How do you choose a drayage carrier for GTA containers?
Choose by what happens to your container, not by the quote alone. Ask who pulls it at CN Brampton or CPKC Vaughan, on whose truck and chassis. Read the rate confirmation before you accept. Ask whether the company runs the truck itself or passes loads to other carriers. Get each answer in writing before you tender.
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Carrier or broker: what is the difference for your container?
A carrier runs the truck and signs for your load as the carrier. A broker arranges the move and hires a carrier to run it. Both are legitimate businesses, so start by knowing which one you are dealing with.
With a carrier, the company on your rate confirmation is the company whose driver pulls your container. You deal with the people who run the truck.
With a broker, another company's truck does the work. Ask which carrier, and whether you will know its name before it moves.
Some companies take a load as the carrier and then pass it to someone else. Done without your consent, that is re-brokering. It is how a container ends up with a trucker you never hired. See double brokering and fake pickups.
Not sure whether your drayage company subcontracts? Ask it directly, and ask for the answer on the rate confirmation or in the carrier agreement.
- Who signs as the carrier?
- Whose truck pulls it?
- Whose chassis?
- Who do I call?
What should you ask a drayage company before you tender?
Ask these nine questions before you send the container number. Each answer tells you who will be at the ramp and what you will be billed.
Who signs as the carrier?
The legal name on the rate confirmation should be the company that runs the truck. If it is a broker, ask which carrier will.
Is it registered to run trucks?
Ask for its Ontario carrier registration certificate. Anyone can order a carrier's public abstract or check its safety rating on the province's site.
Can it send a certificate of insurance?
Ask before the first load, not after a claim. The named insured should match the rate confirmation.
Who books the ramp pickup?
Ask who books the CN Brampton gate appointment or the CPKC Vaughan pickup. Ask who checks the releases first.
Whose chassis goes under it?
Ask whose chassis the container will ride on, and what changes if the move needs yours or a pool chassis.
What does the rate confirmation show?
Ask which lines can appear, and how much free time comes before waiting time. Get both before you accept.
How is waiting time counted?
Ask when the clock starts and what proves it. Documented in and out times should decide what is invoiced.
What if it cannot cover the load?
Ask how you will find out. You want to hear it when you tender, not on the last free day.
Who do you call?
Ask for the number that reaches dispatch while your container is on the road, and its hours.
What answers should you expect?
Specific ones. Vague answers at tender tend to become surprises at the ramp.
Named ramps. It should say which ramps it pulls from and who books the pickup at each.
Charges in writing before you accept. The rate confirmation should show the rate and any other line that can apply. Charges that first appear on the invoice are a warning.
Papers on request. The registration and insurance certificates should arrive when you ask, without a chase.
A straight no. If the company cannot cover your container, it should say so at tender. Silence until the last free day costs you storage and demurrage.
- No legal name on the rate confirmation
- A carrier name that changes after tender
- Email from a free-mail address
- A callback number you do not know
Two of these are fraud signals. Read how to spot a fake pickup.
What if your cargo is damaged?
Ask how claims work before the first load. A carrier answers for goods it accepts, with the exceptions set out in Ontario's uniform conditions of carriage.
Our conditions of carriage restate those rules in plain English, including the limit and how to file a claim. For damage found in a sealed container, read who is liable for damage inside a sealed container.
Can you book a GTA drayage carrier from elsewhere in Canada?
Yes. Looking for a drayage company in Ontario from out of province? What matters is where the container lands, not where your office is.
Shippers and forwarders anywhere in Canada can book Setara Transport for containers that land at CN Brampton or CPKC Vaughan. We are based in Vaughan, Ontario. We work with shippers across Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan and Hamilton.
What does Setara Transport do?
Setara Transport is an Ontario carrier in business since 2006. Here are our answers to the nine questions.
- The container number and the ramp
- The pickup number from your ocean line
- The last free day
- The delivery address and receiving hours
- The cargo weight in each container
- Live unload or drop at your dock
- Carry your load as the carrier and sign for it
- Book the pickup at the ramp: the CN Brampton gate appointment or the CPKC Vaughan pickup
- Check what is still missing before a truck goes out
- Pull containers on our own chassis. Need your chassis or a pool chassis? Tell us at tender and name the steamship line.
- Send a rate confirmation that shows the rate, and fuel surcharge and waiting time as separate lines where they apply
- Answer at (905) 745-2322, Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 18:00 ET, or at dispatch@setara.ca
Ontario CVOR: held. The number and the certificate are in the carrier packet. Insurance is in force. Auto liability, cargo, general liability and non-owned chassis cover. We do not publish limits or insurer names; the certificate comes with the carrier packet. Request the carrier packet, or read compliance and documents.
A drayage company that does not re-broker should put it in writing. Ours: A load accepted by Setara Transport is not passed to another carrier without your written consent. We do not re-broker. If we cannot cover a load, we say so when it is tendered. The same clause is in the carrier agreement in our packet, and in section 12 of our conditions of carriage.
Choosing a carrier questions.
Should I use a drayage broker or a carrier?
What questions should I ask a drayage company?
Does Setara Transport re-broker loads?
Does Setara Transport run its own trucks?
Can I book you if my business is not in the GTA?
More answers for importers.
Who hires the trucker: you or the line?
Merchant haulage or carrier haulageHow do you spot a fake pickup?
Double brokering and what to checkWhat goes into a drayage rate?
Each line on the rate confirmationWho is liable for damage in a sealed container?
Shipper load and countAll answers
Every answer for importers and forwardersContainer to move? Ask us the same questions.
Send the container number, the ramp and the delivery address. Dispatch replies with how we would cover it.