Live loads from Chicago
There are no live loads picking up in Chicago on GigFreight right now. Loads appear here as soon as brokers and shippers post them.
Ports and terminals
- Six Class I railroads meet in the Chicago area
- Intermodal yards including Joliet and Elwood south-west of the city
- Large distribution-centre clusters along I-55, I-80 and in the suburbs
Main roads
- I-55: south-west to St. Louis
- I-57 and I-65: south to Memphis and Indianapolis
- I-80 and I-90: east–west coast-to-coast routes
- I-94: north to Milwaukee and east to Detroit
- Illinois Tollway (I-88, I-90, I-294), paid by transponder
Road distances
- Chicago → Detroit: about 280 miles
- Chicago → Atlanta: about 720 miles
- Chicago → New York: about 790 miles
- Chicago → Dallas: about 925 miles
- Chicago → Los Angeles: about 2,020 miles
Typical freight
- Intermodal containers and trailers (drayage)
- Consumer packaged goods
- Food and beverages
- Industrial and manufactured goods
Rules to know
Hours of service
Under FMCSA hours-of-service rules a property-carrying driver may drive 11 hours within a 14-hour window and must take a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, so one driver covers roughly 500–600 miles a day.
Weather
Winter storms regularly slow traffic on the interstates around Chicago; build buffer time into December–March deliveries.
Tips for carriers
- Drayage between rail yards and warehouses suits local and day-cab operators; long-haul carriers look for outbound loads to the South and West.
Questions
Why is Chicago so important for trucking?
Six Class I railroads meet there, so a large share of intermodal freight is transferred between rail and trucks in the Chicago area.
Route guides
Carriers and brokers in Chicago
Load boards can be browsed without an account. Visitors see the route, dates, equipment and price of each load, but not the poster’s contact details. Broker and shipper contact details on a load are shown only to members with a fully paid, active subscription. A trial gives access to the platform but not to load contact details.