Your container is arriving, and it needs to reach your warehouse. Who is supposed to book the truck?

The answer depends on whether the relevant inland movement is arranged as merchant haulage or carrier haulage.

Merchant haulage means the shipper, importer, or their appointed logistics provider arranges the inland transportation separately from the ocean carrier’s transportation service. Carrier haulage means the ocean carrier arranges the inland transportation within the agreed booking.

That choice affects who selects the trucking provider, who coordinates delivery, and how transportation charges are handled. For U.S. importers, especially those receiving containers through inland rail ramps, the first step is identifying exactly which part of the journey each provider has agreed to arrange. (If the terms themselves are new, see What Is Drayage? and who does what on a container import.)

What is merchant haulage?

Under merchant haulage, the customer arranges the applicable inland move. The customer may book a drayage carrier directly or work through a forwarder, freight broker, or another appointed provider.

For example, an importer might hire a local trucking company to collect a container from a Chicago rail ramp and deliver it to a warehouse in Elk Grove Village.

Merchant haulage gives the customer more choice over the inland provider. It also requires a clear plan for coordinating pickup, receiving appointments, and equipment return. The importer does not have to perform every coordination task personally — those tasks can be assigned to its logistics providers. What matters is that someone has accepted each responsibility.

What is carrier haulage?

Under carrier haulage, the ocean carrier arranges the agreed inland transportation as part of its service. Depending on the booking, this can involve truck, rail, or a combination of transportation modes. For a delivery booked to the customer’s door, the ocean carrier arranges the trucking needed to reach the specified location.

The ocean carrier may use a separate trucking company to perform the move. Carrier haulage does not mean the shipping line owns the tractor or employs the driver. In this context, “carrier” refers to the ocean carrier arranging the service. Both merchant haulage and carrier haulage can involve an independent motor carrier performing the actual road transportation.

Merchant haulage vs. carrier haulage at a glance

Question	Merchant haulage	Carrier haulage
Who arranges the relevant inland move?	Customer or appointed logistics provider	Ocean carrier
Who selects the trucking provider?	Customer or its appointed provider	Ocean carrier through its service network
Where do delivery changes usually go?	Drayage provider or booking coordinator	Ocean carrier’s inland team or booking coordinator
How are inland charges usually presented?	Through the separately booked inland provider	Through the ocean carrier or booking provider
What should the shipper verify?	Assigned tasks, equipment arrangements, and complete trucking scope	Included inland legs, delivery requirements, and service exclusions

You may also see these arrangements called store door (delivery to your facility) and ramp or CY (the booking ends at the terminal). Different lines and forwarders use the words differently, so confirm the actual delivery point rather than relying on the label.

A Chicago rail move can include both arrangements

One shipment can have different arrangements for different legs. Imagine a container arriving at a U.S. seaport and traveling by rail to Chicago. The ocean carrier has arranged transportation through to an inland rail ramp. The importer then hires its own drayage company for delivery to a warehouse in Bensenville. In that example, the ocean carrier arranges the inland rail transportation, while the final truck move is merchant haulage.

Now imagine the booking includes delivery to the Bensenville warehouse. The ocean carrier arranges the final truck move as part of the door service. The difference is the agreed delivery point.

A booking showing “Chicago” does not, by itself, establish that delivery to your warehouse is included. Chicago has fifteen active intermodal terminals spread across roughly fifty miles — a container billed to “Chicago” might ground at CPKC Bensenville a mile from O’Hare, or at BNSF Logistics Park in Elwood, nearly fifty miles southwest. Those are very different final-mile moves, and our Chicago rail ramp guide shows the distances. Confirm the specific ramp or street address where the booked transportation ends.

Ask your booking provider: “Does this service end at the inland terminal, or does it include truck delivery to our receiving address?”

Who coordinates pickup and delivery?

With merchant haulage, the customer and its appointed providers need to assign responsibility for:

• Monitoring container availability and remaining holds.
• Confirming pickup references and terminal requirements.
• Securing truck and chassis capacity.
• Booking the warehouse appointment.
• Managing delivery changes.
• Arranging empty collection and return.

With carrier haulage, the ocean carrier’s inland team coordinates the transportation within its booked scope. The customer still needs to supply accurate delivery instructions and ensure the receiver is ready.

