What happens after a container arrives
A container’s journey does not end at the port. From the moment the vessel is discharged, a clock starts on every step: customs release, terminal free time, the drayage pull, the dock appointment, the unload, the empty return. Each step has a fee attached if it runs long. Understanding the sequence is the difference between a container that costs what the freight forwarder quoted and one that costs that plus a week of penalties.
The sequence, in order: the ocean carrier discharges the box to the terminal; customs and the terminal release it; a drayage carrier pulls it on a chassis to the warehouse; the warehouse unloads it (devanning) or moves the cargo to a domestic trailer (transloading); the empty container and chassis go back to the terminal or depot; and the cargo is stored, consolidated or shipped. At our facilities the unload and the outbound happen on the same dock — see pallet consolidation — which is what makes "moving the same week" possible.
One number frames everything that follows: a 40-foot container holds roughly 2,390 cubic feet, a 53-foot domestic trailer roughly 3,800. Three 40-foot containers fill about two 53-foot trailers. That ratio is the reason consolidation exists.
Devanning vs transloading: what is the difference?
Devanning (also called stripping or unstuffing) means unloading the container into a warehouse. The cargo is counted against the packing list, palletised if it is loose, labelled and put away or staged. It becomes inventory. You can store it, split it across customers, kit it, or ship it out in any combination over any period.
Transloading means moving the cargo from the ocean container straight into a domestic trailer, usually at or near the port, with little or no storage. The point is to get the container back to the terminal quickly and to put the cargo on cheaper, larger domestic equipment for the inland leg. It is fast and it is efficient when the whole load is going to one place.
| Devanning | Transloading | |
|---|---|---|
| Best when | Cargo needs storing, splitting, palletising or consolidating with other freight | Whole container is going to one inland destination and needs no storage |
| Where it happens | A warehouse, near the port or inland | A cross-dock at or near the port |
| Container turn | Returned after unload, typically same or next day | Returned within hours |
| Inventory visibility | Full: every carton counted and put away | Minimal: count at the door, if at all |
| Cost driver | Labour per pallet or per container, then storage | Cross-dock fee plus the domestic trailer |
Most importers with more than one customer want devanning: the container becomes stock, and the outbound is built to order. Transloading is the right call for a single-destination load where the saving on the inland move (a 53-foot trailer carries about a third more than a 40-foot box) outweighs the handling.
Floor-loaded vs palletised imports
A floor-loaded container has cartons stacked directly on the container floor, wall to wall and roof-high. A palletised container has the cartons already on pallets, stretch-wrapped. Origin factories prefer floor-loading because it fits more product — pallets take up cube — and many overseas suppliers do not have pallets that meet North American standards anyway.
The cost moves to the receiving end. A palletised 40-foot container unloads with a forklift in well under an hour. A floor-loaded one is hand-stacked onto pallets, carton by carton: for a full container that is several labour hours, and the unloading cost per container is a multiple of the palletised rate. It is also where damage happens, because cartons at the bottom of a roof-high stack have been carrying weight across an ocean.
What to decide before the container ships
- Whether the extra product in a floor-loaded box is worth the unloading cost. For dense, high-value cargo it often is; for light, bulky cargo the container is cubing out anyway and palletising costs little.
- If palletising at origin, specify the pallet: 48 × 40 inch, four-way entry, heat-treated (ISPM 15) so it clears customs, and a maximum height that fits your racking.
- If floor-loading, specify a carton pattern by SKU so the unload crew is not sorting a mixed wall, and put the packing list in the door end of the container.
- Either way, send the packing list and the ASN ahead of arrival. A count against a document is a receipt; a count against nothing is an argument.
We unload both.
Cutting drayage, demurrage and detention exposure
Three fees follow a container that moves slowly, and importers regularly confuse them. Drayage is the trucking cost to pull the container from the terminal to your dock and return the empty; it is a service you buy. Demurrage is charged by the terminal or ocean carrier when a loaded container stays at the terminal beyond its free time. Detention (often called per diem) is charged by the ocean carrier when you keep the container — and by the chassis provider when you keep the chassis — beyond the free days after it leaves the terminal.
Free time is short: a few working days at the terminal, a few more for the equipment, both set by the carrier and the port. Fees escalate daily and are billed to the party on the bill of lading, which is usually you. None of it is negotiable after the fact. All of it is avoidable before.
- Clear customs before arrival. Have the broker file the entry from the manifest so release is not the step you are waiting on when free time starts.
- Book the dock appointment against the vessel ETA, not the release. The drayage carrier needs a confirmed slot to pull the box the day it is available.
- Devan close to the port when you can. A short dray is cheaper, and the empty can go back the same day, which is what stops per diem.
- Unload on arrival. A container that sits loaded in your yard overnight is a per-diem day. Staff the unload for the appointment.
- Ask the drayage carrier about street-turns: reusing your empty for another shipper’s export instead of returning it to the terminal. It cuts a trip and a day.
- Avoid Friday arrivals where possible. A container released Friday afternoon can burn a weekend of free time before anyone can pull it.
- Track every container on one sheet: vessel ETA, discharge, last free day, pull date, empty return date. The last free day is the only date that matters, and it should be visible to everyone.
At CFL the drayage, the appointment and the unload are one desk, so the pull is scheduled against a slot that exists and the empty goes back the day the box is stripped. That is the whole trick: nobody in the chain is waiting for somebody else.
Consolidating the outbound
Once the container is stock, the saving comes from building fewer, fuller shipments. Orders for the same destination — or the same region — go on one BOL instead of several, at the correct freight class, with pallets built to the receiver’s rules. Thirty cartons for one customer become one pallet and one LTL shipment rather than thirty parcels; six pallets for the same DC become one shipment rather than six.
Consolidation is also where class and density are controlled. A pallet built to a sensible height with the weight measured at the dock is rated correctly; a mixed pallet thrown together at the last minute is a reclass. The LTL pricing guide covers how class works; the practical version is that whoever builds the pallet decides the freight bill.
The stock that does not ship this week goes into pallet positions on weekly or monthly terms, so the container is emptied, the equipment is returned and the inventory is available — without a lease and without a yard full of loaded boxes.