October 8, 2022

What is transloading?

Transloading cargo occurs upon delivery of a shipment and is the process of moving from one mode of transportation to a different method. For example, an ocean shipment arrives, the containers are picked up at the port and taken to a local warehouse, the contents of the containers are transloaded (unloaded and loaded) to a truck or several trucks for final mile delivery to distibrution centers.

In general, transloading occurs when one form of transportation can not be used for the entire delivery of the cargo and the contents of the containers need to be distributed to several locations by truck for final delivery.

In the majority of cases, for shipping requirements, the transloading process usually takes place at a warehouse, i.e., a transload warehouse facility using loading equipment suitable for cargo handling.

N.B. The term transloading is frequently interchanged with the terminology 'cross-dock. This is dependent if the goods are stored, sorted, or consolidated on the dock of a warehouse before delivery to the final destination. Both a cross-dock or a transloading service can enhance your speed to market. 

When a shipment is going to multiple locations, a “transload fee” is applied that covers the labor for de-consolidation at the warehouse, palletizing the freight and loading it into the trucks for final delivery.

There are a couple of reasons why your cargo might be transloaded

• If your shipment travels a long way from the destination via truck, it may need to be transloaded to avoid costly chassis and demurrage charges, moving the shipment from one mode of transportation to another to save cost. Intermodal transport could be an option for you.
• We offer CFS (container freight services) to our clients to help with expediting the needed material for their production. The other materials on board the container can move via deferred service.
• Some SSL are requiring that their containers cannot go farther than the port of arrival.

The Transload Journey

Transloading process: Combining these transportation methods provides shippers cost savings, flexibility, and the opportunity to expand business and market reach, moving freight where it needs to be!

• The shipment is picked up from its origin by truck to a transload facility.
• From there, we load the shipment onto a railcar.
• Then, we move the shipment by rail car to a transload facility near its destination.
• Next, we unload the shipment from the railcar.
• Finally, we transfer the shipment to its destination by truck.

Transloading in the United States

In the United States, transloading is a frequent exercise carried out by a logistics provider when ships call to port with containers full of cargo. It facilitates the transportation of goods to different states and locations throughout the country. In today's U.S. COVID-19 climate of limited capacity on ocean inbound vessels into North America, transloading with the use of railcar or truck can support your business, giving you direct access to end-users.

With alternative routings via our transloading facilities to provide cost savings to our clients, Crane Worldwide Logistics has transloading warehouse capabilities at several locations, including Savannah, Houston, Newark, Seattle, and Long Beach.

Port congestion is increasingly adding significant U.S. supply chain delays for our clients. By investing in our transload service, our goal is to minimize disruption, cost, and delays in our client's supply chain models. Our goal is to keep supply chains moving and ensure your products reach their final destination in a timely manner. Do you have the most efficient routing for your shipments? Do you need cost effective U.S. transloading services?