What Is Rail Container Drayage? A Plain-English Guide
If your freight comes to the Pacific Northwest by train in a shipping container, it still has to travel the last stretch to your door by truck. That truck move is called drayage.
The short version
Drayage is short-haul trucking that connects a train or ship to the customer. In rail drayage, a truck with a container chassis (the wheeled frame a container sits on) goes to a rail terminal, picks up your loaded container, and delivers it to your warehouse or job site. Once the container is empty, it goes back.
How a rail container delivery works
- The container arrives at the rail terminal. The railroad or your freight forwarder lets you know it's available for pickup.
- You book the truck. You give the trucking company the container number, the terminal, the delivery address and any appointment times.
- Pickup. The driver checks in at the terminal, the container is loaded onto the chassis, and the truck heads out.
- Delivery. The container is delivered to your dock or site for unloading.
- Return. The empty container goes back to wherever the container owner wants it.
Why timing matters
Rail terminals and container owners give you a limited number of free days. After that, charges start adding up, either for storage at the terminal or for keeping the container too long. Booking your truck early is the easiest way to avoid them. Our guide to demurrage and per diem explains both charges.
What to have ready when you call
- Container number and size
- Which rail terminal it's at, and when it's available
- Delivery address and any dock hours or appointment times
- Approximate weight of the cargo
- Where the empty container needs to go afterward, if you know
Romicj Trans delivers rail containers from the Portland–Vancouver area across Oregon and Washington at posted round-trip rates.