When you run a business, it’s important for each part to run like a well-oiled machine. Establishing an efficient drayage service is one component in this machine and it’s an essential piece for any smooth-running, successful business in the 21st century.
Last-mile logistics can be notoriously challenging, and a short-distance transport option such as drayage can help streamline the process. As a business owner, learning how to include drayage services into your logistics process can benefit you in countless ways.
Read on to discover how updating your drayage service can be an invaluable return on investment.
What are Drayage Services?
The term drayage refers to a particular logistic service that moves freight over a short distance via ground freight. Drayage companies play a part in moving cargo from one city to another. While this isn’t suitable for long-distance transportation and typically operates in the short distance within the same state, this kind of transportation can be used as one part of a larger process that covers a long distance.
Intermodal drayage companies use more than one mode of transportation to move goods to the required destination. These methods can include rail, truck, or occasionally via inland waterways. Drayage links these freight shipments through different intermodal points, so the goods pass hands at major transition points in the logistical journey.
The drayage process is simple, though it is part of a longer logistical process. Drayage helps fill in the gaps, bridging the distance between ports, harbors, rail terminals and warehouses. Because drayage is typically the shortest part of the supply chain, it can often be completed by one truck driver in a single shift and rarely lasts longer than a day.
Using Drayage for Business
No matter what kind of business you run, drayage provides an essential link in your supply chain, allowing your goods to travel short distances, via trucking companies, to their relevant locations. Connecting the companies to the customer, drayage can provide an almost door-to-door service, ensuring your goods get to the right places.
Cost
One benefit of drayage is its affordability. The alternatives to drayage can be expensive because of the cost of air freight and container rentals. Trucks are a significant and cost-efficient method of transportation, especially in the United States where there’s already an efficient road network. Transporting your goods over short distances with drayage can save both money and time.
Accuracy
If you use third-party logistics (3PL) combined with a quality warehouse management system (WMS), you further enhance the efficiency of your supply chain. Your goods are tracked and monitored by professionally trained people who have the experience to handle your goods and ensure business runs smoothly without you needing you to be physically present. You’ll find that having quality 3PL combined with an intermodal drayage service will increase accuracy and improve your business.
Security
When you hire a 3PL (or other freight service) that specializes in drayage to handle your cargo, you’re hiring specially experienced people to care for your goods. These professionals know how to operate within specific guidelines and regulations to ensure maximum security. They can also keep up with continual changes to the federal safety rules and regulations regarding cargo transport, so you won’t need to worry about significant mistakes such as loss or damage of your goods.
Efficiency
If every company using freight services had an on-site presence at ports of shipping, terminals would be clogged and shipments would suffer extensive delays. Drayage services keep things functioning smoothly onsite, transporting both full and empty containers to the right places so business isn’t held up, and the space is used efficiently.
Cross docking is part of this process to enhance efficiency by keeping things moving. By cross docking, goods are immediately unloaded from one method of transportation to another so they can continue on with their journey instead of wasting time in storage.
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Drayage is an integral part of international product distribution, making it crucial for successful businesses. Because this mode of freight transportation is fundamental to distribution, it’s important to consider the best way to incorporate it into your business. Doing this as early as possible can help you enjoy the benefits and high efficiency that comes with this transportation service.
Allow your business to flourish by using intermodal drayage services as part of your method for supply chain management. If you want your business to benefit from drayage services, contact Asiana USA. We prioritize customer satisfaction and have an expert 3PL team and knowledgeable staff who can help you navigate the freight shipping world.
Call us today on (855) 500-1808 to find out how drayage can benefit your business.
