Intermodal Drayage
Port and rail-ramp container drayage at Los Angeles/Long Beach and other major US ports, through vetted drayage partners.
Drayage is the short truck move of an ocean container between a port terminal or rail ramp and a warehouse, yard or transload facility; intermodal drayage is the same move at the rail end, when a container crosses the country by train. American Global Freights arranges container drayage at all major US ports — Los Angeles and Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Savannah, Houston, Miami and Seattle/Tacoma — and at inland rail ramps such as Chicago, through our drayage partners, ensuring your containers move efficiently from vessel to final destination.
Many shippers book drayage through drayage or intermodal brokers, who find a trucking company for each container. AGF arranges it as the freight forwarder handling the shipment: an FMC-licensed NVOCC that books the ocean freight, clears the cargo through our licensed customs brokers and arranges each drayage move through vetted, licensed drayage carriers. The truck is planned around the vessel arrival, the customs release and your receiving appointment, with ocean, rail and truck legs under one quote and one point of contact.
With deep expertise at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the busiest container port complex in North America, 45–60 minutes from our Glendale headquarters — we navigate the complexities of port operations, chassis management, and container tracking so you don't have to. Our Drayage in Los Angeles page covers the local detail: the terminals, pickups and pre-pulls at San Pedro Bay.
Most of what a drayage move costs is decided before the truck rolls: whether customs and the ocean carrier have released the container, whether a terminal appointment is booked inside free time, whether a chassis is available, whether the load is overweight and whether the empty can go back on time. We file the customs entry before arrival, book the pickup against your receiving appointment, and plan pre-pulls, tri-axle chassis or transloading where they save money.
Shipping through Southern California?Container drayage from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long BeachFree toolContainer load calculator with a US road-weight checkWhat's Included
- Container pickup and delivery at all major US ports — Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Savannah, Houston, Miami and Seattle/Tacoma
- Rail ramp drayage and intermodal transfers at Chicago and other inland ramps, including containers on the ocean carrier's through bill of lading
- Export drayage: empty container pickup, loading at your facility and delivery to the terminal before the cargo cutoff
- Terminal and delivery appointments booked before the container is available
- Chassis provisioning and management, including tri-axle chassis for heavy loads
- Pre-pull and yard storage services
- Overweight container solutions and transloading into 53ft trailers near the port
- Demurrage and detention management, with empty returns to the terminal or depot the carrier names
- Moves to and from the CBP examination station when a container is selected for an exam
- Origin trucking in China — factory to Nansha, Shekou or Yantian — arranged by our Foshan office
Why AGF for Drayage
Deep expertise at the LA/Long Beach ports, 45–60 minutes from our Glendale headquarters
Proactive demurrage and detention avoidance strategies
Coordinated with customs clearance through our licensed customs brokers for prompt container release
One accountable party: AGF is the freight forwarder and FMC-licensed NVOCC (OTI #031665NF) on the shipment, and arranges each drayage move through vetted, licensed drayage carriers
Transparent drayage quotes: standard charges such as fuel built in, and event-driven charges — waiting time, extra chassis days, demurrage, detention and storage — listed up front
Our own office in Foshan, China, for the origin end of China shipments
Frequently Asked Questions
What is drayage?
Drayage is the short truck move of an ocean container between a port terminal or rail ramp and a warehouse, yard or other facility. It is the link between the ship or train and the rest of the supply chain, and it is where demurrage and detention charges are won or lost. International drayage usually means moving these ocean containers, import or export, as opposed to domestic 53ft trailers and containers.
What is intermodal drayage?
Intermodal drayage — also called rail drayage — is the truck leg at a rail ramp. A container discharged at Los Angeles or Long Beach can travel by train to Chicago, Dallas and other inland points; a drayage truck then takes it from the inland ramp to your door and returns the empty. Intermodal rail typically adds about 5–7 days to the ocean leg, confirmed per booking. The rail leg can be booked by the ocean carrier on a through bill of lading to the inland point, or arranged separately from the port; either way the inland ramp has its own free time and storage charges, so the pickup there is booked as carefully as at the port.
What do drayage and intermodal brokers do, and how is AGF different?
A drayage broker matches each container with a trucking company that has the port access, chassis and equipment for the move, and charges for arranging it. It does not own trucks and typically handles only the truck leg, so customs, the ocean carrier's release and free time are usually left to you. AGF works as the freight forwarder handling the whole shipment: an FMC-licensed NVOCC (OTI #031665NF) that arranges the drayage through vetted, licensed drayage carriers alongside the ocean booking and customs clearance through our licensed customs brokers. Whoever you use, ask which trucking company will actually move the container, check its operating authority and insurance — and at Los Angeles and Long Beach its registration in the ports' Port Drayage Truck Registry — and agree up front who pays waiting time, chassis days and per diem.
How does container drayage from the Port of Los Angeles work?
