More US shippers turn to transloading to streamline supply chain

22 Sep 2010

Source: PR News Wire
US retailers and manufacturers anxious to reduce costs, lower their risk and get goods into the right place at the right time are making key operational changes in their supply chains to remain lean and flexible. Industry experts report an increase in a tool known as transloading on the West Coast over direct shipping to the Midwest via intermodal rail, according to the cover story in this week's edition of The Journal of Commerce.

By repacking inbound container shipments into larger domestic containers, shippers save on inland transportation costs and gain more inventory flexibility. Various goods can be combined in a shipment to one store, and decisions on where goods should end up can be made later in the distribution chain. The tactic adds some handling costs and complexity at the front end when imports arrive, but more companies are saying the trade-off works because they end shipping fewer containers inland, and the ability to postpone destination decisions is important in the fragile economy.

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