Drayage

News and analysis of drayage trucking, rates, supply, regulation, service providers

The latest Drayage News & Analysis

Pilot project aims to open more trucker slots in Los Angeles-Long Beach

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The Harbor Trucking Association is teaming with Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles to increase the number of appointment slots each day by cutting the container receiving window from two hours to 90 minutes.
North American portsMarine terminalsDrayageRail News

Revamped Southeast chassis pool to charge ‘penalty fee’ to unregistered users

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Consolidated Chassis Management is asking cargo owners to encourage their trucking partners to sign up for the South Atlantic Chassis Pool (SACP) 3.0 before it launches in October.
Drayage

Chassis maker CIE halts US equipment imports

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
CIE Manufacturing, a major manufacturer of new chassis, has suspended all imports of chassis into the US in response to an investigation by US customs officials.
DrayageNorth American ports

C&K Trucking expands to Columbus and Kansas City, with more to come

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The major eastern US drayage provider is looking to expand its footprint to California and the Pacific Northwest before the end of the year, markets where its major competitors already operate.
Drayage

Chassis providers rehabbing fleets as costs for new units remain elevated

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
With demand in ports and rail hubs weak, chassis providers are turning their attention to refurbishing older, less-reliable units, a process that is expected to take years to complete.
Drayage

US chassis lessors learning from pandemic surge as demand wanes

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
With international rail volume down by double-digit percentages in 2023, chassis providers have an opportunity to reflect on the struggles of 2021 and 2022 and adjust their networks ahead of the next surge.
Drayage

First new chassis arrive for new South Atlantic pool

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The first chassis for a new equipment pool covering the ports of Jacksonville, Savannah, and Wilmington, NC, arrived this week, the first step ahead of an October launch.
DrayageNorth American ports

CBP rules US chassis manufacturer evaded tariffs on China-sourced parts

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The ruling could place an additional burden on US chassis manufacturers to ensure their subcontractors are using US materials or paying duties on parts from China.
Drayage

Shippers, regulators muddle through ‘grey area’ of rail storage fees

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Shippers want Congress to address their inability to challenge rail demurrage fees when they contract for merchant haulage, but finding a solution will be tricky, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
Container Shipping NewsDrayageSurfaceInternational railTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Geodis acquires South Florida-based drayage carrier

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Geodis has acquired Southern Companies, a South Florida-based container drayage provider, the latest in a series of trucking and warehousing acquisitions in the US over the last two months.
Drayage

NY-NJ port stakeholders improve trucker experience as downturn cuts work

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The influx of new drivers to the New York-New Jersey port helped it handle record volumes in 2022, but the downturn means less work and possibly more turnover.
DrayageContainer Shipping NewsNorth American ports

Drayage rates fall sharply amid downturn in NY-NJ port volumes

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
New York-New Jersey port truckers who worked five days per week last year are now down to about half that amount, sending spot drayage rates well below levels seen in 2021 and 2022.
DrayageNorth American portsTrucking NewsTruck brokersIntermodal providers

NFI, RoadOne expand networks with acquisitions in Canada, US

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Transportation and logistics companies continue to grow by acquiring competitors, and although the wave of acquisitions may have crested there is still plenty of opportunity in a soft market.
SurfaceDrayageTrucking NewsTruckload

IEPs file brief siding with ocean carriers in FMC chassis dispute

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The independent equipment providers say upending the current business model would create additional chassis shortages and invoicing problems that would inconvenience cargo owners.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer linesDrayage

Drayage tech provider PortPro targeting shippers with new tracking tools

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Drayage software vendor PortPro is attempting to narrow the gap between the tools that port truckers and their shipper customers use with a new container milestone tracking product it has launched.
Logistics Technology NewsNorth American portsDrayageTrucking News

Maersk shifts detention billing to consignees ahead of FMC regulation

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The move by the carrier comes as the FMC is in the midst of a rulemaking process around detention and demurrage billing mandated by the passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 last June.
DrayageContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American portsTrucking NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

US startup eyes street turn tech expansion throughout North America

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Technology startup Qualle is trying to overcome drayage industry inertia around matching empty import boxes with export loads outside of ports by using early-stage funding to serve every North American port market.
Logistics Technology NewsPort NewsMarine terminalsNorth American portsDrayageTrucking News

FMC judge ruling on chassis will have major impact, but questions linger

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
A decision by an FMC administrative judge on chassis usage will shake up the way chassis are provisioned for ocean containers, but there are several unknowns on what the future will look like at ports and rail hubs.
Container linesContainer Shipping NewsNorth American portsDrayageTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Spot truckload rates rising at US East Coast ports, falling on West Coast

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Analysts have told the Journal of Commerce they expect spot market pricing to bottom out and remain flat for some time before rising again, most likely at a slow pace.
SurfaceDrayageTrucking NewsTruckload

