To arrange drayage from the port to your warehouse after ocean freight arrives, confirm customs and steamship line release, secure a terminal appointment, provision a chassis, book the delivery window with your warehouse, and schedule the empty return, in that order. The free time clock started at vessel discharge, so the sequence has to run in parallel rather than one step at a time.
Most importers treat arrival as the moment work begins. By then the most valuable hours are gone. Free time began when the container was grounded, appointment inventory is already being consumed by other shippers, and the difference between a clean move and a demurrage charge is usually decided in the first 72 hours.
This guide is a working sequence rather than an overview. It covers what to do on each of the first three days, what can be done before arrival, where the sequence breaks, and what to do when it does.
Why the order matters more than the speed
Each step depends on the one before it, but the dependencies are not obvious. An appointment booked before release is wasted if a hold appears. A chassis positioned before an appointment is idle equipment accruing charges. A delivery window booked before the appointment is confirmed will be missed. Running the sequence in the right order costs nothing; running it in the wrong order costs a day at every reversal.
Before arrival: what to do while the vessel is still at sea
The work that protects free time happens before the container is on the ground, and it is the stage most importers skip entirely.
- File customs entry early. An entry filed ahead of arrival can clear before discharge rather than after, which removes the single most common cause of containers sitting through Last Free Day.
- Confirm the steamship line has what it needs. Freight payment and documentation are the usual reasons a line hold appears. Both are resolvable in advance and expensive to resolve afterwards.
- Give your drayage provider the vessel, not the container. A provider working from vessel schedule can plan the appointment window. A provider working from a container number sent after availability is already behind.
- Confirm the warehouse can receive. Dock capacity on the expected delivery date, and whether the facility takes live unloads or requires a drop.
- Confirm the empty return location. Return points change with vessel schedules and yard space, so the one valid last month may not be valid this week.
Day 1: release and appointment
Confirm the container is actually free to move
A container can be discharged, grounded and visibly available while remaining under a hold. Customs examination holds route the container to an exam station and can run several days at peak. Steamship line holds appear for unpaid freight or missing documentation. Terminal holds appear for outstanding charges. None of them stop the free time clock.
Check all three hold types before dispatching anything. A container that shows available but carries a hold will produce a wasted trip and a burned appointment slot.
Secure the terminal appointment
At appointment-driven gateways the slot is the scarce resource, not the truck. Appointment inventory is released on terminal-specific schedules and consumed quickly. This is the step where a provider monitoring release windows continuously outperforms one requesting a slot once the container is ready.
Day 2: equipment and pickup
Provision the chassis
A released container with an appointment and no chassis does not move. Chassis are supplied separately from containers in the United States, through pools whose arrangements differ by gateway. Confirm equipment availability at the same facility as the container, because a chassis split adds a leg, driver time and a fee.
Execute the pickup
The driver ingates, collects the container and outgates. Two failure modes are worth pre-empting: credential problems at the gate, where a truck not enrolled in a required registry is refused entry, and equipment found unroadworthy at pickup, which produces a flip and a delay.
Once the container leaves the gate, terminal demurrage stops and two other clocks continue. Container per diem runs until the empty is returned, and chassis days run until equipment is returned. Understanding that the drayage process carries three clocks rather than one is what stops importers from clearing a terminal cleanly and still receiving a large invoice.
Day 3: delivery, unload and empty return
Deliver into a confirmed window
The delivery window should already be booked. Where it is not, the container waits on a chassis accruing charges while the facility finds capacity, which is the most common way a clean pickup turns into an expensive week.
Choose live unload or drop and pick deliberately
A live unload returns equipment quickly but holds a driver while the facility works. A drop and pick releases the driver but leaves container and chassis accruing charges until collection. Fast reliable docks favour live unload. Unpredictable dock scheduling usually favours drop and pick even after equipment charges. Most importers default to one by habit rather than by measurement.
Return the empty to a confirmed location
Per diem does not stop until the empty is returned and accepted. Return locations change with yard space and vessel schedules, and a driver refused at a return produces a second trip the shipper pays for while charges continue. Confirm the approved location before dispatching the return, not after the container is empty.
When the sequence breaks: what to do
| What happened | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Customs hold appears | Free time keeps running while the container waits for exam | Escalate with your broker immediately; plan a pre-pull if LFD is close |
| No appointment available | Container sits regardless of trucking capacity | Widen the pickup window; check alternate transaction types at the terminal |
| Chassis unavailable | Released container cannot move | Confirm equipment at an alternate location; expect a split charge |
| Warehouse cannot receive | Container waits on a chassis accruing per diem and chassis days | Pre-pull to a yard, which is almost always cheaper than terminal or street dwell |
| Last Free Day imminent | Demurrage begins and escalates daily | Pre-pull off the terminal even without a delivery slot |
| Empty return refused | Per diem continues on equipment you cannot give back | Document the refusal with time and location; hold in yard; pursue relief |
The last row is worth acting on rather than absorbing. Federal rules govern what a demurrage and detention invoice must contain and how quickly it must be issued, and an invoice failing either test can eliminate the obligation to pay it. Documenting a refused return contemporaneously is what turns a plausible dispute into a supportable one.
