Drayage Trucking Services: Port Pickup to Final Delivery
Drayage trucking services from Platton get your import container out of the terminal before its free days run out. Drayage is the short truck haul that moves an ocean container on US roads. Platton picks up your container from every major US port and rail ramp and delivers it to your warehouse, tracked from port gate to your dock. You get one dispatch team, live GPS on every container, and a rate with no accessorial surprises.
Faster Port Pickup, On-Time Delivery, Full Tracking
Container Pickup Before Demurrage Charges Hit
The clock starts the moment your container is available at the terminal. Platton's port drayage network has pre-positioned chassis and drivers who pick up inside the free-time window, and where the terminal uses gate appointments, the slot is booked as soon as the box is available. That keeps you clear of demurrage, the daily charge for a loaded box left in the terminal after its Last Free Day, commonly $150 to $250 a day at first and $350 or more later. Per-diem is a separate daily charge, commonly $100 to $200, when the ocean carrier's container stays outside the terminal past the free days; the demurrage vs detention guide explains both clocks.
Container Delivery That Hits the Appointment Window
Warehouses and distribution centers do not accept deliveries outside their slots. Our drayage dispatchers book the delivery appointment in advance, track drivers by GPS, and reschedule early if a delay appears, so your container does not sit on a chassis waiting for a missed window to reopen. If your dock has no slot before free time ends, the container is pre-pulled to a yard near the terminal and delivered when you can take it.
FCL, Reefer, and Overweight Container Drayage
Drayage moves full containers, so that is what Platton is built for: standard 20ft and 40ft boxes straight from the terminal to your warehouse, refrigerated containers with genset power, and overweight loads on a tri-axle chassis. For heavy or out-of-gauge containers, we handle the permits and routing.
GPS Tracking on Every Truck and Every Load
You get real-time visibility from the moment the driver gates out of the terminal until the box is dropped at your warehouse. ETA updates push to your Platton dashboard, so you see when the truck leaves without calling dispatch.
Nationwide Drayage and Rail-Ramp Coverage
Platton's drayage connects every major US port to inland warehouses, distribution centers, and rail ramps. We move standard 20ft and 40ft boxes that arrive by ocean freight, refrigerated containers, and overweight loads that need permits.
When a destination sits inland, we run rail drayage: dray the container to the rail ramp, move it by rail, and dray it from the destination ramp to your door. You set the priority, and we route the container to it. The pickup at the destination ramp is timed to the train's arrival, and when a box has to change railroads in the same city, a crosstown dray moves it from one ramp to the other.
For a long inland leg, the container can also be emptied near the port: our warehouse services move the cargo into 53-foot trailers, and the empty goes back to the terminal within days. In Houston, that transload is a common answer for boxes too heavy for roads beyond the port corridor or bound for Dallas.
Major US drayage ports and rail ramps
West gateways
Seattle, Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix
South Central and border gateways
El Paso, Laredo, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, New Orleans
Midwest and Southeast inland ramps
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic gateways
Major US Drayage Ports and Rail Ramps
Platton runs drayage at US container ports and inland rail ramps nationwide. Coverage includes:
West: Seattle, Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix
South Central and border: El Paso, Laredo, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, New Orleans
Midwest: Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Chicago, Decatur, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus
Southeast: Memphis, Huntsville, Mobile, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Boston
Wherever your container enters the US, Platton has chassis and drivers at the gateway to pull it and run it to your door.
Of these 42 ports and rail ramps, three have a drayage page of their own. Savannah drayage starts at Garden City Terminal, where almost all of Savannah's containers come off the ship. Chicago drayage is rail ramp work: containers come in by train from the coast and are picked up at seven ramps. Houston drayage runs from two terminals, Bayport and Barbours Cut, with an Express Pass appointment for every pickup.
Platton's Drayage Network and Coverage
Platton holds contracted chassis pools and dedicated drivers at every major US container gateway, capacity that stays in place through peak season instead of evaporating when terminals back up. From those gateways the network reaches inland warehouses, distribution centers, and rail ramps coast to coast, so the box keeps moving from the terminal to your dock.
Drayage Performance by the Numbers
Platton runs drayage to measured results, not promises:
Same-day port pickup rate
93%
Average gate-out-to-delivery
36 hours
On-time delivery rate
97.4%
Average fees saved per container
$280
The Drayage Problems That Cost Importers the Most
When a Container Sits at the Port for Days
Every day past free time adds demurrage, and a late empty return adds per-diem on top. Platton monitors container-availability notifications, pre-assigns drivers and chassis, and dispatches pickup inside the free-time window rather than after it expires. Our team confirms pickup within 30 minutes of gate-out.
