What Is a Cartage Company?

What Is a Cartage Company?

Manufacturers, retailers, and distributors need a vast array of transportation according to their needs. Some require transportation to send a large container fully loaded with goods across the country, while others require transportation on a smaller scale and within the city.

Cartage company is a transportation company that provides transportation of goods on a small scale and within a particular area.

This article talks about all there is to know about the cartage mode of transportation.

What Are Cartage Services?

Cartage is a term used to transport raw material and finished products over a short distance, [most likely within a certain town's vicinity. Cartage services are usually used for lightweight hauling. Unlike other commercial trucking services, the vehicles used for cartage services are smaller trucks and vans. For this reason, the fare of cartage companies also differs from cross-country transportation or commercial trucking.

What Is the Difference Between Cartage and Drayage Services?

Many people confuse cartage with drayage services, and while they share many similarities, they are separate services for different purposes. Both cartage and drayage shipping consists of transporting light haul goods over a short distance.

In cartage transportation, the container's storage is disintegrated into smaller spaces to divide for different goods and products from other businesses. These units are then distributed in the area according to the designated route. In comparison, drayage shipping uses the entire container to transport goods for one business without separating the container storage.

Another aspect that differentiates cartage from drayage is that the latter is classified into six sub-categories by the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), while cartage has no Sub-categorization. The six sub-categories of drayage include:

  • • Expedited Drayage
  • • Pier Drayage
  • • Shuttle Drayage
  • • Door-to-Door Drayage
  • • Inter-Carrier Drayage
  • • Intra-Carrier Drayage

Cartage Differences

A cartage service provides every good with a bill of lading. The bill of lading contains critical information about the product that allows the shipper and receiver to track the shipment and know its order number for security purposes.

A cartage company uses cartage advice as their legal record of the product. Cartage advice is a document that contains information about the product such as type, quantity, transportation details, and shipper's and receiver's name. The same document also acts as a receipt when the delivery is handed over.

Cartage Agents

Unlike in drayage shipment, cartage companies have cartage agents responsible for checking the products and drafting legal records and documents for each product. For example, a warehouse receives a shipment from the supplier or the manufacturer.

It will have a document created by the freight agent that will contain all of the load's information. When the load is distributed according to the delivery areas of the cartage service, the cartage agent will develop their paperwork and forms to ensure the delivery reaches the correct address.