Transload Desk · Port, ramp & dock crews
Transloading.
Switch equipment. Stop the per-diem clock.
Move freight between modes and equipment at the port, ramp or dock — ocean container to 53′ van, rail to truck, bulk to packaged — without paying for storage you don’t need.
Container ↔ Truck ↔ Rail
Transfer
40′ → 53′ reload
Cube gain
None required
Storage
Port · ramp · dock
Locations
Overview
Get the cheaper inland linehaul without the demurrage clock running.
Transloading is the transfer of cargo from one piece of equipment to another mid-journey. The most common move: strip an inbound 40′ ocean container and reload the freight into a domestic 53′ dry van — a 53′ holds roughly 30% more than a 40′, so you cut your per-trailer inland linehaul and get the empty container back to the port fast to stop per-diem. We also shift rail freight to truck for final delivery, consolidate multiple inbound loads into fewer outbound trailers, and floor-load, palletize or re-pack as needed — all without committing to long-term warehousing.
Transfer the freight, skip the storage, stop the per-diem clock.
How it works
From quote to POD, step by step.
1
Pickup & drayage
We pull the container or trailer from the port, ramp or your origin and bring it to the transload point.
2
Strip & sort
Freight is unloaded, counted and inspected — floor-loaded or palletized — and staged for the outbound equipment.
3
Reload & optimize
Cargo is reloaded into the right outbound equipment (typically a 53′ van), blocked and braced to maximize cube and protect the freight.
4
Linehaul & return
The outbound trailer dispatches to destination while the empty container goes straight back to the port — stopping the per-diem clock.
Pricing
What drives the rate?
Transparent inputs, not mystery margins. Here’s exactly what goes into a transloading quote.
Get my rateVolume & handling
Priced per container or per pallet/hundredweight handled; floor-loaded freight costs more to transfer than palletized.
Re-pack vs floor-load
Re-palletizing, shrink-wrapping or re-packing adds labor over a straight reload.
Cube optimization
Reloading a 40′ into a 53′ usually saves enough on inland linehaul to more than cover the transload fee.
Dwell & demurrage
Fast turn keeps per-diem and detention off your invoice — speed is part of the value.
Container type and unload method
A palletised container strips in under an hour with a forklift. A floor-loaded container of hand-stacked cartons is measured in labour hours, and clamp or slip-sheet freight needs specific attachments. The unload method, not the container size, sets the labour line.
Facility location against the terminal
A dock close to the marine or rail terminal keeps the dray cheap and returns the empty fastest, which matters when per-diem is running. A dock closer to the destination cuts the outbound linehaul. Which wins depends on your free time and how far the freight is going.
Palletising and repack materials
Building pallets to a customer routing guide adds labour, pallet stock, wrap and labels, and consumes some trailer cube. It pays for itself where the receiver charges for floor-loaded delivery or where the outbound leg moves on LTL, which needs palletised freight.
Chassis and detention exposure
Chassis availability at congested terminals is a real constraint and a real cost. Where a chassis has to be held over a weekend or the terminal cannot take the empty back on schedule, the per-diem and chassis rental show up on the transload file rather than the ocean file.
Compare
Transloading vs warehousing — flow it through or hold it
| Factor | Transloading | Warehousing |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A flow-through transfer between equipment — in and out the same day | Storage of inventory for days, weeks or months until it’s ordered |
| Dwell time | Hours, not days | As long as your inventory plan requires |
| Priced on | Per container or per pallet handled — a one-time labor charge | Per pallet position per month, plus in-and-out handling |
| Best when | The freight already has a destination and you just need cheaper inland linehaul | You need buffer stock close to customers, or orders release over time |
| Effect on demurrage | Empties the container fast and stops the per-diem clock | Same benefit on arrival, but you keep paying to hold the goods |
| Inventory system | Not needed — freight is counted, inspected and moved | WMS with lot, SKU and order-level visibility |
Frequently asked
Transloading questions, answered.
What is transloading?
Transloading is transferring freight from one mode or piece of equipment to another mid-journey — for example, unloading an ocean container and reloading the goods into a domestic 53′ truck, or moving rail freight onto a truck for final delivery. It’s done without committing the freight to long-term storage.
Why transload a 40′ container into a 53′ truck?
A 53′ domestic van holds roughly 30% more than a 40′ ocean container. Reloading lets you move the same freight in fewer trailers for cheaper inland linehaul, and it returns the empty ocean container to the port quickly so you stop accruing per-diem charges.
How is transloading different from warehousing or cross-docking?
