Wuhan Port Container Drayage

Drayage is priced per move from the loading address, container size, whether the truck has to cross the river, the gross weight, whether an empty has to be pre-pulled, and where the box is released. There is no flat per-box rate. Send the address, box size and count, gross weight, barge or vessel schedule and cut-off, and you get a line-item quote with the accessorials listed separately and the free waiting period stated.

Allow for release, depot pickup, inspection, the drive to the plant, loading, weighing and sealing, the return leg and the gate slot. Any of those can queue. Build the plan backward from the barge cut-off, not forward from the factory finish time, because the barge is the constraint: Yangluo to Shanghai is typically three to five days of river transit, and a missed sailing can mean waiting a full cycle for the next one.

Two 20ft containers on one chassis. It works when both boxes load at the same plant or on the same route, the combined weight is inside the tractor's rating and the terminal accepts the combination at the gate. It is common on short urban runs in Wuhan and rarely sensible on a long provincial lane. Send both gross weights before dispatch and the dispatcher will confirm the trailer and the route.

Two limits apply, and the lower one wins. The carrier sets a weight cap for the service, and the road sets its own: the Third Ring main line and several major viaducts in Wuhan ban vehicles over 55 metric tons gross or 13 metric tons per axle, and the Yangtze bridges and Third Ring tunnels are closed to goods vehicles altogether. Declare the real weight at booking, weigh after loading for the VGM, and if the box is already over, de-stuff, split it or re-book rather than testing the gate.

A packaging certificate for dangerous goods, a safety data sheet, a carrier booking confirmation that accepts the class, and a licensed tractor with a qualified driver and escort. ISO tanks also need the tank inspection certificate and filling record. Different Wuhan terminals are approved for different hazard classes, so we confirm the class against the terminal's permit before the booking is accepted.

Set point, ventilation setting, pre-cooling requirement and how the unit stays powered on the road. If shore power is not available at the plant, the trailer needs a genset. Pre-cool and inspect before loading, keep the temperature recorder data, and if the box is pre-pulled, confirm the off-terminal power supply and the free-storage terms in writing.

An open top has a removable roof and is loaded from above, so it suits cargo that is too tall for the door but stays inside the box footprint. A flat rack has no roof and no sides, only a floor and end frames, and carries over-width, over-length or side-loaded cargo that the shipper must waterproof and lash. Both are out-of-gauge solutions, and inland barges are stricter than ocean vessels about stowing them on deck.

Yes. Empty pickup and gate-in are booked on the terminal's online platform or through the driver pre-entry app, and the driver scans the reference at an unmanned smart gate that reads plate, trailer and box number and takes the weight electronically. Average gate time is about 30 seconds per truck, down from about 160 seconds before the smart gate went live. Release and payment must be settled first or the transaction will not process.

Trucks with plates from outside Wuhan are banned from the Third Ring main line and the roads inside it, and the Yangtze bridges, the Jianghan bridge and all Third Ring tunnels are closed to goods vehicles around the clock. Yangluo is outside the Third Ring, so the terminal run avoids the city center. If your supplier is inside the ring, the route depends on which crossing legally takes heavy vehicles, and a permit may be needed. Rules are revised from time to time, so we check the current notice before each move.

You can, but in Wuhan the sequence matters. Cargo has to arrive at the supervised terminal before the terminal files the arrival report, and customs releases on that basis. This is the reverse of the Shanghai order. If the truck is late there is no arrival report and no release, however complete the declaration. With one team on both legs, box, seal, VGM, packing list and arrival timing are checked together.

Confirmed rates are held through the pre-Chinese New Year rush, National Day, the rainy season and periods when barge sailings cluster. If you change the loading address, the box or the date, or if the terminal or the carrier adds a charge that is genuinely new, we tell you before it is incurred and settle against the receipt. Waiting time, overnight holds and empty returns are real work items with rates on the quote, not a seasonal surcharge.

Waiting beyond the free period on the quote is charged hourly, and a loading that runs past midnight adds a separate overnight charge. Both are stated before dispatch. If stock may not be ready, price three options first: hold the truck, drop the box and send a second tractor, or consolidate at a warehouse. Night loading is common in Wuhan because of daytime truck restrictions, so the night shift, lighting, dock and gate access all belong on the dispatch sheet.

Inspect against the EIR at the depot and photograph anything wrong: dents, a damp or soft floor, a door seal that will not close, a smell. Swap it there, before loading, at no extra trucking cost. If it is found after loading, ask the line about an exchange or repair and transload if necessary. Send the condition record to the customer and the broker so the return inspection is not charged back to the shipper.

Neither should reach the gate. Before dispatch we check release status and validity, booking confirmation, vessel and voyage, and the vehicle details on the appointment. If equipment is short, the line reassigns the depot or substitutes the box; 45HC, open top and flat rack are the usual shortages at an inland terminal, so they are confirmed earlier. A slot that cannot be used is canceled, not left to lapse.