Transloading is transferring freight from one container, trailer or transport mode into another. For importers, it almost always means stripping a 20 ft or 40 ft ocean container near the port and reloading the freight into 53 ft domestic trailers or railcars for inland movement. It releases the ocean container quickly and usually reduces inland freight cost.
The core economics
A 53 ft domestic trailer holds roughly the volume of one and a half 40 ft ocean containers. Three ocean containers can often be consolidated into two domestic trailers, which removes one inland line-haul from the bill. On long inland moves, that saving alone frequently exceeds the entire transload cost.
The secondary benefit: stopping the clock
Once the ocean container is stripped and returned, per diem stops. For importers who cannot deliver inland immediately, transloading converts an expensive, metered asset into freight sitting on pallets at a warehouse rate.
When it is not worth it
Short inland moves, freight that must stay in the original container for customs or condition reasons, and single-container shipments where consolidation is impossible.
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