Transloading vs Crossdocking: What’s the Difference?

Transloading and crossdocking are often used interchangeably, but they solve different problems.

Transloading: changing equipment

Transloading moves freight from one piece of equipment or mode to another, such as from an ocean container to a dry van. It is usually chosen when the current equipment can’t, or shouldn’t, go all the way to the destination.

Crossdocking: changing direction quickly

Crossdocking receives inbound freight, sorts it, and sends it straight out on outbound trucks, with little or no storage. It works best when destinations are known before the freight arrives.

How to choose

• Container needs to continue by truck? Start with transloading.
• Several shipments need sorting by destination? Look at crossdocking.
• Freight isn’t ready to go on yet? Add short term storage.

Plenty of jobs combine these. A single container could be transloaded, palletized, and crossdocked to several trucks in one visit.