Warehousing implies storing inventory for a period. Transloading (a form of cross-docking) is a flow-through transfer — freight comes off one piece of equipment and goes onto another within hours, with little or no storage. We offer warehousing separately if you do need to hold inventory.
Does transloading increase the risk of damage?
Any extra handling carries some risk, which is why we count, inspect and properly block-and-brace on reload. For most freight the savings on linehaul and demurrage far outweigh the handling, and we document condition at transfer so any claim is clean.
Can you transload and clear customs together?
Yes. For imports we coordinate customs clearance, drayage, the transload and onward delivery as one file — so the container clears, empties, reloads and the freight moves inland without you stitching separate vendors together.
How much does transloading actually save?
The saving comes from three places at once. Cube: a 53′ van holds roughly 30% more than a 40′ container, so three inbound containers often reload into two outbound trailers, cutting a third of the inland linehaul. Per-diem: returning the empty container within free time avoids daily charges that run into the hundreds per box per week. And drayage: a short port-to-transload move is far cheaper per mile than dragging an ocean container hundreds of miles inland. On a typical inland lane the transload fee is recovered on the linehaul alone, with the demurrage avoidance on top.
How fast is the turnaround at the transload dock?
Most containers are stripped and reloaded the same day they arrive, and time-critical loads can turn in a few hours when the outbound trailer is spotted and waiting. Palletized freight moves fastest — a forklift transfer is quick. Floor-loaded cargo takes longer because every carton is handled by hand, and re-palletizing or re-packing adds time again. We schedule the outbound truck against a realistic strip time so the trailer isn’t sitting on detention waiting for the freight.
Can you transload temperature-controlled or hazardous freight?
Temperature-controlled transloads are routine when the facility and the outbound equipment are pre-cooled and the transfer happens through a sealed dock so the cold chain is never broken; we log temperatures at transfer so the record stays intact. Hazardous freight depends on class and quantity — some can be transferred at a properly certified facility with trained handlers and correct placarding, and some is better left in the original equipment. Send the commodity and UN number and we’ll tell you which it is before you commit to a plan.
How many 40 ft containers fit into a 53 ft trailer?
As a working rule, the contents of three 40 ft containers fit into two 53 ft trailers, which is where the saving comes from. A 40 ft container gives roughly 67 cubic metres of usable space and a 53 ft dry van gives roughly 111, so two vans hold about 222 against the 201 that three containers hold. Whether you actually capture that depends on whether the freight is floor-loaded or palletised and on whether it cubes out or weighs out first. Send us a packing list with carton dimensions and we will model the exact trailer count before you commit to the transload.
What is the difference between transloading and drayage?
Drayage is the movement, transloading is the transfer. Drayage is the short truck leg that pulls the container from the marine or rail terminal to a nearby facility and returns the empty; transloading is what happens at that facility when the freight is taken out of the container and reloaded into domestic trailers. On a typical import the two are bought together: a dray from the port to the transload dock, the transload itself, then a linehaul on 53 ft equipment to the destination. Buying them as one file avoids the common failure where the container is available but the dock is not.
Can freight be transloaded at the port, or does it happen inland?
Both, and the choice is usually about free time rather than distance. Port-adjacent transloading gets the container back to the terminal fastest, which matters when the free time is short and per-diem is running. Inland transloading closer to the destination lets you hold the freight where it is needed and often gives access to cheaper dock labour and more storage. Where cargo is destined for several markets, transloading at the port and building separate outbound trailers by region normally wins. We look at the free time on the bill of lading, the chassis situation and the destination spread and pick from those.
How does transloading help with demurrage and per-diem?
Two different clocks stop. Demurrage runs while the loaded container sits inside the terminal; per-diem, sometimes called detention, runs while the container is out of the terminal in your possession. Transloading attacks the second one: the sooner the box is stripped and returned, the sooner per-diem stops. That is why the transload dock is booked against the last free day rather than against the discharge date. Where the terminal is congested and the free time is already gone, a same-day strip and return is frequently worth more than the freight saving on the trailer swap.
Do you transload from rail to truck?
Yes, and it is a common pattern on long domestic and intermodal lanes. Freight arrives at an intermodal terminal in a 40 ft or 53 ft container, is drayed to the transload facility, and is reloaded into highway trailers for final delivery, or the reverse for an outbound export. Rail-to-truck transloading also lets you convert a single inbound container into multiple regional outbound loads without paying for a full warehousing cycle. The scheduling constraint is usually the rail terminal appointment, so the dock is booked against the terminal window rather than the other way round.