The carrier's arrival notice gives the vessel date and free time. Our licensed customs brokers file the entry before arrival. The ocean carrier releases the container once freight is paid and the bill of lading is surrendered or released electronically. When the terminal shows the container available with no holds, our drayage partner books an appointment, picks it up on a chassis and delivers it to your dock — or to a yard or transload facility. After unloading, the empty goes back to the terminal or depot the carrier names. The same sequence applies at Long Beach and the other ports we cover; our Drayage in Los Angeles page has the terminals and local detail.
Which ports and rail ramps do you cover for container drayage?
All major US container gateways: the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where we are closest and busiest; New York/New Jersey, Savannah, Houston, Miami and Seattle/Tacoma; and Chicago and other inland rail ramps for intermodal moves. The port is chosen on your cargo's economics — where the goods are going, the carrier's service and the cost of the inland leg — and our licensed customs brokers can file entries at any US port of entry.
How far does drayage go from the port?
Drayage is a short-haul service: from Los Angeles and Long Beach, typical moves run to warehouses and distribution centers within about 50–100 miles of the terminals. Further inland, the choice is between trucking the container over the road, transloading it into a 53ft trailer near the port, or sending it by rail to an inland ramp and draying it from there. Nevada and Arizona have no seaport, so containers for Las Vegas or Phoenix usually come through Los Angeles/Long Beach and continue by one of those three routes; we compare them when we quote.
What affects the cost of drayage?
Distance, the number of days the chassis is used, waiting time at the terminal, pre-pulls and yard storage when free time is short, overweight equipment, fuel surcharges and port fees. Delays that run past free time add demurrage at the terminal and per diem on the container. We quote each move on these factors rather than a flat number: the standard charges are built in, and the charges that depend on events — waiting time, extra chassis days, demurrage, detention and storage — are listed, so the quote is the number you plan with.
What are pre-pulls, chassis days and terminal appointments?
A pre-pull moves a container out of the terminal to a nearby yard before your delivery date — to stop demurrage when the container is ready but your dock is not, or to secure an appointment at a congested terminal. It adds a yard charge and an extra move, and starts the detention clock. In the US, chassis mostly come from chassis pools and leasing companies and are rented by the day, so every day from pickup to return adds a charge. At Los Angeles, Long Beach and most other large terminals, pickups and empty returns run on truck appointments, which is why we book the pickup against your receiving appointment before the container is available.
How do I avoid demurrage and detention on a drayage move?
Demurrage runs while a loaded container sits at the terminal after free time; detention (per diem) runs while the carrier's container is outside the terminal, until the empty is returned. Clear customs before the vessel arrives, book the truck before the container is available, pre-pull it if your dock is not ready, unload promptly and return the empty inside free time — or transload near the port when the cargo is going far inland. A customs hold or exam does not stop the clock. Our guide How to Avoid Demurrage and Detention Fees at US Ports walks through each step and the FMC's billing rules.
What is an overweight container?
One whose weight, together with the chassis and truck, would exceed the legal road limit — 80,000 lb gross in most states. Heavy cargo then needs a tri-axle chassis or an overweight permit, which costs more, so we plan heavy loads before booking. For highway transport in the US, cargo is usually capped at roughly 19,000–20,000 kg per container whatever its size, so stone, tile, metal and machinery often suit a 20ft better than a 40ft; splitting the load or transloading near the port can be the cheaper answer. Our container load calculator flags a load over that limit.
Should my container be transloaded or delivered in the container?
Keep it in the container for nearby deliveries, heavy cargo and single inland rail points. Transload near the port when the cargo is light for its volume, going a long way inland or going to several destinations: as a rule of thumb, the floor-loaded cartons from about three 40ft containers fit into two 53ft trailers, and the ocean container goes back near the port instead of running up per diem on a long trip. Our Transloading in Los Angeles & Long Beach page explains how it works at partner facilities near the ports.
How does export drayage work?
The drayage partner collects an empty container from the terminal or depot the carrier names and delivers it to your facility for loading — the driver can wait while you load (a live load) or drop the container and collect it later. The loaded container is returned to the terminal inside the carrier's receiving window: after the earliest return date and before the cargo cutoff. The verified gross mass (VGM) must be submitted before loading, and the shipping instructions and export filing (EEI in AES, where required) must be in before the documentation cutoff, or the container misses the vessel.
Can you handle customs clearance and drayage together?
Yes — that is the advantage of one company handling both. Our licensed customs brokers file the ISF and the entry ahead of arrival, so the container can leave the terminal once it is discharged and released, and we book the drayage against that release. If CBP selects the container for an exam, it may be scanned at the port or trucked to a centralized examination station (CES) for an intensive exam; that adds drayage, exam and storage charges and time, and free time keeps running, so we tell you as soon as a hold appears.
Do you arrange drayage in China?
Yes, at the origin end of China shipments. Our own office in Foshan, Guangdong arranges trucking from the factory to the terminal at Nansha, Shekou or Yantian, alongside supplier coordination, loading supervision and export documents; at other origins our WCA partner agents arrange the trucking to the port. In the USA, our drayage partners take over at the destination port or rail ramp, so one company is responsible from factory to door.
USA Office
China Office
DDC — Authorized Representative in Kazakhstan
Europe — Achot Baghdasarian