Live unload or drop: which container delivery fits your dock?
A live unload fits a dock that is ready: the driver waits while you unload, then takes the empty straight back. A drop fits a busy dock with yard space: we leave the container on a chassis and come back for the empty. Both run off CN Brampton and CPKC Vaughan, across the GTA. Tell Setara Transport dispatch which one at tender.
Last reviewed:
What is a live unload?
A live unload is a delivery where the driver stays with the container while your crew empties it. The driver then takes the empty away. The whole job is one visit.
It suits a free dock door and a crew that is ready when the truck backs in. The empty leaves with the same truck, so it reaches the return location sooner. The ocean line's per diem stops when the empty is accepted back there.
The trade-off is time on the truck. Detention is measured from the appointment time written on the rate confirmation. Waiting past the free time on that rate confirmation is billed, and documented in and out times decide what is invoiced.
- A free dock door
- A crew and forklift ready
- One container at a time
- Freight that comes off quickly
What is a drop?
A drop is a delivery where we leave the container on a chassis at your site, and the truck leaves. You unload on your own time. When the container is empty, tell dispatch and we come back for it.
A drop needs yard space and a safe place to park a chassis. The container stays on that chassis until we collect the empty, so the spot has to hold it the whole time.
The truck is off the clock while you unload. Per diem is not: the ocean line's clock keeps running until the empty is back with the line. A container that sits empty in your yard still runs per diem, so call dispatch the day it is empty.
- Yard space
- A safe place to park a chassis
- Access for a tractor and chassis
- A call to dispatch when it is empty
Which one keeps your costs down?
Neither wins every time. A live unload puts the truck's waiting time at risk. A drop lets per diem run longer. Choose the one your dock and your line's free time can carry.
When your dock is ready
Your door is free when the truck arrives, and the crew can start at once. The empty goes straight back, so per diem stops sooner.
When your dock is busy
Your doors are booked, your crew is short, or the freight is slow to unload by hand. The truck leaves, and you unload when you can.
Watch both clocks
Waiting time belongs to the truck and starts from the appointment time. Per diem belongs to the ocean line and runs until the empty is accepted back.
Ask your ocean line for its per diem free time before you choose. If that free time is short and your dock is free, a live unload usually costs less. If your dock is busy and the free time leaves room, a drop usually does. How waiting is counted: truck detention and waiting time.
What does your site need for a drop?
A drop works only where a tractor can leave a chassis safely and come back for it. Check three things before you ask for one.
First, space. You need a spot that holds the container on its chassis, clear of your own traffic, for as long as you unload.
Second, access. A tractor has to back the chassis in, unhook it, and later hook it up again. Tell us about height limits, tight turns and the hours a truck may enter.
Third, the decision itself. Tell us at tender, not at the gate. Deciding at the gate is how one delivery turns into a second trip.
- Live unload or drop
- Yard space for a chassis
- Access limits: height, turning, time of day
- Receiving hours and the appointment window
How should you plan the dock and crew?
Most waiting time is decided before the truck arrives. Sort out the dock, the crew and the paperwork when you tender, not when the driver calls.
Give real hours
Send your actual receiving hours and the appointment window with the tender. If your site needs an appointment, say so.
Check the releases early
Send us the container number and we tell you what is still missing. A truck cannot clear a hold.
Clear the door
Have the dock door free, and the forklift and crew ready, when the truck is due.
Call when it is empty
For a drop, unload, take out the dunnage and close the doors. Then tell dispatch the empty is ready.
Who takes the empty back after a drop?
We do. After a drop, we come back for the empty and take it to the ramp or the depot your line names. After a live unload, it leaves with the same truck.
Per diem stops when the empty is accepted back there, not when it leaves your dock. Send the return instructions with the tender, so the driver knows where the empty goes before collecting it. Where empties go and how to find out: empty container returns in the GTA. Dock not ready before the last free day? Read what a pre-pull is and when it pays.
What does Setara Transport do?
Setara Transport delivers containers off CN Brampton and CPKC Vaughan as a live unload or a drop. Delivery runs across Peel, York, Halton, Toronto and Durham, and out into the rest of Ontario.
- The container number and the ramp
- Live unload or drop
- The delivery address, receiving hours and appointment window
- Access limits at your site
- The cargo weight in each container
- Where the empty goes back
- Check releases and holds, and tell you what is still missing
- Book the pickup at the ramp: the CN Brampton gate appointment or the CPKC Vaughan pickup
- Pull the container on our own chassis
- Deliver as a live unload with the driver waiting, or a drop if you have the yard space
- Return the empty to the ramp or the depot your line names
If the move needs to go on your chassis or a pool chassis, tell us at tender and name the steamship line. Your rate confirmation shows the rate, and fuel surcharge and waiting time as separate lines where they apply. Free time is on the rate confirmation before you accept. See where we deliver in Toronto and the GTA.
Live unload and drop questions.
Words like per diem, free time and rate confirmation are explained in drayage terms in plain English.
What does live unload mean in trucking?
What is a drop in container delivery?
Is a live unload or a drop cheaper?
How long can a dropped container stay at my site?
Do you drop containers off both ramps?
More answers for importers.
When does per diem stop?
The ocean line's clock after pickupHow is waiting time counted?
Truck detention at your dockWhere does the empty go back?
Empty returns in the GTAWhat builds up at the ramp?
Storage and demurrage before pickupIs a pre-pull worth it?
When your dock is not ready in timeAll answers
Every answer for importers and forwardersContainer on its way to your dock? Tell us live unload or drop.
The container number, the ramp, your receiving hours and the delivery you want.