Can you transload bulk commodities?
Yes, within the limits of the facility. Dry bulk such as resin, grain, aggregate and minerals is transferred between bulk containers, hoppers, pneumatic trailers or supersacks depending on the commodity. Liquid transloading between ISO tanks, flexitanks and tanker trailers requires a facility rated for that product with the right pumps, containment and, for food or chemical grades, the correct wash certification. Bulk transloading is quoted per tonne or per hour rather than per pallet, and the product data sheet decides the facility, so send that with the enquiry.
Can you palletise a floor-loaded container?
Yes, and it is the most common value-add on an import transload. Floor-loaded containers maximise ocean cube but arrive as a wall of cartons that a receiving DC will refuse or charge to unload. We destuff, build pallets to your specification or to your customer routing guide, shrink-wrap, apply pallet labels and load the outbound trailer. Palletising costs labour and pallet materials and consumes some cube, so it is worth doing where the receiver charges for floor-loaded delivery or where the freight moves on to LTL, which effectively requires palletised freight.
Do you count and inspect the freight during the transload?
Yes, and this is one of the underrated benefits of transloading. Because every carton passes through hands, a transload is a natural inspection point: we take a piece count against the packing list, record carton condition, photograph any damage and note shortages or overages on an exception report the same day. On an import this is frequently the first time anyone has physically verified what the supplier actually shipped. That report is what supports a claim against the ocean carrier or a debit against the supplier, and it has to be raised while the container and its seal are still at the dock.
What happens if the container arrives short or damaged?
It is documented at the dock before anything moves. We record the seal number and condition on arrival, photograph the doors before opening, photograph the load in place, and then count and condition-check as it comes out. Shortages, wet damage, crushed cartons and evidence of shifting are all logged with photographs on an exception report and sent to you the same day. Keeping the container and the damaged freight available until you decide is important, because ocean carrier claims and cargo insurance claims both turn on evidence gathered at the point of discovery, not afterwards.
Can you transload and re-manifest for a cross-border move?
Yes. An import that arrives in Canada and continues into the United States, or the reverse, frequently needs the freight split, re-palletised and re-documented against a new manifest for the outbound leg. We coordinate the transload with the customs entry so the outbound trailer moves under the correct entry type, with the right commercial invoice, the right value split where a container is being broken across several consignees, and a PAPS or PARS number matched to the trailer rather than the container. Doing the transload and the entry on one file avoids the mismatch that causes secondary inspection.
Do you offer storage between the transload and the outbound truck?
Yes, and it is usually priced as short-term floor space rather than as full warehousing. The typical pattern is a few days of free dwell built into the transload rate, then a daily rate per pallet or per square foot beyond that. Short dwell is often the point: stripping the container immediately stops per-diem, and holding the palletised freight for a few days lets you release it against the receiving appointment rather than the vessel schedule. Where dwell will run into weeks, warehousing with inventory visibility is the better and cheaper product.
What equipment does a transload facility need?
More than a dock door. A working transload site needs enough doors to hold the inbound container and the outbound trailers at the same time, dock levellers and plates sized for container floors, forklifts and electric pallet jacks with the reach and capacity for the commodity, a clamp or slip-sheet attachment where the freight is not palletised, pallet stock and wrap on site, and yard space to stage chassis. For temperature-controlled work it needs a refrigerated dock rather than a refrigerated trailer parked outside. We match the site to the commodity rather than sending every container to the same dock.
Where you ship from
Rates and transit times change by market.
What a lane costs and how long it takes depends on the terminals, ramps and crossings at each end. Pick your market for the local detail.
We run transloading out of every market we cover — Mississauga, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, the United States, Mexico, Asia and Europe. Tell us the origin and destination and we will price the lane.
You may also need
One file. Multiple services. Same team.
Full Container Load (FCL)
A whole container on a fixed sailing, sealed at your supplier.
Drayage
Container drayage from every major port and rail ramp, chassis included.
Warehousing
Bonded and ambient storage, pick and pack, B2B and DTC fulfilment.
Cross-Docking
Received, sorted against outbound orders and shipped the same day.
Intermodal
Rail on the long haul, truck on both ends. Lower cost and carbon per mile.
Freight Consolidation
Several LTL shipments into one truckload, at the full-load rate.
Let’s move it
Have a shipment? Get rates in 10 min.
Tell us the origin, destination and mode. A Qeep specialist replies within 10 minutes with live capacity, lane price, and a transit window you can actually plan around.