FMC administrative judge rules in truckers’ favor in chassis dispute

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Ocean carriers cannot limit the use of chassis by motor carriers in merchant haulage, the FMC’s chief administrative judge said in an “initial” summary decision meant to resolve a long-running dispute. 
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesDrayage

Investors fuel drayage software provider PortPro with $12 million in funding

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Investors see drayage as an area rife for technological improvement, with software provider PortPro the latest startup to secure funding to empower port truckers.
Logistics Technology NewsPort NewsDrayageTrucking News

WiseTech makes US drayage play with acquisition of Envase

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
WiseTech Global, owner of the most widely used forwarding software product, has acquired a prominent vendor of drayage management software, capping a year of takeovers for the company.
Logistics Technology NewsForwardingPort NewsDrayageSupply chain

RoadOne looks to tap Houston freight growth with deal for Texas drayage carrier

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The sharp increase in freight activity seen at the Port of Houston over the past year has prompted national drayage provider RoadOne IntermodaLogistics to acquire a Texas motor carrier.
DrayageNorth American portsTrucking NewsTruckload

Proposed federal rule threatens independent contractor model in trucking: opponents

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
A new rule proposed by the US Department of Labor could signal the beginning of the end of the independent contractor model in port drayage and other trucking sectors, opponents say.
DrayageTrucking labor

Charleston’s growth drives private equity acquisition of drayage carrier

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Population and economic growth in the US Southeast and the impact on growth at the Port of Charleston has prompted a private equity firm to buy a regional drayage and warehousing firm.
North American portsDrayage

Falling imports mute capacity impact of California’s new clean-fleet drayage rule

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Although truckers at California’s ports must comply with a new clean-fleet rule and enforcement of the AB5 worker classification law, declining cargo volumes should prevent a drayage capacity shortage.
North American portsDrayage

Hapag-Lloyd hit with FMC rail demurrage complaint

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The filing is just the latest in a barrage of complaints made against various container lines with the FMC in recent months, a flurry accelerated by major reform of US shipping law that went into effect in June.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesDrayageRail NewsIntermodal providersNorth-American rail

M&A in US trucking, logistics cross ‘asset lines’

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
US transportation companies with cash on hand are acquiring asset-based truckers and non-asset freight brokers alike to add services and shipper customers and build network density.
TruckloadDrayageTruck brokers

RoadOne acquires Texas drayage provider

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The latest acquisition by RoadOne strengthens its national intermodal drayage fleet, connecting customers and containerized freight from the Northeast to the US Gulf Coast.
Drayage

NY-NJ port truckers tepid on Saturday terminal gates

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
NY-NJ marine terminals have been almost constantly offering Saturday gates over the last two years to help move import volumes, but those gates have accounted for only about 5 percent of total truck transactions.
North American portsDrayage

RoadOne adds to transload footprint in Oakland, Norfolk

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
RoadOne sees demand for transload services as being sustainable enough to outlast any economic downturn as it invests in facilities in Norfolk and Oakland.
Rail NewsDrayageTrucking News

New clean truck rule puts California dray capacity on chopping block

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
As a new clean truck rule in California looms, replacing older trucks with compliant vehicles is becoming increasingly difficult — and costly — amid shortages of microchips and other parts.
Drayage

LA-LB truckers add to push for FMC action on empty box returns

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Harbor Trucking Association says it will provide evidence to the FMC about the burdens that West Coast drayage carriers face in returning empties to Los Angeles–Long Beach marine terminals.
North American portsDrayage

NY-NJ port to impose dwell fee targeting empty containers

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it will start charging an export container dwell fee in a bid to prod ocean carriers to remove more containers than they drop off.
North American portsDrayage

US truckers flip back into drayage as long-haul spot rates dive

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Drivers are returning to port drayage as long-haul trucking rates slide and operating costs for small, independent motor carriers rise.
Drayage

Brokerage model offers post-AB5 path in California

Peter Tirschwell |
Some California trucking companies have already taken the brokerage plunge, enabling them to contract at arm’s length with independent truckers who have set themselves up as single-truck carriers.
Drayage

Delays rise at Ontario rail ramps amid surge in Vancouver volumes

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Canada’s Class I railroads have been dealing with a surge of freight from Vancouver that has taxed a shrinking pool of available truckers across the country in Ontario.
North-American railDrayage

New KlearNow product ties customs to drayage network

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Customs software provider KlearNow has added a drayage service to its product in order to sync cargo availability to capacity from its network of dray providers.
Logistics Technology NewsDrayage

Freight shuttle developer eyes Houston port for first roll-out

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Amid supply chain gridlock throughout the US, the Port of Houston has signed an agreement to investigate the potential use of an electric rail shuttle system for inland container movement.
North American portsDrayage

Wan Hai pays $850,000 fine to settle FMC detention case

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
For the second time in two weeks, a container line has been assessed a US civil penalty for collecting detention fees last year when it allegedly did not provide drayage providers with a means to return empty containers.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsDrayageContainer linesMaritime