How Ecommerce Growth is Impacting Drayage

6 Ecommerce Trends Increasing Demand for Efficient Logistics

Ecommerce drayage needs to be faster and more efficient due to these six industry trends in 2025, including a 39% growth over the coming years.

According to Statista, global retail ecommerce sales reached an estimated $5.8 trillion in 2023. Projections indicate a 39% growth over the coming years, surpassing $8 trillion by 2027. The Census Bureau reports that online sales represent increasingly higher proportions of overall retail sales.

In addition to the convenience of online shopping, consumers set high expectations for quick delivery. This directly affects drayage, the movement of containers between ports, rail yards, distribution centers, and warehouses. 

As ecommerce continues to grow, it drives increased demand for faster, more efficient logistics networks. How this directly affects drayage includes:

1. Increased demand for fast delivery
2. Higher port volumes and congestion
3. Rapid technology adoption
4. Multi-modal transport
5. Growth of middle-mile regional distribution centers
6. Rising drayage competition and costs

Let’s take a closer look at the specific ways ecommerce growth affects drayage:

1. Increased Demand for Fast Delivery

Ecommerce is driving demand for faster delivery times, often with same-day or next-day delivery windows. That alone puts pressure on drayage to move goods more quickly from ports or rail yards to distribution centers.  A delay in drayage can result in late or, worse, incorrect deliveries to customers, which can harm the reputation of ecommerce retailers.

Also, as part of this push to ever faster delivery, ecommerce businesses push for more frequent smaller shipments, as opposed to larger bulk shipments, leading to increased drayage activity in moving smaller quantities more often. Smaller, more frequent deliveries require more complex route planning and scheduling, as well as more flexibility and scalability to accommodate fluctuating demand and meet customer expectations.

2. Higher Port Volumes and Congestion

The growth of ecommerce business results in higher volumes of goods arriving at ports, causing congestion and delays in unloading and transporting drayage containers. Consequently, the competition to move goods quickly from port to warehouse becomes more intense, requiring drayage providers to streamline operations so as to reduce turnaround times.

3. Rapid Technology Adoption

Ecommerce demands for faster delivery and smaller shipments encourage the use of GPS tracking, automation, and real-time visibility platforms to improve the speed and efficiency of container movement. Ports are investing in automated cranes and AI logistics software to better track, manage, and optimize drayage movement. Drayage carriers are also experimenting with electric vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and costs. 

Data analytics is playing an increasingly important role in better predicting demand and allocating resources accordingly. This can help prevent capacity issues and ensure smoother, more reliable deliveries.

4. Multi-Modal Transport

As ecommerce shipments increase, drayage involves more multi-modal transport, with containers moved between different ports, rail yards, and warehouses. The efficient management of these intermodal connections is critical to ensuring that delivery expectations are met.

5. Growth of Middle Mile Regional Distribution Centers

Delivery promises are increasingly leading ecommerce companies to establish distribution centers in regional and urban areas to reduce last-mile delivery times. Drayage is the key link to efficiently move goods into and out of these city- and regional-based hubs in support of the broader fulfillment network.

6. Rising Drayage Competition and Costs

The growth of ecommerce and the resulting rise in both the number and complexity of deliveries create opportunities for both large and small logistics companies to participate in drayage. More competition forces companies to be more price-sensitive, even as drayage companies face rising labor, fuel, and equipment costs. The best competitors must find ways to become more efficient and maintain service levels while still controlling costs.