Intermodal , Drayage and Chassis

Special Report

carriers , ports and overall networks across the industry .” Michael Kroul , CEO of drayage broker KTI , said the days of using a single carrier for large volumes in a single gateway are largely gone .

“ There are examples of shippers only using one primary carrier in a market , but in truth , they always have backups now , as COVID taught them that exceptions can occur no matter how tight the bond is ,” Kroul said . “ We have shippers use us and two other carriers in a market , and others put 30 % for spot price moves . Others stick solely to what they granted through their requests for proposal . My safe answer would be four to five at minimum per market , even if you primarily use one for everything .”

No single solution

As with every other aspect of international logistics , there is no one-size-fits-all strategy that applies to all shippers , or even for a single shipper across all the US import gateways they use . The decision to allocate cargo to more than one dray carrier is primarily influenced by the overall volume moved and the week-to-week consistency of that volume .

“ If you have 50 containers a week on a lane , that could be ideal to have multiple carriers on the lane ,” Kidd said . “ However , if the volume is not consistent — 30 containers on week one and 70 containers on week two — you could be at

Outsourcing offers solution to drayage diversification challenge By Eric Johnson

The outsourcing dilemma that hangs over the transportation departments of most shippers is particularly thorny when it comes to managing US drayage allocation .

Because drayage is typically the lowest-cost leg of any import container move , it has chronically been subject to the least amount of attention from shippers . That has resulted in an environment where shippers are either reliant on single drayage providers in a specific port or they hand off drayage allocation decisions to third-party logistics ( 3PL ) providers or the container lines handling the ocean leg .

A proportion of shippers , especially large ones , do handle drayage allocation themselves , but the sophistication of that apportionment of their volume doesn ’ t always reflect diversification strategies for other parts of their supply chain .

In other words , the same large shipper that uses three container lines , four US ports and five global forwarders might only use one drayage provider per gateway , or it might let the forwarder or container lines decide which drayage provider to use .

“ Some would see pushing the work to a third party to manage as losing the relationship with the dray carrier and knowledge of what is happening day to day ,” said Reade Kidd , CEO of EDRAY , a managed transportation platform that helps importers coordinate their shipments , including drayage allocation . “ I ’ m obviously biased , but the increased

“ Some would see pushing the work to a third party to manage as losing the relationship with the dray carrier .”

complexities , disruptions and changing landscape is requiring an increased and almost local competency for the shipper that third-party providers are more equipped to manage at scale .”

Dealing with disruptions

Whether it ’ s local events such as a terminal closure , a regional issue such as chassis provisioning , or macro issues such as Panama Canal transit restrictions , US port strikes or the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore , most third parties consider that they are in a better position to offer alternatives to a shipper than a shipper itself might be able to discern .

Kidd said EDRAY focuses on insights and industry benchmarking , not just executing a shipment on behalf of an importer . The managed transportation approach drives natural drayage carrier diversification , because managed transportation providers tend to favor dual sourcing through any single gateway .

EDRAY is an example of a neutral managed transportation provider , one not attached to a larger 3PL provider . From a shipper perspective , the water is muddied when 3PLs engage in managed transportation services that are not clearly noted as attached to a 3PL , asset-based or not .

The rise of 3PLs as managed transportation providers has been ongoing for decades . This trend means shippers need to understand the difference between handing off drayage allocation decisions to a 3PL versus having that 3PL make broad transportation decisions before and after the drayage leg , as well .

“ A typical broker does not have the technology or personnel expertise to manage the complexities of ocean container drayage ,” said Paul Brashier , vice president of global supply chain at 3PL provider ITS Logistics . “ There is a gulf between a ‘ broker ’ and an asset-light transportation provider that uses brokerage authority to aggregate capacity .”

Brashier said shippers should have 3PLs demonstrate their ability to manage and

12 Journal of Commerce | February 3 , 2025 www . joc . com