Drayage planning is essential for global retail shipping supply lines and deals primarily with ocean imports. This service joins different methods of long-haul shipping to help smooth overall transportation hand-offs. Additionally, the shipping model usually focuses on the transfers of goods that come in on ships to other storage areas or to other shipping locations for the next leg of the trip. It can also refer to the transportation of shipping goods over short distances. This is also known as first-mile shipping and planning protocol. With that in mind, it has a natural implication for the state of global retail trade. And it’s important to understand how improvements in drayage planning, considering TEU activity as shown in the Top Imports by Consignee app within the Ocean Shipments Report in FreightWaves SONAR, amount to proactive supply chain management.

Drayage planning is critical in global trade

It might seem like the simplest and most basic kind of shipping, but first-mile drayage planning and transport is among the most critical steps. As explained by Supply Chain Game Changer, “Drayage services are more essential than ever. Global supply chains rely on multimodal transport to ship goods from manufacturers that are far from their end customers. It provides crucial links in this transport chain. These short-haul trucks deliver FTL or LTL freight loads between one form of transport and another.” Having access to real-time freight data and being able to make good use of it is essential for global trade and maritime shipping. Therefore drayage planning is even more vital to today’s global market and interconnected trade lines.

Global retailers use data to understand lead time

Successful supply chain operation at any stage hangs on the ability to stay on top of shipping and transport logistics. However, it is even more critical for global shippers that rely on port and ocean shipping lines to secure products. Smart data, automated processes, inter-connected shipping networks, and new technological advances help to promote a better understanding of the flow of goods and when it’s time to reorder stock or perhaps roll cargo plans. They all work and feed off each other to make drayage planning faster and easier with fewer instances of demurrage, effectively lowering delays for BCOs that may arise from poor carrier asset management too.

Increased insight into market conditions helps with freight spend management

Freight market conditions and trends greatly affect all methods of shipping and transportation. Major delays, driver errors, financial penalties, lack of capacity, poor communication, market disruptions, and missed deadlines are common pain points that shippers experience with poor drayage planning. The better global retailers and BCOs understand market conditions through smart data analysis, the easier they will secure on-time drayage moves or deliveries. 

Global retails need a proactive way to refine their product price points too to recapture excess shipping costs

Control over shipping costs is more vital than ever. Global supply chains depend on effective drayage planning and delivery services. They further depend on multimodal transport and optimized routes to transfer goods. Most shippers focus on moving goods from manufacturers to end customers that may not have a direct shipping line connecting them. Drayage shipping provides crucial links in the global retail transport chain for ocean shipments

Drayage also impacts wait time and overall shipping timelines

Understanding shifts in the market, including changes to lead time, as well as the ability to better predict freight rates, helps global retailers stay strategic. This unavoidable shipping method can also be utilized to move products from one port to another or from one holding warehouse to another. Drayage delays can affect the entire supply chain. Drayage planning allows for shipping options that lower overall shipping costs by reducing delays and wait times between BCO, retailers and managers. As such, they avoid out-of-stock inventory and can meet customer demands.

Drayage delays may lead to higher detention charges and additional fees

Drayage is essential for transferring and delivering orders for maritime shipping, but again, drayage shipping does have one drawback. Delays, extensive dwell time, and missed deadlines and timetables can result in major fees and additional costs. Back-ups do occur, especially during peak shipping seasons. So, giving proper attention to drayage planning, along with proper data acquisition and use, reduce the chances of such delays.

Stay informed with drayage by deploying the right system

Practical procurement of goods and on-time shipments all depend on accurate drayage planning. It is faster, easier, and more cost-efficient to prioritize drayage shipments so that they can be handled as the first, domestic mile of transportation as needed. Having the right system in place can make a huge difference in delivery times and customer satisfaction. Connect with FreightWaves to request a SONAR demo or by clicking the button below to learn more.

White Papers
March 27, 2024

The State of Freight – March 2024

March 21, 2024

Take Demand Planning and Forecasting to the Next Level: An Introduction to Tender Data

February 6, 2024

Asleep at the Wheel: Shippers and the Freight Market Outlook for 2024