Transload in Houston, from ocean container to trailer

What transload means

Transloading is moving cargo out of an ocean container and into another piece of equipment, usually a 53-foot domestic trailer. The container goes back to the terminal empty. The cargo continues on a trailer, or waits in storage until you need it.

It's a simple idea, but it solves real problems for importers.

Why shippers transload in Houston

• Stop container costs sooner. Once the cargo is out, the empty goes back. You're no longer paying for a box and a chassis that sit while freight waits for a dock.
• Use bigger equipment inland. A 53-foot trailer holds more than a 40-foot container, so several containers can become fewer trailer loads.
• Split one container to several places. Part of the load to one customer, part to another, part into storage.
• Keep ocean equipment near the port. Some steamship lines limit how far their containers can go. Transloading near the port keeps you inside those rules.

How a Houston transload works

1. We pull the container from Bayport or Barbours Cut, with the gate pass booked in the terminal's system and the last free day watched.
2. We unload it. Floor-loaded and palletized freight are both handled. Live unload is available too.
3. We take photos at receiving, so you have a record of how the cargo arrived.
4. We load the trailer your carrier sends, or hold the freight in our Houston warehouse until you're ready.
5. We return the empty to a terminal that is open and accepting it.

What to tell us

A good transload quote needs a few details:

• Container size and how many.
• Floor-loaded or palletized, and roughly how many cartons or pallets.
• Where the freight goes after transload, and on what equipment.
• Any labeling, sorting or splitting you need.
• Anything special about the cargo: weight, fragile items, hazmat.

Put it in the notes on the quote form below. If you don't know some of it yet, send what you have.

Drayage and transload with one team

Because the same team pulls the box and runs the transload, there's no handoff between a trucker and a warehouse. The container status, the last free day, the unload and the empty return all sit on the same shipment. When you ask where your freight is, we can tell you. See how our Houston drayage works.

We also transload in the Bay Area. See transload in Oakland.