QuoteMinute

What Is Drayage? The Full Cost Stack and the Billing Rules

Updated 2026-09-02

Drayage is the short-distance truck move of a container or trailer between a port, rail ramp, warehouse, or yard — usually under a hundred miles, and usually the first or last leg of a longer journey.

It is priced nothing like truckload. A truckload quote is a rate for a move. A drayage quote is a base rate plus a stack of third-party fees, most of which are set by parties that are not the trucker, and several of which only appear after the container is late.

The cost stack

LineWhat it isWho sets it
Base dray rateThe truck move itself, terminal to destinationThe drayage carrier
Fuel surchargeDiesel above baseline, same formula as truckloadThe drayage carrier
Chassis usage / splitDaily charge for the chassis under the box, plus a fee when the chassis and container are in different placesChassis pool or leasing provider
Terminal fees (e.g. PierPASS TMF at LA/Long Beach)Fees imposed at specific portsThe terminal operators’ agreement
Clean-truck or environmental feesPort-specific programs on drayage movesThe port authority
Pre-pullPulling the container before the delivery day to avoid demurrageThe drayage carrier
Yard storageHolding the container on the carrier’s yardThe drayage carrier
DemurrageContainer sitting inside the terminal past free timeOcean carrier / terminal
Per diem (often called detention)Container/equipment held outside the terminal past free timeOcean carrier
Driver waiting timeTurn times at the gate and at the dockContract term
Congestion, exam, reefer plug-in, overweightSituationalVarious

At the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the PierPASS Traffic Mitigation Fee is $40.63 per TEU and $81.26 for all other size containers effective August 1, 2026, a 4.77% increase announced on July 1, 2026. Exempt from the TMF: “empty containers; import cargo or export cargo that transits the Alameda Corridor in a container and is subject to a fee imposed by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority; and transshipment cargo,” plus empty chassis and bobtail trucks (PierPASS).

Those two ports also run Clean Truck Fund programs whose current rates and exemptions are published on the ports’ own clean-truck pages — check the rate there before quoting, because it is set by the port and revised on the port’s schedule, not the market’s.

Demurrage, per diem, and detention are three different clocks

The words collide and using the wrong one loses the argument. Demurrage runs while the container sits inside the terminal past free time, per diem — commonly called detention on the ocean side — runs while it is outside the terminal in your possession, and driver detention is the truckload sense of a driver waiting at a gate, under your contract rather than any ocean tariff. One container can accrue all three in a week, billed by three different parties, which is why quoting a delivery date past free time is a pricing error and not a paperwork one.

If you are holding an invoice rather than pricing a move, the clocks matter less than whether the invoice is enforceable at all: see demurrage and detention billing.

The billing rule that can void the charge

Since May 28, 2024 a demurrage or detention invoice has to meet a federal standard to be enforceable — a late one, or one missing any required field, is one the billed party is not obliged to pay. That is worth knowing while you quote, because it changes what a demurrage risk actually costs. The rules, quoted in full with the thirty-day clocks and the invoice checklist, are on demurrage and detention billing.

Why drayage quotes miss

Free time is assumed, not confirmed. Free days differ by ocean carrier, terminal, and contract. Quote a delivery date past free time and you have quoted the customer into demurrage.

The chassis was not in the quote. Chassis charges are billed by the pool or leasing provider on their own cycle, and a chassis split turns one move into two.

One appointment was assumed. Terminal appointment availability decides whether a container moves today. A dray quoted as a two-hour job becomes a pre-pull, a storage day, and a second turn.

The empty return was forgotten. The move is not over at delivery. Per diem keeps running until the empty is back and receipted, and the terminal that will accept it may not be the one it came from.

Truckload instincts were applied to the miles. A 40-mile dray is not priced off distance. ATRI’s per-mile operating cost — $2.336 per mile in 2025 — describes a truck covering ground, not one sitting in a queue at a gate. Drayage economics are turns per day, not miles per day.

FAQ

How much does drayage cost? There is no single answer, and any page giving you one number is describing one port on one day. The base rate is negotiated; the rest of the invoice is fees set by terminals, ports, chassis providers, and ocean carriers. Quote it as a stack — base, fuel, chassis, terminal and port fees, plus the demurrage and per diem risk created by your delivery date.

What is the difference between demurrage and per diem? Demurrage is charged while the container sits inside the terminal past free time. Per diem is charged while you hold the container or equipment outside the terminal past its free days. Different clocks, often different bills.

Can I refuse a late demurrage invoice? Often, yes — an invoice issued more than 30 calendar days after the charge last accrued is one you are “not required to pay” under 46 CFR 541.7, and a late invoice is only one of the two ways a charge becomes unenforceable. Both, with the dispute clock, are on demurrage and detention billing.

Is drayage the same as intermodal? No. Intermodal describes the whole multi-mode journey. Drayage is the truck leg at either end of it.

What is the PierPASS TMF? A fee at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, $40.63 per TEU and $81.26 for other container sizes as of August 1, 2026, with exemptions for empty containers, Alameda Corridor fee cargo, transshipment cargo, empty chassis, and bobtails (PierPASS).

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