Export container drayage that hits the cut, every time.

Export drayage timing — what actually matters

Export bookings have three time windows that decide whether your container makes the vessel or rolls to the next one:

• Earliest Receiving Date (ERD). The earliest the terminal will accept your loaded export. Drop too early and you get turned away. Drop after ERD and the container can sit safely waiting on the vessel.
• Cargo cut-off. The hard deadline for the loaded container at the gate.
• VGM cut-off. The deadline for submitting the SOLAS Verified Gross Mass — sometimes the same as the cargo cut, sometimes earlier.

We schedule pickup of an empty, loading at your facility, and delivery to terminal against all three windows — never just the cargo cut. That's the difference between making the vessel and watching it sail.

SOLAS VGM coordination

Verified Gross Mass is a SOLAS regulatory requirement. The carrier submits the certified weight before the cut-off so the line can stow the vessel. Cate Freight can submit VGM via the line's portal or via INTTRA, and we'll capture the certified scale weight at pickup if you don't have a certified scale on site.

Empty pickup & pre-load staging

Export drays usually start with an empty pickup at the terminal or chassis depot. If you need the empty staged at your dock before loading day — for instance because you're loading at 6 AM and the gate doesn't open early enough — we'll pre-pull the empty and drop it overnight. Same idea as an import pre-pull, just upstream.

What we need to quote an export drayage move

• Booking number and steamship line
• Container size, type, and any specialty (reefer set point, OW, OOG)
• Pickup origin (where loading happens)
• Return terminal at SCPA
• ERD, cargo cut, VGM cut
• Commodity, weight, hazmat (with UN# if applicable)