Container Drayage in New York and New Jersey

Who uses container drayage in New York and New Jersey

The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 4,513,966 loaded import TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and 1,441,832 loaded export TEUs in 2025, and the Port Authority says about 85% of the goods that come through the port move by truck and stay in the region. That truck leg is drayage: a loaded move out of the terminal and an empty back in. If the term is new, start with what drayage is and how a port move works step by step.

• Importers and exporters

  You hold the bill of lading and the last free day. We need the delivery order (DO) naming the trucker, and we book the carrier, the appointment where one is required and the empty return.

• Customs brokers and freight forwarders

  You clear the entry; we arrange the truck. Send the DO for your client's container and we check its release and holds in the terminal's own portal before a carrier is dispatched.

• Machinery and equipment buyers

  Machines that arrive on a flat rack or in an open top get 2 free days instead of 4 and need the terminal's out-of-gauge window, often followed by an oversize truck leg.

What has to be in place before a container leaves the terminal

Five things gate every import pickup here. When one is missing the truck waits, gets a trouble ticket ($98.72 at the NYTC terminals) or is turned away at the gate.

1. 1

   Release and holds

   The ocean line's freight release, Customs release and no terminal or government holds. Each terminal shows them in its own system: Maher's CSP portal, PNCT's TOS Web Portal, APM's Track & Trace, PortTruckPass for both Port Liberty terminals and Octopi for Red Hook.

2. 2

   An appointment where one is required

   APM Terminals Elizabeth books every pickup in TERMPoint, in ten 1-hour windows from 6 AM; Port Liberty Bayonne runs appointment-only gates booked in PortTruckPass until 1 PM, then free flow to 4 PM. A truck that misses a confirmed window costs the trucker $94.67 under the NYTC tariff.

3. 3

   Driver and truck credentials

   A TWIC card ($124, valid five years), a Port Authority SeaLink card ($30), a Class A CDL, a truck in the Drayage Truck Registry and one RFID tag on the driver's side mirror. The Port Authority's rule is "No tag = No entry."

4. 4

   A chassis

   The container rides on a wheeled frame, often rented from a pool by the day: DCLI lists $45.00 a day for its Northeast pool outside Baltimore and Flexi-Van $37.75 for its North East Pool. Where the chassis is picked up and returned changes the cost; our container chassis guide covers pools, splits and return fees.

5. 5

   Free time, then the port charges

   Dry boxes get 4 free days at the five NYTC terminals (weekends and ILA holidays count only when the gate is open) and 4 working days at Maher; flat racks, open tops and reefers get 2. After that, terminal demurrage on a 20 or 40 ft box starts at $231 a day (NYTC) or $222 (Maher), unless the ocean line bills its own. Separately, the Port Authority's Cargo Facility Charge is $14.80 per loaded TEU in 2026, collected by the terminal and recovered by the lines (Maersk's New York/New Jersey import charge for it and other terminal costs is $15 per TEU from July 1, 2026). How each clock runs and how to dispute a bill is in our guide to demurrage and detention.

Flat racks, open tops and imported machinery

Heavy equipment that lands here mostly comes in containers. In 2025, 89.4% of the vessel value of heavy equipment imports discharged at New York and Newark arrived containerized, against 26.7% at Baltimore, where most arrive outside containers as Ro-Ro or breakbulk cargo (Census port data). A machine too wide or tall for a closed box ships on a flat rack or in an open top, and that changes the dray: 2 free days, the terminal's out-of-gauge window (PNCT works heavy lifts on Wednesdays as posted in October 2026), and often a New Jersey oversize permit for the road. Sizes, terminal fees and permits are on our page on flat rack and open top container transport. Machines that come off a Ro-Ro or breakbulk ship instead are covered under imported machinery pickup.