How drayage rate estimates work
Every estimate summarizes real bids truckers placed on container moves between a port or rail ramp and a delivery address. The current data holds 37,118 bids from the last 12 months across 69 ports and rail ramps.
How an estimate is picked
- Your ZIP: when it has at least five recent bids from that port, the estimate is their median and middle half.
- Your ZIP area: otherwise, bids to ZIPs that share its first three digits and sit at a similar distance from the port.
- Similar distance: otherwise, that port's bids at a similar one-way distance. For a ZIP nobody has bid on, the distance comes from the straight line to the ZIP, scaled to the road miles in that port's bids.
Every result names the step it came from, the number of bids and their dates. Extreme bids are trimmed before the numbers are calculated.
What the price includes
The trucker's base rate plus fuel surcharge, as bid. 20' and 40' bids price the same in this data, so one estimate covers both.
Not included in the estimate
Chassis, pre-pull, storage, overweight, waiting time, tolls, hazmat. These depend on the terminal, the box and the day; a firm quote prices them.
Questions
Where do these drayage rates come from?
From bids truckers placed on container moves posted to a national drayage load board, collected every month. We show our own summary of those bids, never the individual bids.
Is the estimate a quote?
No. It is a market estimate. For a price you can book, request a firm dray quote and we reply within one business day.
What does the estimate include?
The trucker's base rate plus fuel surcharge, as bid. It does not include chassis, pre-pull, storage, overweight, waiting time, tolls or hazmat charges.
Does container size change the price?
Not in this data: 20' and 40' bids price the same at every distance, so the estimate covers both.
How current is it?
Each estimate uses bids from the last 12 months and says so when it has to reach further back. The data is refreshed every month.
Why does my ZIP show an estimate from nearby bids?
When a ZIP has fewer than five recent bids, the estimate uses bids to the same ZIP area at a similar distance, then bids from the same port at a similar distance, and tells you which.