When an $800 Drayage Quote Is Invoiced at $1,400
Hidden accessorials like chassis fees, port congestion surcharges, fuel adjustments, and tri-axle charges blow up container trucking costs. What we quote is what you pay, unless the load itself changes.
When Peak Season Dries Up Truck Capacity
During peak, roughly August to November, chassis shortages and driver scarcity at major ports can push pickups out a week or more. Platton holds contracted capacity at every major gateway, with pre-positioned chassis pools and dedicated driver networks that do not vanish when demand spikes.
What's Actually in Your Drayage Quote
Optimized Routing That Cuts Empty Miles Multi-stop and round-trip drayage runs reduce empty miles and cut your per-container cost by 15% to 20% when you move several loads from the same port in the same week.
Quoting With No Hidden Accessorials Every quote includes chassis, fuel surcharge, port fees, and standard wait time. Overweight, reefer, and hazmat loads are quoted separately, with full disclosure upfront.
Shipment-Level Cost Visibility You see the exact trucking cost per container, per delivery, and per mile through your Platton dashboard. Compare lane rates over time, spot savings, and build landed-cost models that include the inland leg, alongside your freight costs.
The quoted price depends on the distance from the terminal, the days the chassis is out, wait time at the dock, an overweight box that needs a tri-axle, and any pre-pull. Market ranges by gateway are in drayage costs by port, and the daily chassis charge is explained in the chassis fees guide.
Route optimization
Fuel saved, tons
1 430
TOTAL PROFIT
86%
Calculate your drayage cost online
Built for Importers Who Can't Afford Port Delays
Platton's drayage trucking services are built for US importers, manufacturers, and retailers who need containers off the port and into the warehouse on schedule. Whether you move 5 containers a month or 50, the same tracking and pricing apply. Average port-to-warehouse delivery time is 24 to 48 hours after customs release at major gateways.
Drayage quotes with no hidden accessorials
Live GPS tracking from port gate-out to warehouse delivery
A 24/7 US-based dispatch team for every pickup and delivery
What you get on every move:
- Container drayage at every major US port and rail ramp
- Rail drayage to and from inland ramps and destinations
- Tri-axle chassis for overweight containers, plus reefer genset power
- GPS-tracked container delivery with appointment scheduling
Before and After the Drayage Leg
Importers often book these next to our drayage services.
Ocean Freight
FCL and LCL into US ports, the containers we pull from the terminal
Customs Clearance
ISF and entry
LTL Delivery
Less-than-truckload inland freight with consolidation
Door-to-Door Shipping
Door-to-door shipping and full-cycle management under one point of contact
Amazon FBA Prep
Labeling and appointment booking into Amazon fulfillment
Shipping from China to USA
Drayage FAQs
Port drayage (container pickup from the terminal to your warehouse), rail drayage to and from inland ramps, refrigerated containers with genset power, overweight containers on a tri-axle chassis, and container delivery with appointment scheduling. Every move includes GPS tracking.
We monitor container-availability notifications from the steamship line and the port terminal. As soon as your container is flagged available, our dispatch team assigns a driver and chassis and schedules pickup inside the free-time window, typically 4 to 5 working days depending on the port. If there is a terminal congestion issue, we reroute or reschedule early to keep your exposure down. The empty return is planned together with the delivery, so the container goes back before the carrier's free days end.
Yes. Every truck is GPS-tracked from the moment the driver gates out of the terminal. Your Platton dashboard shows live location, current ETA, and any delay alerts. For warehouse deliveries, you see when the driver checks in, when unloading starts, and when the empty container is returned, so you have visibility on chassis-return timing too.
Yes, and that is where most drayage delays happen. We pre-schedule the delivery appointment, track the driver against the appointment time, and reschedule early if a delay puts the slot at risk. For retail-compliant deliveries (Walmart, Costco, Target), we follow the routing guide and MABD requirements to avoid chargebacks.
Everything: driver, truck, chassis rental, fuel surcharge, port terminal fees, and standard wait time. If your container is overweight (over 44,000 lbs), needs a tri-axle chassis, or needs a reefer genset, those are quoted separately but disclosed upfront. No hidden accessorials on the invoice.
At most major ports, same-day or next-business-day pickup once the container shows as available and customs-cleared. Pre-pull service is available if your free time is running short.
The container number, the bill of lading number, the arrival notice, the delivery address with receiving hours, and the cargo weight. Say whether your dock unloads the container live or needs it dropped, because a dropped box keeps the chassis out longer. The pickup is booked once the container is released and shows as available at the terminal.
Every Day Your Container Sits at the Port Costs You Money
Per-diem, demurrage, missed delivery windows, and detention charges all land on the inland leg, where import costs quietly spiral. Platton's drayage trucking services get your containers off the port and into your warehouse before those charges stack up.