How Much Does Drayage Cost?

Why Drayage Costs Matter 

Many businesses overlook drayage costs when planning a shipment, even though short hauls often hide big expenses. As a reminder, drayage is short-distance transport of containers between ports, rail yards, and warehouses. As such, small inefficiencies across the channel (wait times, congestion, chassis fees) can snowball into high costs. Evidently, it is key to understand where your money goes when you’re planning your shipments so you are better equipped to plan smarter and more efficiently. So let’s break all that down in this article. 

Learn more about how drayage works in our What Is Drayage? guide. 

What Drayage Costs Include 

Drayage costs generally fall under three buckets: base rate, accessorial fees, and penalties. Each cost is affected by operational realities at ports, rail yards, and distribution centers. 

Base Rate Breakdown 

The foundation of any drayage cost includes: 

• Distance and travel time of the haul (affected by congestion). 

• Container size/type (20ft, 40ft, reefer… each requiring different chassis and energy use). 

• Equipment use (chassis, reefer power, overweight permits… all contribute to final costs). 

• Driver time and labor, which are especially a factor in case loading or unloading take more time than expected. 

• Fuel surcharge (variable based on market prices). 

So really, depending on distance and service complexity, even short hauls can run hundreds to over a thousand dollars in costs. 

Additional & Accessorial Costs 

Although considered “extra” charges, accessorial costs are quite common, coming from operational constraints, delays, or scheduling changes. These fees include: 

• Drop Fee: when the driver leaves the container at your site for unloading and returns later for retrieval 

• Stop-Off Fee: Multiple delivery stops before reaching the final destination incur these fees. 

• Layover Fee: Delays due to yard congestion or delays in scheduling cause overnight stays (and costs). 

• Chassis Rental: When borrowing a chassis from a carrier or terminal, this incurs daily or hourly charges. 

Fortunately, good planning can greatly reduce these charges to minimize idle time, curb additional fuel use, and overall streamline coordination across the itinerary. 

Demurrage, Detention & Storage Penalties 

Delays beyond agreed timeframes lead to significant incremental costs; these are the third category of costs to pay attention to. 

• Demurrage: This is charged when the container stays too long at the port or terminal before pickup. 

• Detention: Containers kept too long after pickup beyond the allowed “free time” incur this cost. And the longer the container stays, the higher the detention cost will be. 

• Storage Fees: Charges at the yard or warehouse when the truck or container waits for a longer duration than agreed upon. 

With the typical daily costs ranging between $75 and $200 a day, efficient scheduling becomes critical to keep these costs at a minimum. 

To know more about these charges, check out the What Is Drayage and Demurrage? section in the main drayage guide. 

Factors Affecting the Final Quote 

Your total cost can shift, even when the base distance is the same, as a result of some external and operational factors. 

• Explain external influences: 

• Congestion: port or rail delays increase idle time. 

• Appointment scheduling issues: in case of last-minute changes or tight scheduling, leading to missed slots and rescheduling fees 

• Container condition: extra handling is usually required in case of overweight, damaged, or temperature-controlled containers. 

• Yard efficiency: if loading and/or unloading are inefficiently conducted, hourly charges will end up increasing. 

• Fuel and seasonal surges: increasing diesel costs or shipping high seasons like the holidays hike up the rates globally. 

With WTL’s logistics team constantly monitoring all these variables to secure transparency and fair quotes based on real-time parameters, hidden costs are never part of the equation. 
 

How to Control and Reduce Costs 

Although some costs can’t be avoided, adopting best practices can definitely lower costs. Here are 5 main tips: 

1. Pre-book port and warehouse appointments early to reduce idle time. 

2. Consolidate shipments to reduce the number of hauls and consequently the overall cost. 

3. Schedule off-peak deliveries to avoid congestion and higher rates. 

4. Track container movements in real-time to preempt demurrage and detention costs. 

5. Partner with experienced and reliable drayage providers, especially like WTL, which has its own fleet and offers real-time tracking. 

• Encourage proactive planning, not reactive problem-solving. 

Conclusion 

Proactive planning, not reactive problem-solving, is key to controlling drayage costs. Understanding the 3 different categories of costs and how effective planning and coordination across your logistics network can greatly impact them is key to managing your shipping operation. 

At WTL, we bring experience, transparency, and our very own fleet to the table, maximizing control and efficiency, and minimizing drayage costs overall. 

Contact us to share your drayage requirements and discover how you can streamline the operation by receiving a no-obligation, comprehensive, and customized cost breakdown. Act now!