Most drayage companies quote on request, so drayage prices in Canada are hard to compare before you ask. There is one public reference point, though. CPKC, one of Canada's two Class I railways, publishes a dated price list for moving containers between its intermodal terminals and hundreds of towns.
This guide uses that tariff, the British Columbia regulated driver rates and published carrier surcharges. With them you can see what a container move costs in 2026 and why two quotes for the same box can differ by hundreds of dollars. Every figure below links to its source.
What drayage prices include
A drayage price is the charge for trucking a shipping container over a short distance. Typical moves run between a port or rail terminal and a warehouse, yard or customer site. The quote usually has three layers:
Base rate. A flat price per container for the lane, from the terminal to a delivery zone or town. It normally covers the trip there and the return of the empty container or chassis.
Surcharges. Fuel, overweight, dangerous goods, extra stops, tolls.
Time-based charges. Waiting time at your dock, chassis days, and storage if the container sits in a yard.
The base rate is the part you can compare between carriers. The other two layers depend on how fast you unload and return equipment, and they often decide the final bill. For background on how a move works, see What Is Drayage in Logistics?
Published drayage rates by city (CPKC Tariff 7551-A)
CPKC publishes Tariff 7551-A, "Intermodal Dray Rates from Canadian Origins". It is the railway's price for trucking a container between its terminal and a town, per container, one price per town. The revision used here took effect on November 11, 2026. Each regional table runs until June 30, 2027.
Keep in mind what this tariff is. It is CPKC's own price for drayage it arranges for intermodal shipments on its network. It is not a market average, and a private drayage company quoting an ocean container from a CN terminal will price its own way. Still, it is the most detailed dated price list for container drayage in Canada. That makes it a good benchmark for whether a quote is in a normal range.
Toronto terminal (CPKC Vaughan)
The "Toronto & Area" rate is $299. It covers Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Concord, Woodbridge, Markham, Richmond Hill, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and Bolton. Section effective August 19, 2026.
| Delivery town | Rate per container |
|---|---|
| Toronto & Area (incl. Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham) | $299 |
| Milton, Oakville, Caledon, Aurora, Newmarket | $299 |
| Pickering | $344 |
| Ajax | $368 |
| Hamilton | $372 |
| Oshawa | $372 |
| Guelph | $382 |
| Stoney Creek | $387 |
| Whitby | $394 |
| Burlington, Cambridge | $400 |
| Barrie | $422 |
| Kitchener | $443 |
| Waterloo | $472 |
| Brantford | $532 |
| St. Catharines | $569 |
| Woodstock | $601 |
| Peterborough | $632 |
| Niagara Falls | $644 |
| London | $688 |
| Kingston | $1,042 |
| Windsor | $1,256 |
Montreal terminal (CPKC Lachine)
"Montreal & Area" is $260. It covers Laval, Longueuil, Dorval, Lachine, Saint-Laurent and Terrebonne. Section effective September 10, 2026.
| Delivery town | Rate per container |
|---|---|
| Montreal & Area, Mirabel, Vaudreuil-Dorion | $260 |
| Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu | $293 |
| Salaberry-de-Valleyfield | $325 |
| Saint-Hyacinthe | $381 |
| Granby | $461 |
| Cornwall, ON | $498 |
| Drummondville | $588 |
| Trois-Rivières | $706 |
| Sherbrooke | $734 |
| Ottawa, ON | $767 |
| Gatineau | $842 |
| Québec City | $1,191 |
Vancouver, Prairies and Atlantic terminals
| Terminal | Local area rate | Example towns |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver (incl. Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Burnaby, Langley, Abbotsford, Coquitlam) | $277 | Chilliwack $421, Squamish $459 |
| Calgary | $236 | Okotoks $241, Balzac $260, Airdrie $270, Red Deer $704, Lethbridge $848 |
| Edmonton | $224 | Leduc $261, Spruce Grove $303, Fort Saskatchewan $303 |
| Winnipeg | $214 | Portage la Prairie $375, Steinbach $399, Brandon $730 |
| Regina | $213 | Moose Jaw $404, Saskatoon $994 |
| Saint John, NB | $265 | Fredericton $577, Moncton $844, Halifax $1,561 |
How fast these rates rise
The same tariff shows how drayage rates move year to year:
| Area rate | Oct 2024 | Jul 2025 | Current (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto & Area | $285 | $292 | $299 |
| Montreal & Area | n/a | $254 | $260 |
| Vancouver & Area | n/a | $270 | $277 |
The Toronto base rate rose about 4.9% in two years. Budget for a similar yearly rise when you sign an annual contract.
