If you have ever received an ocean container in the Greater Toronto Area, you have paid for drayage — even if the invoice called it something else. Drayage is the short-distance transport of a shipping container by truck, usually between an intermodal rail terminal or port and a warehouse, plant or distribution centre. It is the first mile of an export and the last mile of an import, and it is the leg of the journey most likely to generate surprise charges.
This guide explains what drayage means, the kinds of drayage moves you will encounter, what drives the cost, and how the process actually runs at the CN and CPKC terminals that serve Toronto. It is written by a company that does it every day; if you want the service rather than the explanation, see container drayage in Toronto.
Drayage meaning: where the word comes from
The term comes from dray, a low, sideless cart pulled by horses that hauled goods short distances around ports and rail yards in the 1800s. The cart is gone; the definition stuck. Drayage still means a short haul that connects a container to a longer journey, and a drayage carrier — sometimes still called a cartage company in Ontario — is the trucking company that performs it with a tractor and a container chassis.
What distinguishes drayage from ordinary trucking is the equipment and the environment. The cargo stays sealed inside the ocean carrier's container; the truck carries the container on a chassis rather than in a trailer; and both ends of the move are governed by terminal appointments, free-time windows and equipment-return rules that regular freight does not have.
Types of drayage moves
Industry people describe drayage by where the container is going. The names matter because rates and rules differ for each.
- Terminal-to-door (import drayage): the container is pulled from the rail terminal or port and delivered to the consignee's dock. The most common move in the GTA.
- Door-to-terminal (export drayage): an empty is positioned at the shipper for loading, then the loaded container is gated in at the terminal against a rail or vessel cut-off.
- Inter-terminal / inter-carrier: moving a container between two terminals, or from a rail yard to a container depot, without visiting the shipper.
- Pier drayage: the classic port move between a marine terminal and a nearby warehouse — in Ontario, from the Port of Toronto or Port of Hamilton.
- Shuttle / pre-pull drayage: the container is pulled from the terminal before free time expires and held in the carrier's yard until the receiver can take it.
- Transload drayage: the container is delivered to a transload warehouse, unloaded, and the freight continues by regular truck. Common when the receiver has no dock.
How container drayage works in Toronto
Almost all ocean containers destined for the GTA arrive by rail, not by ship. A box discharged at Deltaport in Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Halifax or Montreal rides CN or CPKC to one of two inland terminals: CN's Brampton Intermodal Terminal (BIT) or CPKC's Vaughan Intermodal Terminal. The container is lifted off the railcar, grounded in the yard, and shows as available once customs release and the ocean carrier's release are on file. That availability status starts the clock.
The drayage carrier books a terminal appointment, mounts the correct chassis, and pulls the container. It is delivered to the consignee for a live unload — the driver waits, typically for a two-hour window — or dropped on the chassis for unloading later and picked up on a return trip (drop and pick). The empty container is then returned to the terminal or a designated depot, and the gate receipt closes the move. A good drayage operator manages every one of those steps against a deadline, because every deadline has a fee behind it.
Toronto rule of thumb: a container that grounds at BIT or Vaughan on Monday should be pulled by Wednesday. After that, terminal storage and container per-diem both start accumulating.
Free time, demurrage, detention and per-diem
Four words cause most of the confusion on drayage invoices. Free time is the number of days a container can sit at the terminal after it becomes available before storage charges begin — at GTA rail terminals it is short, often two to three business days. Demurrage (or storage at rail terminals) is the daily charge once free time expires while the container is still on terminal property. Detention or per-diem is the ocean carrier's daily charge for the container itself once it has left the terminal, running until the empty is returned. And chassis days are the daily rental for the chassis the container rides on, whether it is moving or sitting in a yard.
These charges stack. A container that waits five days at the terminal, then sits four days at a receiver's yard, then goes back late pays terminal storage, per-diem and chassis days on top of the drayage rate. Avoiding them is the practical skill of drayage: pulling on time, holding the box in the carrier's yard instead of the terminal, or transloading so the empty goes back the same day. We explain the options on our drayage service page.
What drayage costs and what drives the price
A drayage quote in the GTA is built from a base rate for the lane — terminal to delivery zone — plus a set of components that depend on the move. Fuel surcharge is a percentage of the base. Chassis is usually included for a set number of days with a daily rate after. Wait time beyond a free window (commonly one to two hours) is billed per hour. A tri-axle chassis for an overweight container, a hazmat surcharge for placarded dangerous goods, a pre-pull and yard storage, or a second trip for a drop-and-pick each add a line. Terminal fees, tolls and port charges are passed through at cost.
The base rate itself depends on distance from the terminal, whether the delivery is inside the GTA or in Southern Ontario, and whether the carrier can pair the move with a return load. A short dray from Vaughan to a North York warehouse costs a fraction of a delivery to London, Ontario — which is why many shippers transload at a GTA warehouse and truck the freight the rest of the way.
| Component | What it covers | Typical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Base rate | Tractor, driver, chassis, one delivery | Per move, by zone |
| Fuel surcharge | Diesel price adjustment | % of base |
| Chassis days | Chassis beyond included allowance | Per day |
| Wait time | Live-unload beyond free window | Per hour |
| Tri-axle | Overweight container legal on Ontario roads | Flat surcharge |
| Pre-pull / yard | Early pull and hold in carrier's yard | Flat + per day |
| Hazmat | Placarded dangerous goods | Flat surcharge |
| Pass-throughs | Terminal fees, tolls, port charges | At cost |
Drayage vs. cartage vs. intermodal vs. transloading
These terms overlap and are often used loosely. Cartage is the older Ontario word for local delivery trucking, which includes drayage but also non-container freight. Intermodal describes the whole journey using more than one mode — ship, rail, truck — of which drayage is the truck portion. Transloading is moving freight out of the container and into a truck at a warehouse; it replaces the last part of a drayage move with regular trucking. If someone offers you "intermodal service to Toronto", the drayage from BIT or Vaughan to your dock is part of it, and it is worth asking who performs it.
What makes a good drayage company
Three things. First, they watch container availability directly and pull on the day the box grounds, not the day the arrival notice says it should. Second, they own chassis and have a yard, so a container can wait somewhere that is not the terminal. Third, they have a way out when your dock cannot take the box — which in practice means a warehouse of their own where the container can be unloaded and the empty returned. Metropolitan Logistics runs drayage out of its own North York warehouse for exactly that reason; the details are on our container drayage Toronto page.
Need a container pulled in the GTA?
Send the container number, terminal and delivery address. Dispatch replies with a rate and pull date as soon as possible.