How to book drayage. A container from the port to your door in five steps.
Drayage is the short truck move that takes a shipping container from a port terminal or a rail ramp to its next stop: your warehouse, a transload dock or another rail yard. Booking it well is mostly timing. The container has to be released by customs and by the ocean carrier, pulled before the terminal's last free day, delivered to a dock that can unload it, and returned empty before the carrier's free days end. This guide covers the releases, what a drayage quote has to include, live unload versus drop, and the three clocks behind demurrage and per diem. On Warp you name the port, the destination ZIP and the box size, and live rates from licensed drayage carriers book in the dashboard.
By Troy Lester, Co-Founder & CRO
Live all-inclusive rates
Warp customers
What drayage is, and where it sits in the import
The first truck leg of every import box, priced per container, and the leg where most surprise charges are born.
A container arrives at a terminal on a vessel or at a rail ramp on a train. Drayage is the truck that takes it from there: to your warehouse for unloading, to a transload dock where it is emptied onto pallets, or to a rail yard for the inland leg. The carrier supplies a tractor and a chassis (the trailer the container rides on), pulls the box, delivers it, and brings the empty back to the port.
A drayage price is per container, per move. What makes it different from a truckload rate is that three separate clocks run against the container while it is in your hands, and each one bills by the day. Booking drayage is the job of getting the box out and back inside those clocks.
Step 1: Collect the container’s status
Everything you need is on the arrival notice from the ocean carrier or your forwarder:
- Container number and size, and the bill of lading number.
- Terminal: which terminal at the port the vessel discharges to. Los Angeles and Long Beach alone have more than ten.
- Vessel ETA and the expected discharge date.
- Last free day: the last day the container can sit at the terminal without demurrage.
Two releases have to post before any trucker can gate the container out:
- Customs release: the entry has cleared, filed by your customs broker.
- Freight release: the ocean carrier confirms the freight is paid and the original bill of lading is surrendered or released by telex.
Check both on the terminal’s website by container number. A trucker sent for a container that is not released bills a dry run.
Step 2: Enter the move
A drayage quote needs four facts:
- The port or rail ramp. Warp prices nine ocean gateways and three rail ramps live, listed below.
- The destination ZIP. Price is set by road miles from the terminal, so the exact ZIP matters more than the city.
- Container size: 20, 40 or 45 ft. High cube and standard price the same on the road.
- Cargo weight. About 44,000 lb of cargo in a 40 ft and about 38,000 lb in a 20 ft is the most a standard chassis can carry legally. Heavier needs a tri axle chassis and an overweight permit, both priced as extras, so an honest weight on the quote avoids a reprice at the gate.
Add the delivery date you want. Pulling inside the terminal’s free days is the whole game; a quote dated after the last free day already carries a demurrage bill.
Step 3: Read the quote
A complete drayage price is all in for the move itself. Check that it covers:
- The truck, fuel and tolls from the terminal to your door and back.
- The chassis for the first days, named as a count.
- The empty return to the port.
- At Los Angeles and Long Beach, Pier Pass and the Clean Truck Fee, which are charged on every box.
Then check that the charges billed only if they happen are named with their rates before you book:
- Waiting time: the driver’s time at your dock past the free hours on a live unload.
- Pre pull and yard storage: moving the container out of the terminal before the last free day into a drayage yard, then delivering when your dock is ready. Often cheaper than a day of demurrage.
- Chassis split: an extra stop to pick up or return a chassis at a different location from the container.
- Dry run: a trip to a terminal where the container was not released or not available.
- Overweight: the tri axle chassis and permit for cargo over the road limit.
On Warp the quote is all in for the move and the conditional charges are listed with their rates before you book and billed only if they happen. The hub at /drayage walks free time, the last free day, demurrage and per diem day by day.
Step 4: Book and send the paperwork
Book the move, then give the carrier what the driver needs at the gate and at your dock:
- The delivery order from the forwarder or broker, which authorizes the pickup.
- The release confirmation, or the terminal appointment if the terminal requires one (most large terminals do).
- Your dock hours, a contact, and the receiving rules (appointment, PPE, check in gate).
Decide how the container gets unloaded:
- Live unload. The driver waits while your team unloads, usually with two free hours. Cheapest when the dock is ready and the load is palletized.
- Drop and pick. The driver leaves the container on its chassis at your dock and returns for the empty later. Costs more, keeps the driver’s clock off your dock, and suits floor loaded cargo that takes hours to unload.
- Transload. Send the container to a dock that empties it onto pallets and ships LTL onward. The right move for cargo bound for several destinations.
Step 5: Run the three clocks
Three clocks run on every import box. Pull it and return the empty inside them, and the only bill is the price you booked.
- Terminal free time. The terminal grants a handful of free days after discharge. Demurrage starts the morning after the last free day and rises in tiers the longer the box sits.
