Ocean rates get the press. The drayage market — the trucking that moves containers from port terminal to warehouse — quietly tightened across every major US gateway in 2025 and stayed tight into 2026. Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, Savannah, and Houston all show meaningfully longer container dwell times than pre-2019 baseline. Driver capacity is the proximate cause; chassis availability and gate-window misalignment are the secondary contributors.
Why this is now structural, not cyclical
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Three reasons the drayage market isn't loosening. One: AB5 in California permanently changed the owner-operator economics, removing capacity that hasn't been replaced. Two: post-COVID, drayage drivers shifted into longer-haul OTR work for higher pay; the migration was sticky. Three: chassis availability remains constrained because chassis pool restructuring after the 2022–2023 boom was never fully completed at most ports. Each of these alone would tighten capacity. Together they make a structurally tighter market.
What shippers feel
Container dwell times running 1.5–3 days longer than peak-COVID baseline at most major US gateways. Detention and demurrage charges showing up on shipper invoices regularly. Last-mile delivery commitments slipping when drayage windows misalign with terminal gate hours. The shipper conversation about "why is my freight stuck at the port" is happening in dozens of importer accounting calls every week.
What this means for your team
Two prospecting plays. First: target shippers whose container volume is concentrated through the most-stressed gateways (LA/LB, Newark) and whose 12-month volume is up 20%+. They're going to feel the drayage pinch hard. Second: target shippers who recently shifted gateways (e.g., from East Coast to West Coast post-Panama) — they're navigating a new drayage market and may not have established carrier relationships there yet. Both are open conversations.