Intermodal and drayage operations sit at one of the most administratively complex intersections in North American freight. A single container move may involve an ocean carrier's booking system, a Class I railroad's intermodal network, a chassis pool managed by a pool provider like DCLI or Flexi-Van, a port terminal's appointment system, and FMCSA's ELD mandate—each generating its own data trail and its own dispute risk. For drayage companies managing dozens or hundreds of container moves per day, the administrative burden of tracking equipment, contesting unwarranted fees, and maintaining driver compliance is enormous.
A virtual assistant trained in intermodal and drayage operations can manage this administrative layer systematically, reducing fee exposure and ensuring the compliance documentation that protects operating authority.
Chassis Pool Tracking: Controlling Equipment Cost
Chassis pool charges accrue by the day, and chassis that are not returned promptly because nobody tracked their location generate costs that erode margin on what are already thin-margin moves. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) has highlighted chassis availability and pool management as among the top operational cost drivers for drayage carriers.
A VA can maintain a daily chassis tracking log by driver and container, cross-referenced against pool provider return deadlines. When a chassis approaches its free-time expiration, the VA sends an alert to the dispatcher so the equipment can be returned or an extension requested before per-diem charges begin. Monthly chassis pool reconciliations—comparing pool invoices against the company's internal tracking log—frequently surface billing errors that are recoverable but only if contested within the pool provider's dispute window.
Port Demurrage and Detention Dispute Management
Port demurrage (charges for cargo remaining at the terminal beyond free time) and detention (charges for keeping a chassis or container beyond the carrier's free-time allowance) are among the most contested cost items in drayage. The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has taken increasing regulatory interest in demurrage and detention billing practices, issuing Interpretive Rule 45 C.F.R. Part 545 in 2020 to establish fairness standards and subsequently pursuing enforcement against ocean carriers and terminal operators for billing practices that violate those standards.
Despite this regulatory pressure, drayage companies often absorb charges that are legitimately disputable because assembling the dispute package—port availability records, appointment system screenshots, driver GPS logs, gate-in and gate-out timestamps—is time-consuming and requires coordination across multiple platforms. A VA can own this dispute preparation process, collecting the relevant documentation, drafting the dispute letter using the ocean carrier's or terminal's prescribed format, tracking submission deadlines, and following up on open disputes until resolved. Consistent dispute management can recover a meaningful percentage of assessed fees—charges that represent pure margin when reversed.
ELD Compliance Coordination
FMCSA's Electronic Logging Device mandate applies to nearly all commercial drivers operating in interstate commerce, including drayage drivers. Beyond the basic mandate, ELD compliance involves maintaining malfunction records, keeping backup paper logs for ELD outages, ensuring drivers are trained on the device, and flagging hours-of-service (HOS) violations for corrective action before they appear in a roadside inspection or compliance review.
A VA can monitor ELD dashboard reports—most major ELD providers including Samsara, Motive, and Omnitracs provide exportable compliance summaries—and flag drivers with HOS approaching or exceeding limits, log malfunctions with the required documentation, and ensure that records of duty status are retained for the FMCSA-required six months. Proactive HOS monitoring is especially important for drayage operations where port delays can push drivers toward HOS limits unpredictably.
Integrated Administrative Support
When chassis tracking, demurrage dispute management, and ELD compliance are handled by a trained VA rather than fragmented across dispatchers and operations managers, the quality and consistency of each function improves. Stealth Agents can match intermodal and drayage companies with VAs who have working knowledge of port terminal systems, chassis pool provider platforms, and major ELD dashboards—reducing the onboarding time to operational productivity.
In a business where every uncontested charge reduces margin and every HOS violation risks a driver out of service, administrative discipline is not optional.
Sources
- National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA), Drayage Cost and Equipment Study, 2024
- Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), Demurrage and Detention Enforcement Reports, 2025
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), ELD Compliance and Hours of Service Regulation, 2025