The 72-hour checklist
| When | Action | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-arrival | File customs entry | Clearing before discharge removes the commonest cause of LFD overruns |
| Pre-arrival | Confirm line has freight payment and documents | Prevents a line hold appearing after grounding |
| Pre-arrival | Give provider the vessel, not the container number | Lets the provider plan the appointment window in advance |
| Pre-arrival | Confirm warehouse receiving date and unload type | Prevents the container waiting on a chassis after pickup |
| Pre-arrival | Confirm empty return location | Return points change; assuming is the commonest dry run cause |
| Day 1 | Check customs, line and terminal holds | A container can be available and not free to move |
| Day 1 | Secure the terminal appointment | The slot is scarcer than the truck at busy gateways |
| Day 2 | Confirm chassis at the same facility | Avoids a split charge and an added leg |
| Day 2 | Execute pickup; verify credentials and equipment | Gate refusal and unroadworthy equipment are both pre-emptable |
| Day 3 | Deliver into the booked window | Unbooked delivery converts a clean pickup into accruing charges |
| Day 3 | Return the empty to a confirmed point | Per diem runs until return is accepted |
How BookYourCargo runs the first 72 hours
BookYourCargo is a national drayage company with vetted carrier capacity at every major U.S. and Canadian port and rail ramp. The operating model is built around the pre-arrival stage that most programmes skip.
- Planning from vessel discharge. Dispatch queued from the vessel milestone rather than from a container number sent after availability.
- Hold monitoring before dispatch. Customs, steamship line and terminal holds tracked per container so a truck is never sent to a frozen box.
- Appointment and chassis together. Slot release monitored per terminal and equipment confirmed at the same facility, so an available container is not stranded by a missing input.
- Pre-pull, yard and transload options. Warehousing and transloading capacity so a receiving constraint ends equipment exposure rather than extending it.
- Three-clock visibility. Demurrage, per diem and chassis days tracked together through real-time container tracking, with exposure surfaced while action is still possible.
Coverage spans port drayage, rail drayage and national drayage. Inc. 5000-recognised, BBB A+ rated, IANA Member, NCBFAA Member, and WOSB-certified through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Confirm customs and steamship line release, secure a terminal appointment, provision a chassis, book the delivery window with your warehouse, and schedule the empty return, in that order. The free time clock started at vessel discharge, so these steps have to run in parallel rather than sequentially.
The most effective single change is giving your drayage provider the vessel details rather than the container number. A provider working from vessel schedule can plan the appointment window before the container grounds; a provider sent a container number after availability is already competing for slots that have been released.
Book the warehouse delivery window before the container is picked up, not after. Confirm the receiving date, whether the facility accepts a live unload or requires a drop and pick, and the hours it can receive.
Sequence matters: the terminal appointment has to be confirmed before the delivery window is promised, because an appointment that moves will move the delivery with it. A container picked up without a confirmed delivery window waits on a chassis accruing per diem and chassis days.
Free time is set by the steamship line and varies by carrier, contract and gateway, typically running several calendar days from discharge. Usable free time is always shorter than published free time once appointment availability, weekend gate patterns and any holds are counted.
Plan to clear the container with at least one buffer day intact. If you reach Last Free Day you are already in operational debt, because terminal congestion takes more than a day to recover from once it begins.
Identify which hold it is, because the resolution differs. A customs examination hold routes the container to an exam station and can run several days at peak, and is escalated through your customs broker. A steamship line hold usually reflects unpaid freight or missing documentation and often clears within hours once identified. A terminal hold reflects outstanding terminal charges.
None of them stop the free time clock. If Last Free Day is approaching while a hold is unresolved, a pre-pull off the terminal once released is usually cheaper than accruing demurrage while you wait.
The container waits on a chassis, accruing container per diem to the steamship line and chassis days to the equipment provider simultaneously. This is one of the most expensive positions in drayage and one of the most avoidable.
The answer is a pre-pull to a yard, which converts expensive street or terminal exposure into cheaper controlled dwell, or a transload that moves the cargo out of the ocean container entirely and releases the equipment.
Plan the first 72 hours before the vessel arrives
Arrival is not the start of the process. It is the midpoint. The decisions that determine whether a container clears cleanly are made while the vessel is still at sea, and the importers who avoid demurrage are the ones who treat pre-arrival as the working stage rather than the waiting stage.
If you want to talk to BYC about how your arrivals would execute, request a quote.
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