For either arrangement, provide the warehouse’s actual operating requirements before dispatch: appointment procedures, receiving hours, unloading arrangements, and any restrictions affecting access. A delivery address is only part of a usable delivery instruction.

How should you compare the costs?

Compare quotes for the same scope, not the same-looking number. A merchant-haulage drayage rate and a carrier-haulage door rate often cover different work, so put them side by side and check each line:

• Where the price starts and stops. Terminal pickup only, or pickup plus delivery plus the empty return?
• Chassis. Included or billed by the day? Is a chassis split possible at that terminal, and who pays for it?
• Free time and storage. Which free-time allowance applies, and who watches the last free day? Under carrier haulage the line’s inland team is watching it; under merchant haulage somebody on your side has to.
• Waiting time and unloading. How much driver time is included at the receiver, and what is the hourly charge after that?
• Pre-pull and yard storage. If the receiver cannot take the container before the deadline, what does a pre-pull cost, and is it even offered?
• Accessorials. Extra stops, dry runs, overweight handling, reefer plug-in — get the accessorial list in writing.
• Detention and per diem exposure. Under either arrangement the steamship line’s equipment clock keeps running, and per diem is billed to whoever holds the container.

Then ask the question that surfaces the rest: what could make the final invoice higher than this quote? Rushmore publishes its base drayage rates by ZIP code so the linehaul portion of a merchant-haulage comparison is visible before you ask for a firm quote.

Which arrangement makes sense for you?

Neither is automatically cheaper or faster. The practical trade-off looks like this:

Carrier haulage tends to suit importers who want one invoice and one point of contact, who move occasional containers and do not have staff watching terminals, or whose cargo is not time-critical enough to justify managing the final mile themselves.

Merchant haulage tends to suit importers who want to choose a carrier close to the ramp their boxes actually land at, who need weekend pre-pulls, overweight or tri-axle capability, or transloading, and who value a direct line to the dispatcher who can reroute a truck the same morning. It also gives you a carrier who answers to you rather than to the steamship line when a delivery has to change.

Many importers run both: carrier haulage on the rail leg because the line has the rail contract, merchant haulage on the final mile because that is where local knowledge and responsiveness matter most. Whichever you use, the one thing to avoid is assuming — get the delivery point in writing before the vessel arrives.

Frequently asked questions

Is merchant haulage cheaper than carrier haulage?

Not automatically. A door rate from the ocean carrier bundles the inland move into the booking, while merchant haulage is priced separately by the drayage carrier. Compare the same scope — pickup, delivery, chassis, waiting time, empty return — before deciding which is actually cheaper for your lane.

Can I switch from carrier haulage to merchant haulage after booking?

Sometimes, but it depends on the booking and the line’s rules, and it may involve a change fee or a reconsignment. Raise it with your booking provider as early as possible, because changing the delivery point after the container is already billed inland is much harder than setting it correctly at the start.

Under carrier haulage, who do I call when the delivery needs to change?

Your booking provider or the ocean carrier’s inland team, not the trucking company at the door. The motor carrier performing the move is working under the line’s instruction, so a change requested directly with the driver’s dispatcher may not be authorized.

Does merchant haulage mean I am responsible for detention and per diem?

The equipment clock runs under either arrangement. Under merchant haulage the exposure is usually more visible to you because the container is out on your appointed carrier’s chassis and the invoice comes to you. Either way, confirm which deadlines apply and who is tracking them.

Is carrier haulage the same as an all-in door-to-door quote?

Not necessarily. Read the scope. Some door quotes exclude customs brokerage, duties, terminal charges, unloading, or waiting time. Confirm what is included and what is billed separately before comparing it with a merchant-haulage plan.

Arranging your own inland move in Chicago

If you are handling the final mile as merchant haulage, Rushmore Transportation is an asset-based drayage carrier in Franklin Park, next to the CPKC Bensenville ramp and minutes from O’Hare — our own drivers, our own tractors, and our own 20/40 and tri-axle chassis, with coverage at every Chicago rail ramp. Dispatch tracks the last free day on every container, runs weekday and weekend pre-pulls, and confirms empty-return locations before each move.

Send us the pickup terminal, container and shipment references, delivery address and receiving hours, and we will confirm what the move needs and prepare a quote. Request a quote or call dispatch at (312) 238-9395.

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