Surcharges that change the final price
Extra stops and towns not on the list
CPKC charges $125 per extra stop inside the local area of a terminal. For a town that isn't listed, the price is a rate per mile of round-trip running miles, with a minimum charge per container:
| Terminal | Per round-trip mile | Minimum per container |
|---|---|---|
| Vaughan, ON | $3.64 | $299 |
| Lachine, QC | $3.80 | $260 |
| Vancouver, BC | $3.37 | $277 |
| Calgary, AB | $3.10 | $236 |
| Edmonton, AB | $3.21 | $224 |
| Winnipeg, MB | $2.97 | $214 |
| Regina, SK | $2.68 | $214 |
The tariff states these as "CDN$ & USD$", so the same number applies in the currency of the shipment. Highway rates assume a live load or unload, or a drop of one container and pickup of another at the same facility, on one trip.
Overweight containers
Rail lines cap the cargo weight in a container. Ocean carriers charge extra above that cap. Hapag-Lloyd Canada's rail weight table (effective March 23, 2026) charges USD 425 in these cases:
a 20-foot container with 21,728–24,947 kg of cargo on CN routes from Halifax or Montreal to Toronto;
a 40-foot container with 27,216–29,483 kg of cargo on CN.
On some CPKC routes, a 40-foot box above 27,215 kg is not accepted at all.
On the road side, a heavy box needs a tri-axle or quad-axle chassis. Most carriers add a flat surcharge for that, so ask for it as a separate line.
Fuel surcharge
Most carriers add fuel as a percentage of the base rate. The percentage rises and falls with diesel prices. British Columbia publishes the formula it requires for independent drivers in the Lower Mainland. The OBCCTC Rate Order sets a surcharge of 2% for every 5 cents that Vancouver diesel costs above $1.05 per litre.
The OBCCTC fuel surcharge table shows how much that moves:
| Month (2026) | Reference diesel price | Fuel surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| January | $1.60/L | 22% |
| April | $2.30/L | 50% |
| July | $2.20/L | 46% |
| October | $2.80/L | 70% |
| November | $2.85/L | 72% |
This formula governs what licensed companies pay independent drivers, not what shippers pay. It still explains why Vancouver drayage quotes in late 2026 are well above the same lanes in January. When you compare quotes, ask each carrier for the fuel percentage and the diesel price it is based on.
Why drayage costs more in some cities
Regulated driver pay in Vancouver. The Lower Mainland is the only Canadian market with mandatory minimum driver rates. From July 1, 2026, the OBCCTC Rate Order raised all minimums by 2.1%:
company drivers: $34.56 per hour, or $36.03 after 2,340 hours;
independent operators paid hourly: $73.04 or $75.05;
independent operators on callout: at least $348.
Carriers build these into their prices, so a Vancouver lane rarely drops below them.
Terminal congestion. When a rail terminal or port is backed up, trucks wait longer at the gate. Carriers then charge waiting time or raise base rates. Toronto and Montreal rail terminals had congestion and relief yards in 2025–2026.
Distance from the terminal. The tariff shows the step clearly. The local rate around Vaughan is $299, Hamilton is $372, and London is $688. Past about 150 km from a terminal, transloading the cargo into a 53-foot trailer is often cheaper than trucking the container. See Container Destuffing and Transloading in Toronto.
Time-based charges: where budgets go wrong
The base rate is fixed. These charges depend on you:
Waiting time. A live unload includes a free window, often about two hours. After that, carriers bill by the hour.
Chassis days. In a drop-and-pick move, the container stays on the carrier's chassis at your site. Carriers include a set number of days, then charge per day.
