Transloading

Transloading is unloading cargo from one piece of equipment and reloading it into another. In US import logistics it almost always means stripping an ocean container at a warehouse close to the port or rail ramp and reloading the goods into domestic trailers, most often from a 40-foot container into a 53-foot dry van, for the inland leg. The ocean container stays near the coast; the domestic trailer does the long haul.

How a transload works

1. Once customs and the carrier have released the container, a trucker drays it from the terminal to the transload warehouse
2. The warehouse unloads it, checks the cartons against the packing list and notes any shortage or damage
3. The goods are reloaded into domestic trailers, often split by destination or by the retailer's routing instructions, and palletized or relabeled if the receiver requires it
4. The empty container goes back to the carrier's depot or terminal, and the trailers leave for the final delivery

Why importers transload

• Container time: the carrier's box is emptied and returned near the port instead of travelling inland and back, so the detention (per diem) clock stops early. The FMC's billing rule treats per diem as detention, a charge for the use of the carrier's container (46 CFR 541.3)
• Truck capacity: a 53-foot trailer has more floor length and cube than a 40-foot container, so light, bulky cargo can need fewer inland trucks. Dense cargo that hits the road weight limit first gains little
• Flexibility: one container can be split to several distribution centers or customers, or held for a few days before the trailers go out

When it doesn't pay

A transload adds a handling step and its cost. For a single delivery to a nearby consignee with a dock and time to unload, delivering the container directly by drayage is usually simpler.

Transloading, cross-docking and deconsolidation

Cross-docking describes how long the cargo stays: inbound to outbound with little or no storage. A transload is often done as a cross-dock move, but it can include a few days of storage in between. Deconsolidation is splitting a container that holds several shipments; an LCL container is deconsolidated at a CFS, which is not the same as transloading a single importer's full container.

Common mistakes

• Transloading unreleased cargo. An ordinary warehouse can take goods only after CBP releases them. Until then, cargo can wait only where CBP allows, such as the terminal, a container station or a bonded warehouse
• No packing list before arrival. The dock plans the unload from the carton marks and dimensions; without them, the container sits longer
• Unbooked outbound trucks. If the trailers are not booked to meet the unload, the cargo goes into storage and the saving shrinks
• Missing the last free day. The transload only saves money if the container leaves the terminal within free time

Airlift arranges transloading services at US ports per shipment through partner warehouses near the terminals and rail ramps, at Los Angeles and Long Beach and in the New York and New Jersey port area, near its own offices, and at other US ports on request. It owns no warehouses or trucks: the drayage in and trucking out are arranged as a non-asset, FMCSA-licensed property broker through contracted motor carriers.