Drayage is one of the most crucial components of modern supply chains, providing the critical link of moving containers to and from seaports and railroad terminals. While many outside of the industry have not even heard the term, drayage is the short haul trucking that keeps millions of containers annually moving through the US national port system. Check out the full article HERE.
Here’s the latest Zmodal video, this time explaining what drayage is, the major components of drayage and why US ports are so backed up.
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One of the most interesting developments we touch on in the video is the deployment of electric semi-trucks on short-haul drayage runs. While long haul trucking presents a major challenge for range-limited electric class 8 trucks, the shorter hauls typical of drayage operations are a great fit for early electric trucks and provide an opportunity to test and refine the technology.
Domestic shippers also utilize drayage, whether they know it or not, for door-to-door domestic intermodal shipping services. For domestic intermodal shipping, over the road drayage carriers are utilized to move the 53ft domestic containers from the shipper to the rail terminal, then from the destination end rail terminal to the receiver. Rail terminals, similar to ocean ports, utilize large cranes to move the containers between intermodal railway cars and the truck chassis for the drayage move.
Intermodal is an attractive option for long-haul cross-country shipping due to its lower cost vs over the road trucking, and the additional guaranteed capacity which is a significant advantage, highlighted even more so when trucking rates are as high as they are now and capacity is so limited.
Look to see more technology deployed to the drayage industry, overall growth in drayage capacity and overall revenues as more and more cargo is moved via container.
Zmodal is a top intermodal shipping company, providing door-to-door intermodal, and full truckload services nationwide through our digital supply chain dashboard which provides easy route searching, booking, document management, and analytics. CONTACT US if you want to lower your supply chain costs or want access to North American intermodal capacity.