- Chassis days. The chassis is rented per day. The quote includes the first days; a drop and pick or a slow unload adds more.
- Per diem on the container. The ocean carrier bills for its container every day it is outside the terminal past its free days until the empty is returned.
Day of: the driver pulls the container at the terminal appointment, delivers it in the booked window, and either waits through the live unload or returns on the agreed day for the empty. Track the pull and the empty return; the empty in gate receipt is what ends the per diem clock.
Ports and ramps priced live on Warp
Ocean gateways:
- Los Angeles and Long Beach
- Savannah
- Houston
- New York and New Jersey
- Norfolk
- Charleston
- Miami
- Oakland
- Seattle and Tacoma
Rail ramps:
Each port page lists the terminals, the destinations nearest the port with their road miles, and the port’s own fees.
How to book drayage on Warp
The port, the ZIP and the box size. Live rates from licensed drayage carriers, booked in the dashboard.
- In the form above, pick the port or ramp where the container lands and type the destination ZIP.
- Choose the container size and give the cargo weight.
- Review the live rates. Each one shows what it includes and names the conditional charges with their rates.
- Book. Warp quotes, books and bills the move; licensed drayage carriers run their own trucks.
- Send the delivery order and the release, and set the dock appointment. Track the pull, the delivery and the empty return in the dashboard.
Common drayage mistakes
- Booking the truck after the vessel arrives. Free days are counted from discharge; book while the ship is still at sea.
- Sending a truck before both releases post. The result is a dry run bill and a day lost.
- Guessing the weight. Overweight is discovered at the terminal scale, and the reprice is yours.
- A live unload on a floor loaded container. Four hours of waiting time costs more than a drop and pick.
- Forgetting the empty. Per diem runs until the empty is gated back in, not until your dock is clear.
- Unloading one container at ten doors. Transload at a dock and ship LTL.
Frequently asked questions
What does a drayage move include?
Drayage is the short truck move that takes a shipping container from a port terminal or a rail ramp to its next stop: a warehouse, a transload dock or another rail yard.
It is the first truck leg of every import container. The price covers the truck, the chassis the container rides on, and taking the empty container back to the port.
What do I need to book drayage?
The container number, the terminal and the last free day from the arrival notice; confirmation that customs release and freight release have posted; the destination ZIP; the container size; and the cargo weight.
Then the delivery order and your dock hours go to the carrier after booking.
How much does drayage cost?
A drayage price is per container and set mostly by the road miles from the terminal to your door, the container size and the port’s own fees.
The all in price covers the truck, fuel, tolls, the first chassis days and the empty return.
Charges such as waiting time, pre pull, chassis split, dry run and overweight are billed only if they happen.
Warp prices nine US ocean gateways and three rail ramps live; pick the port and type your ZIP on this page.
What is the difference between demurrage and per diem?
Demurrage is the terminal’s daily charge for a container that stays on the dock after its last free day.
Per diem, also called detention, is the ocean carrier’s daily charge for its container being outside the terminal past the free days, until the empty is returned.
Pulling inside the free days and returning the empty promptly avoids both.
What is a pre pull?
A pre pull moves the container out of the terminal before the last free day into a drayage yard, then delivers it when your dock is ready.
It trades a day or two of yard storage for the demurrage that would otherwise accrue at the terminal, and it is usually the cheaper of the two.
Should I choose a live unload or a drop?
A live unload, where the driver waits while you unload within the free hours, is cheapest for a palletized container at a ready dock.
A drop and pick, where the container is left at your dock and collected later, costs more but suits floor loaded cargo or a dock that cannot unload on arrival.
For cargo going to several destinations, a transload to pallets and LTL onward beats both.
How much weight can a container carry on the road?
On a standard chassis, about 44,000 lb of cargo in a 40 ft container and about 38,000 lb in a 20 ft.
Heavier cargo needs a tri axle chassis and an overweight permit on the drayage leg, so give the real weight on the quote.
Which ports does Warp price drayage from?
Nine ocean gateways: Los Angeles and Long Beach, Savannah, Houston, New York and New Jersey, Norfolk, Charleston, Miami, Oakland, and Seattle and Tacoma.
Plus three rail ramps: Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago. Each has its own page with terminals, nearby destinations and the port’s fees.
About the Warp freight network
More about the Warp freight network
Warp is the open source freight network: the tech is free and the network is open. We run Warp LTL, our own carrier, Warp FTL, cargo van, box truck and fulfillment ourselves, with every major LTL carrier, parcel, ocean, air and drayage plugged in beside them. Our driver app rides on every truck and our warehouse app runs every cross-dock, so an open network of 38,000+ carriers behaves like one carrier you control. Warp is licensed by the FMCSA as a property broker and freight forwarder, and runs the network itself: instant rates, live tracking, 70+ cross-dock facilities, 14,000+ cargo vans and box trucks, 80%+ US LTL zip-to-zip coverage and nationwide FTL, box truck and cargo van.
