Vancouver, British Columbia
Freight Services in Vancouver, BC
Vancouver freight is shaped by two things nothing else in the region has to deal with: the port, and streets that were not built for a 53-foot trailer.
What shapes freight out of Vancouver
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada, and its container terminals put a category of freight into the Lower Mainland that exists nowhere else in the province: import containers needing drayage inland, and export freight timed to a vessel rather than a receiver. Away from the port, the constraint reverses. Much of Vancouver proper has narrow streets, restricted turning, timed loading zones and no dock, and a delivery planned as though it were going to a warehouse will fail.
- Port drayage runs to terminal appointments, and a missed window is rebooked rather than squeezed in
- Downtown and older commercial streets frequently need a smaller truck, a liftgate, or both
- Timed loading zones mean the delivery hour matters as much as the delivery day
- Intermodal is more often the right call here than anywhere else in the region, because the rail terminals are close enough that drayage does not eat the saving
What we move out of Vancouver
Other service areas
Shipping from Vancouver, answered
What local shippers ask before the first booking. If yours is not here, call dispatch and ask.
Container moves between the terminals and inland destinations run to terminal appointments. A missed window is rebooked rather than squeezed in, which makes the appointment, not the distance, the thing the plan is built around.
Often not. Narrow streets, restricted turning and timed loading zones mean a great many Vancouver deliveries need a smaller truck, a liftgate, or both. A delivery planned as though it were going to a warehouse will fail.
More often here than anywhere else in the region. The rail terminals are close enough that drayage at this end does not eat the saving, which is what usually kills the intermodal case on shorter runs.
Have freight to move? Let’s get it moving.
Tell us what you are shipping, where it is going, and when it needs to move. We will take it from there.