Vancouver Island Freight

Vancouver Island freight, Mainland to Island

Commercial freight between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island: the Mainland pickup, the commercial barge crossing for drop trailers and containers, the Island-side tractor and the delivery appointment, coordinated as one move.

Kattz coordinates commercial freight between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island: the Mainland pickup, the commercial barge crossing for the trailer or container, the Island-side tractor and the delivery appointment. You deal with one company. The Strait becomes our problem.

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A white tractor and van trailer parked at the kerb beside a timber-frame apartment building under construction, a tower crane overhead — 22 May 2025 · 08:06At the kerb of a building site.

When you need this

The Mainland doesn't have to feel far away.

01A trailer or container on the Mainland needs to land on the Island on a specific day.
02You ship to the Island regularly and want one party to own the crossing and the delivery.
03You would rather not send your own tractor and driver across the Strait and back.
04Your receiver is in Nanaimo, Victoria, Duncan, Parksville, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Campbell River, or anywhere between.

How it works

From the first call to the last handoff

Step 1
We plan backward from the receiving appointment
The delivery day decides the sailing window, and the sailing window decides the Mainland pickup.
Step 2
The trailer rides the commercial barge
Drop trailer or container, it crosses on its own. The tractor and driver stay on the Mainland, with no driver hours spent crossing.
Step 3
Our Island tractors collect it
At Duke Point or Swartz Bay, a Kattz tractor picks the trailer up from the terminal's designated yard, not off the vessel.
Step 4
Delivered, confirmed, returned
The receiving appointment is honoured and the empty or the equipment goes back on a return sailing.

On Vancouver Island

Port, commercial barge, Island-side tractor, receiver. The tractor and driver do not cross. The trailer does.

How freight gets to the Island

Delivery zones: South Island · Mid-Island · North Island · West Coast

What you get

What changes for you

A crossing booked on an active commercial barge account.
Fewer handoffs for you to manage.
Island-side execution by a local driver who knows the receivers.
Honest cost control: only the equipment that needs to cross, crosses.

Island freight, without the trip across

Your freight crosses. Your driver doesn't have to.

Sending your own tractor and driver to Vancouver Island means a day of crossing, terminal waits and a trip back, while that truck could be earning somewhere else. Drop the trailer at the Mainland barge terminal instead. Kattz books it on the commercial barge, and our Island-side tractors and drivers collect it from the terminal yard at Duke Point or Swartz Bay and deliver it.

A standard approach

Your tractor and driver cross to the Island and back
Driver hours spent waiting and crossing
Your truck is off your other work for the day

The Kattz approach

The trailer crosses on the commercial barge
Our tractors collect it from the Island terminal yard
Your truck and driver stay working on the Mainland

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FAQ

Questions about this service

How does freight get to Vancouver Island?

By commercial barge and road. Kattz sends drop trailers and containers on the commercial barge from Tilbury or Surrey on the Mainland to Duke Point or Swartz Bay on the Island, books the sailing around the delivery day, and meets the trailer with its own tractor on the Island side. Kattz does not use BC Ferries' drop-trailer service. There is no freight rail service on the Island.

How long does the crossing take?

The crossing itself is a few hours, and the Duke Point lane runs several sailings a day. What matters more is the plan around it: the Mainland pickup has to meet the sailing, and the Island tractor has to meet the barge. Kattz plans both from the receiving appointment.

Do you deliver everywhere on Vancouver Island?

Yes. Kattz is based in Nanaimo and delivers across the Island, from Victoria and the South Island through the Mid-Island to Campbell River and the North Island, as well as the West Coast. Delivery days vary by area, so tell us where the receiver is and we will tell you when.

What decides what the crossing costs?

The equipment and its length, what the freight is and weighs, where it starts and where it is going, terminal handling and the sailing it needs, and the pickup and delivery arrangements. Kattz plans the crossing as part of the whole move and gives you a rate for your actual shipment, rather than a published price that may not fit it.

Often needed together

Not sure which one you need? Tell us what you're moving.

In customers' words

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