The network is supported by 24,000+ vetted FTL carriers.
Unlike traditional brokers, Warp uses AI to match the right vehicle to every load based on weight, dimensions, urgency, and cost targets. Cross-dock operations reduce transit time by eliminating unnecessary terminal transfers.
Pool distribution and zone-skipping programs help enterprise shippers lower per-unit delivery costs while maintaining tight appointment windows.
Self-serve shippers can quote, compare, and book freight online in under two minutes. Enterprise accounts get dedicated capacity planning, committed rate programs, and a named operations team. Every shipment includes scan-level visibility from pickup through final delivery.
Warp operates across the contiguous United States with regional density in the Southeast, Texas, Midwest, and Northeast corridors, and West Coast and Southwest coverage from Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix.
Warp operates 70+ cross-dock facilities across the US, with named markets including Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, New York, Savannah, Orlando, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Columbus, Denver, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Dallas-Fort Worth, Nashville, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Los Angeles. They support faster transfers and fewer touches on recurring lanes.
Freight modes and vehicle types
| Mode | Max payload | Max cube | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cargo van | 3,500 lbs | 400 cu ft | Time-sensitive, last-mile, light pallets |
| Box truck | 10,000 lbs | 1,500 cu ft | Regional distribution, no dock required |
| LTL | Per-pallet | Shared trailer | Lower per-pallet cost via cross-dock routing |
| Dry van / FTL | 42,000+ lbs | Full 53-ft trailer | High-volume lanes, recurring programs |
Cargo vans handle loads up to 3,500 pounds and 400 cubic feet, ideal for time-sensitive deliveries, last-mile retail replenishment, and lightweight palletized freight.
Box trucks carry up to 10,000 pounds and 1,500 cubic feet, fitting most regional distribution and store delivery needs without requiring a loading dock.
Dry vans and full truckloads move 42,000+ pounds for high-volume lanes and recurring programs. LTL shipments share trailer space on optimized routes through Warp cross-docks, reducing per-pallet cost by consolidating multiple shippers on the same vehicle.
Warp does not default every shipment to a 53-foot trailer. The AI engine evaluates load weight, cube, delivery window, and cost to recommend the right vehicle. Shippers see all available mode options with live pricing in one comparison screen before booking.
Cross-dock operations
Cross-docking at Warp facilities keeps freight moving instead of storing it: inbound freight is sorted and transferred directly to outbound vehicles, typically within hours. When inventory does need to sit, Warp's fulfillment centers in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and New Jersey hold it inside the same network, with same day delivery within 30 miles of each.
This reduces dwell time, lowers damage risk, and compresses delivery windows. Warp cross-docks support pallet-in, pallet-out operations with scan-level tracking at every handoff point.
- Atlanta — Southeast retail flow
- Chicago — Midwest manufacturing and replenishment
- Houston — Texas industrial distribution
- New York — dense Northeast delivery
Facility locations are selected for corridor density: Atlanta handles Southeast retail flow, Chicago serves Midwest manufacturing and replenishment, Houston covers Texas industrial distribution, and New York supports dense Northeast delivery. Each facility operates on appointment-based scheduling to prevent congestion and maintain throughput consistency.
Enterprise freight programs
Enterprise shippers get committed rate programs, dedicated account management, and custom SLA design. Warp builds lane-by-lane rate structures that account for volume commitments, seasonal variation, and mode flexibility. Operations teams monitor shipment execution daily and intervene proactively when exceptions occur.
Self-serve freight quoting
Shippers enter origin and destination, load details, and delivery requirements to see live rates across all available modes. Quotes include estimated transit time, vehicle type, and total cost.
Booking takes one click. After booking, shippers track every shipment with real-time GPS location, milestone updates, and proof of delivery documentation.
Industries and use cases
Retail shippers use Warp for store replenishment programs that deliver to hundreds of locations per week on tight appointment windows. Apparel brands use zone skipping to bypass regional parcel sortation and reduce per-unit delivery cost.
Food and beverage companies rely on time-definite delivery for perishable goods. Manufacturing operations use Warp for inbound vendor consolidation, combining multiple supplier shipments into fewer, fuller loads through cross-dock facilities.
Distribution companies use pool distribution to serve multiple delivery points from a single origin, splitting full truckloads at cross-docks into smaller last-mile vehicles.
Urgent freight recovery covers emergency capacity needs when primary carriers fail or demand spikes unexpectedly. Middle-mile optimization reduces cost and transit time on the longest segment of multi-leg shipments.
Book your container pull today.
Name the port, the destination ZIP and the box size. Live rates from licensed drayage carriers, all in for the move, booked in the Warp dashboard.
Performance figures are computed from Warp network data. See our methodology.
By Troy Lester