Pre-pull and yard storage. If terminal free time is about to run out, the carrier pulls the box to its own yard. You pay a flat pre-pull charge plus a daily yard rate. It is usually cheaper than terminal storage.
Terminal storage, demurrage and detention.
Storage and demurrage: charged by the terminal or the ocean carrier when the box stays past free time.
Detention: charged by the ocean carrier when the empty comes back late.
On CN, storage rules sit in tariff CN 9100 on the Optional Services tariffs page.
For carrier fee levels and ways to avoid them, see Container Storage, Demurrage and Detention Fees in Canada.
Worked examples
These use only CPKC Tariff 7551-A base rates. Fuel and time charges are left out because they vary by carrier and month.
One container from Vaughan to a warehouse in Brampton. Brampton falls under Toronto & Area: $299.
The same container with a second delivery in Mississauga. $299 + $125 extra stop = $424.
One container to Kitchener, drop of a loaded box and pickup of an empty at the same dock. One highway trip: $443.
A town 60 miles from Vaughan that isn't in the tariff. Round trip of 120 miles × $3.64 = $436.80. That is above the $299 minimum, so $436.80 applies.
How to get comparable drayage quotes
Send every carrier the same details, or the prices won't be comparable:
Container size and type (20', 40', 40' high cube, reefer) and cargo weight.
Pickup terminal (for example CN Brampton, CPKC Vaughan, Port of Montreal) and delivery address.
Live unload or drop-and-pick, plus the hours your dock is open.
Last free day at the terminal and when the empty is due back.
Dangerous goods class, if any.
Then ask for an itemized quote:
base rate;
fuel percentage;
free waiting time and the hourly rate after it;
free chassis days and the daily rate after them;
overweight and dangerous goods surcharges;
pre-pull and yard rates.
Some Toronto carriers now price GTA lanes online. Metropolitan Logistics' Toronto drayage page has an instant quote: you enter import or export, the delivery city and the container details, and the price appears on screen and arrives by email. It covers dozens of cities across the GTA and Southern Ontario, from CN Brampton, CPKC Vaughan, CN Malport in Milton and the Port of Toronto. Lanes the calculator doesn't cover go to dispatch for a manual quote.
To compare several carriers, use the directory for each market:
Listed carriers include:
Metropolitan Logistics, Seaport Intermodal and Compass Roadlines in Toronto;
Medlog Canada in Montreal;
Harbour Link Container Services in Vancouver;
Avantus Intermodal in Calgary and Edmonton.
You can send one quote request to several listed carriers at once.
Frequently asked questions
How much does drayage cost per container in Canada?
CPKC's published 2026 tariff charges $213 to $299 per container for local delivery around its terminals. Toronto & Area is $299, Montreal & Area $260, Vancouver & Area $277 and Calgary & Area $236. Longer lanes cost more, such as $688 from Vaughan to London or $1,256 to Windsor. Fuel, waiting time and chassis days are added on top.
How much does container drayage cost in Toronto?
The CPKC rate from its Vaughan terminal to Toronto & Area, including Brampton, Mississauga and Markham, is $299 per container. Hamilton is $372, Kitchener $443 and London $688. Private carriers quote their own rates, so get two or three itemized quotes for comparison.
What is a fuel surcharge in drayage?
A fuel surcharge is a percentage added to the base rate that follows diesel prices. In British Columbia's regulated formula, it rises 2% for every 5 cents that diesel costs above $1.05 per litre. That made it 72% in November 2026. Each carrier sets its own table, so ask for the percentage on every quote.
Why is drayage more expensive in Vancouver?
Vancouver is the only Canadian market where container truck drivers have mandatory minimum pay rates. From July 1, 2026, they range from $34.56 per hour for new company drivers to $75.05 per hour for experienced independent operators. Carriers price these minimums and the regulated fuel surcharge into their quotes.
How can I lower my drayage costs?
Unload within the carrier's free time, return empties before detention starts, and book pickups before terminal free time ends. Group deliveries so one trip covers a drop and a pickup at the same dock. For far inland deliveries, compare the drayage price with transloading into a 53-foot trailer.