Port of Montreal drayage

Drayage software for Port of Montreal carriers

Drayage at the Port of Montreal runs on terminal cutoffs, winter weather and two taxes. This page shows how Dispatch Board fits a carrier working the St. Lawrence terminals, and where it does not.

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The terminals and the cutoffs

The Montreal Port Authority governs the port. Termont operates two container terminals, Viau and Maisonneuve, and Montreal Gateway Terminals is another container terminal operator. CN and CPKC both serve the port by rail. Truckers register their transactions at the terminal’s pedestals, and terminals publish cutoff times for registering a transaction, which means a truck that arrives late can miss its window. Check current procedures and cutoffs with each terminal, because they change.

Dispatch Board does not connect to the terminals’ gate systems. You enter each terminal’s gate hours, closures, appointment rules and slot capacity by hand. Plan day then avoids a move timed outside them, and hold alerts appear before a driver is sent to a box that cannot be released.

A generated scene of container trucks at a terminal gate in falling snow

Tracking containers and ships

Container tracking runs through Terminal49 for availability and last free day where it covers the shipping line and terminal, so check coverage on your own containers in the trial. Vessel arrival alerts use AIS data from a provider you choose, with your own key, and show distance, speed and arrival on the load. For a river port, that helps you sequence pickups around a ship that may be late.

Problems tab for holds, last free days, late moves and missing information
Empty return restrictions by place, line, size and dates, with the alternative place
Yard list showing days on the ground, spot, per diem clock and next move

An unbranded container truck leaving a busy port terminal at dusk

Per diem, chassis and waiting time

When a box is stuck on a hold or the terminal is closed, per diem still runs. Each charged day carries a reason: a terminal closure, a hold, the container not being available, a later appointment, a late customer delivery, or nothing on record. A click bills the customer’s share, and a dispute letter goes to the line with dates, reasons and a packet of tracking events, appointments and closures. Chassis bills from DCLI, TRAC and Flexi-Van are checked against your own dates. Waiting time at a terminal can be audited from GPS pings inside the geofence.

Quebec taxes, currency and units

Dispatch Board supports GST, HST, QST and PST on invoices, CAD or USD on loads, invoices and pay, and kilometres or miles. A carrier hauling in Quebec and Ontario can set the right tax per customer instead of fixing it by hand on every invoice. QuickBooks Online and Xero sync is available.

The interface and driver app are in English. We do not claim a French interface. If your drivers or customers need French screens, test the driver app with them in the trial before you decide.

The per diem screen with a reason for each charged day — Product screenshot with made-up sample data.

Winter, signal and the driver app

The driver app is a web app drivers add to the home screen. Photos, signed PODs and PDFs are saved on the phone and uploaded when signal returns, so a dead spot in a terminal or a snowed-in yard does not lose the proof. Alerts are read aloud with quiet hours, and drivers can chat with dispatch on each load and choose Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze. Plan day applies 11 hours of driving and 14 on duty.

Fleet records

Truck, chassis and trailer records carry insurance and registration, and a compliance calendar tracks expiries. DVIR inspections, maintenance schedules by miles or date with work orders and driver scorecards are included. GPS can come from Samsara, Motive or One Step GPS. Quebec trucking has its own registration rules; Dispatch Board stores your records but does not file anything with a regulator.

Limits

No automatic terminal appointment booking, no EDI and no QuickBooks Desktop. See the Toronto rail ramps page for Ontario, or the dispatch board feature.

Getting started in the free trial

Self sign-up gives you a company with sample data and a get-started checklist, so you can look around before you enter anything of your own. Then bring in your real freight: import drivers, trucks, chassis, customers, rate tables and loads from Excel, CSV or a PDF rate sheet. The importer matches columns by heading, checks every row before saving and flags duplicates.

Add your terminals and their gate hours, invite your drivers to the driver app, and run a real week alongside your current system. The Help Center has a guide for every screen. A bar at the top of the board shows the days left in the 14-day trial, and the account owner gets an email two days before it ends. Plans are month to month, and you can download a backup file and a CSV of your loads at any time.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is the driver app available in French?

No. The app is in English today. Test it with your drivers during the trial.

Does it handle QST?

Yes. GST, HST, QST and PST are supported on invoices.

Can it register transactions at the Termont pedestals for me?

No. It does not connect to terminal gate systems. You manage cutoff times by entering gate hours and appointment rules.

Can I track a vessel coming up the river?

Yes, with an AIS provider key that you supply.

What does it cost?

Lite is $149 a month in Canadian dollars for up to 5 trucks, month to month, with a 14-day free trial.

Put your Montreal loads on the board.

Every company gets 14 days free with no card. Import a week of your own freight and judge it yourself.

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