can check our rates and services by clicking this link here. If you have further questions you can always contact us by filling up this contact form here.
Is your business based in Arizona? If you need an intrastate drayage service, you must check out Trojan Horse Truck Services. Our company owner Steve Romeo has founded our company in 1985. He has more than 30 years of experience in the trucking industry. We started as a solo truck operation and now we have expanded as a multi-truck operation thanks to our loyal clients that keep on coming back to work with us and bring us business.
We only hire professional drivers that have the skills and experience in driving class 8 tractors. If you are interested in hiring us, please contact us by calling 602-332-0877 or writing an email at trojanhorseaz@gmail.com. What are you waiting for? Contact us today! We will be glad to help you out with your business!
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