Moving your goods through drayage: Drayage assistance during the holiday madness

The holiday season is a crucial period for all supply chain stakeholders, but post-pandemic port congestion has caused severe and unforeseen issues for many, including a valued consumer package goods customer of VPL.

With inland-bound rail service cut short—and even halted on some lines—and a growing glut of port overcrowding, the customer’s Midwest-bound ocean container shipments for the bountiful holiday season were in jeopardy. Fortunately, VPL used creative problem-solving and some specific resources to find a solution.

VPL’s advanced technology allowed it to follow shipments and continuously track their status. VPL combined that information with availability within its network of warehousing and transportation providers to create a seamless end-to-end solution that delivered customer shipments to the Midwest in time for the holiday season.

As a third party, VPL can provide comprehensive logistics assistance with container tracking from the port of origin to arrival in the United States, all drayage operations, transloading, and truckload transportation to the destination—the Midwest in this case. Although each segment of the freight lifecycle posed unique challenges, VPL was able to streamline services and maximize capacity due to the relationships and network it had built over the years.

For the customer, the result was on-time delivery and avoidance of delays and missed shipments that would have put a damper on its most prosperous quarter of the year.

___________

Shippers Need Options

It feels like anything can happen in this sector of the industry. Every day, situations call for ongoing, out-of-the box thinking. With a good understanding of cost structure, a robust rolodex of carriers, and relationships with many supply chain stakeholders, VPL has the resources to engineer solutions that go beyond what shippers can do on their own.

For example, we can figure out that a shipment picked up on Monday instead of Friday might save three days of layover—and any associated costs—because we know the rules and players well enough to handle any number of snafus in drayage operations.

A shipper may want to deal directly with a carrier if they believe that doing so would result in more favorable pricing and terms. But when it comes to drayage operations, a 3PL provider can tap into its network of carriers on behalf of the shipper. If a specific carrier happens to be unavailable, and that unavailability would greatly influence the time and place of critical loads, VPL is capable of finding another available carrier to ensure the shipper delivers on their promise. A third-party brokerage provides value that is unique to drayage operations in this and many other scenarios.

Technology Applications for Drayage Operations

In providing drayage services, visibility and control are key watchwords. Investments in technology help achieve both.

By investing in technology, VPL has insight into cargo status and can act on problems before they occur or worsen. VPL also uses technology to determine real-time rates, providing insightful information to make informed decisions.

Technology increases all supply chain stakeholders’ visibility into drayage operations. The data it provides is crucial when applied to efficiency of drayage because it equips key decision-makers with the insights needed to reduce the time it takes to move a container from ship to distribution point via drayage, thus reducing overall transportation cost.

It's no secret that investing in technology can improve the efficiency of just about any operational challenge. However, investments in technology for drayage transportation have lagged considerably behind those for truckload.

VPL believes this line of thinking is out of date and remains proactive in its approach to applying technology to drayage. Specifically, we have extended our own IT infrastructure used for other logistics management, allowing us to apply it heavily toward drayage operations. We also have invested in drayage-specific technology that provides insight into rate analytics to help us leverage the best rates for our drayage clients. This investment separates us from our competitors.

California as a Case Study for Political Disruption to Drayage Operations

Another threat to drayage operations looms large: state politics. Look no further than California, where pending legislation and labor talks appear likely to upend efforts at the ports. AB5, which calls for independent contractors to be classified as employees, may take tens of thousands of truck drivers off the road, placing further strain on the supply chain, especially at the ports.

On top of that, new emissions standards are set to take effect on January 1, 2024, after California adopted the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus Regulation on December 21, 2021. Efforts to meet these standards are expected to result in overall truck capacity being reduced by up to 25%. Meanwhile, labor disputes are ongoing between West Coast port managers and dockworkers. Without an agreement in place, shippers need to be mindful of potential interruptions should talks go sour.

VPL pays close attention to all outside factors that could impact drayage so you can rest assured that your shipments have the best chance at navigating the choppy politics at the ports.

Drayage Operations Are Constrained in Today’s Supply Chain Environment

According to the American Trucking Association [https://www.trucking.org/supplychain], truckers need access to three things for efficient drayage: information, equipment, and space. “Currently, there is a lack of all three. Information sharing is extremely disjointed; chassis are unavailable; and there’s no physical space—both in nearby warehouses and portside—for truckers to deliver loads and return empty containers and chassis. More trucks and longer hours only help if truckers have real-time information to make pickups and returns, have chassis to move containers, and have somewhere to drop freight and return equipment. ”

There’s perhaps no more opportune time to seek better ways to move your load through the frustrating facet of drayage. In the eyes of VPL, smaller and mid-sized shippers are important shippers. They’re the ones we have helped and continue to help.