The national drayage market may look loose on the surface right now , plenty of trucks available, softer import volumes, and rates still well below the highs of 2021 and 2022. But that picture is misleading. Capacity that looks available today can disappear very quickly once regulatory enforcement shifts from “on paper” to “in practice.” We’ve seen this happen before, especially in port environments where drayage capacity is more fragile than many shippers realize.

The latest federal action around non-domiciled CDLs and English-language proficiency requirements is a real wildcard. West Coast carriers will feel it first, but the ripple effect will travel inland and eventually to the East Coast, including the Mid-Atlantic and Virginia.

Here in the Port of Virginia, importers tend to see stability and assume drayage will always be available when they need it. But the math can change quickly when large chunks of driver workforce are suddenly removed from the road.

At Century Express, we operate daily inside port environments, we hear the concern from drivers, terminal operators, and shippers first-hand. We’re not speculating; we’re watching the shift develop in real time.

A Quick Breakdown of What’s Changing

Federal regulators are now enforcing:

• A halt on issuing non-domiciled CDLs in California
• A review of existing non-domiciled licenses
• English-language proficiency enforcement tied to CDL eligibility

For years, these rules were technically “on the books” but not strongly enforced. Now enforcement is active, and that’s the difference.

Historically, when enforcement tightens:

1. Small fleets suffer first
2. Owner-operators exit faster than expected
3. Container movement slows at the terminal level
4. Reliability disappears before price increases

These changes don’t hit capacity evenly. They hit ports first, because port trucking is the most compliance-sensitive portion of the trucking industry. When you remove dray drivers, you don’t just lose trucks, you lose terminal familiarity, appointment reliability, and chassis efficiency.

This is exactly why we believe drayage can’t be treated as an afterthought anymore.

Why This Matters to Importers in Virginia , Even Though the Rule Started in California

It’s easy to assume “that’s a West Coast issue.” But when drayage gets tight in Los Angeles/Long Beach, the carriers who would normally reposition assets eastward, don’t. And carriers who normally service multiple ports prioritize whichever market tightens first.

That’s exactly how East Coast congestion built up in 2022: not because volume spiked, but because chassis, drivers, and equipment got trapped upstream.

Once drayage gets squeezed, the slowdown cascades into every other part of the supply chain.

This is why we invest heavily in stable, local drayage operations here in Virginia. We don’t rely on transient labor or repositioned drivers from other states. When enforcement wipes out marginal capacity in other regions, the carriers with consistent, locally rooted port drayage are the ones who remain unaffected.

What Happens When Enforcement Tightens

The early warning signs start long before shippers see a missed pickup:

By the time shippers feel the shortage, the scramble has already started.

The importers who secure stable drayage capacity before the tightening are the ones who avoid storage, demurrage, and delivery delays.

Local Strategy: Why We Maintain Integrated Port Operations

Because the chokepoint begins at the port, true resilience comes from more than having a truck and a driver. You need control of the process from vessel discharge through final delivery.

That’s why we don’t treat drayage as a standalone service. Our approach integrate

• Port Drayage
• Transloading
• Heavy Cargo Permitting 
• Specialized Equipment
• Yard Storage

When capacity tightens, importers with end-to-end coverage avoid congestion because cargo keeps moving even if another link in the chain is under pressure.

Transloading and Warehousing: The Pressure Valve When Drayage Tightens

When we see early capacity strain, one of the first strategies we activate is transloading. By pulling containers off terminal property and moving freight into short-term or strategic storage, shippers regain control of timing.

This is why our transloading services are critical to uptime in any high-regulation environment.

Transloading dramatically reduces exposure to:

• Port dwell fees
• Demurrage
• Missed appointments
• Lost driver allocation

When drayage gets tight, importers who transload early keep their freight moving while others wait for trucks that no longer exist.

Container Storage Protects You During Sudden Regulatory Bottlenecks

Even when freight doesn’t need to move immediately, containers need to leave the port before fees begin stacking. That’s where container storage becomes a strategic shield. Storage plus transloading equals flexibility, which is the exact opposite of the vulnerability created by a shrinking driver pool.

When drayage capacity is restricted, flexibility is what separates “protected freight” from “trapped freight.”

What We Expect Through 2026

We don’t believe the fallout will be felt all at once. Instead, we anticipate a slow tightening followed by a sudden drop , much like 2021. The difference this time is the cause isn’t volume; it’s regulation.

As import volumes normalize, those who haven’t secured reliable partnerships will be the first to feel the shortage. There won’t be time to react after capacity disappears.

That’s why we are preparing now, not when headlines start appearing around port slowdowns.

What Shippers Should Be Doing Today (Practical Checklist)

• Identify which freight is most vulnerable to port delays
• Secure a dedicated drayage allocation before enforcement accelerates
• Use transloading to get boxes off terminal property faster
• Stage freight close to port or inland delivery points
• Keep buffer capacity through container storage
• Partner with a provider that can handle final mile execution, not just port pulls 

How Century Express is Preparing Proactively

We are already:

• Maintaining stable local driver capacity, not dependent on transient CDL pools
• Strengthening terminal familiarity and dispatch continuity
• Expanding integrated port + inland solutions
• Protecting customers with inland storage and off port transloading capacity

Because we’re a Virginia-based operation built inside the port ecosystem, we’re insulated from the high-attrition shock other regions will face. Our reliability is rooted in locality, not contingency.

The Bottom Line

Today, it still feels like there’s “plenty of capacity.” But compliance-based capacity loss doesn’t show up on a rate sheet , it shows up in service failures. By the time a shipper notices it, the available buffer is already gone. The importers who treat drayage as a strategic function  not a last-minute transaction, will be the ones who stay ahead of the enforcement curve.

And we’ll be here to keep freight flowing when the tightening begins.

To learn more about how we’re preparing and how we protect shippers during volatility, visit our About Us page or reach out to our operations team.