A 40-foot ocean container rents by the day and holds less than a 53-foot domestic trailer. Every day it sits inland, it earns the steamship line detention. Transloading moves product out of the ocean box near the port and into equipment built for the inland leg. The ocean container returns to the line inside free time. The freight goes inland in a trailer or a domestic rail box that costs less per mile and has no steamship clock.
Seagirt is the container terminal at the Port of Baltimore. It moved a record 1,113,309 TEU in 2025 on 15 weekly container services. A transload partner a few miles from the Seagirt gate turns those boxes around before the free days run out. We do not own that dock. We own the relationship with the crews who run it, and we own the result.
How it runs at the Port of Baltimore
A drayage partner pulls the container from Seagirt and delivers it to a transload dock in Dundalk, Sparrows Point or Curtis Bay. The crew devans the box. Floor-loaded cartons are counted, sorted and built onto pallets to your spec. Palletized freight is checked and moved straight across the dock. The ocean container is swept and the empty returns to the terminal or the depot the line names.
The outbound equipment matches the lane:
- 53-foot dry vans for truckload delivery to Washington DC, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Richmond or New York.
- Domestic rail boxes for the Midwest through the CSX on-dock railhead at Seagirt, now with full double-stack clearance through the Howard Street Tunnel. See intermodal rail.
- LTL or parcel when the container holds freight for many consignees. See cross-docking.
Daily status by email lists each container devanned, pallet counts built and trailers dispatched.
Devanning without a transload
Some freight needs to come out of the box but not leave the building. The partner devans the container, racks the pallets and ships on your call. That is warehousing with a transload at the front.
What the partner network brings
Baltimore 3PL is a service-area logistics company. We do not run a transload dock in Baltimore. Every move runs through a partner network we have curated for 50 years: transload crews, drayage carriers, warehouse operators and licensed customs broker partners. Customs clearance is coordinated through our licensed customs broker partners before the container leaves the terminal.
One desk, every building. A floor-loaded apparel container goes to a crew that builds pallets all day. A container of wood pulp or rolled paper goes to a partner with covered floor space and clamp trucks near Dundalk. An overweight container of metal goes to a dock rated for it, with a tri-axle chassis in front. We place freight only with partners whose equipment and permits fit the cargo. Reach the desk at (419) 745-9492 or operations@sams3pl.com, Monday to Friday, 07:00 to 18:00 Eastern.
What it costs and what moves the price
Transloading is quoted as a short list: drayage per container, devanning per container, palletizing per pallet, materials, and the outbound linehaul per trailer or rail box. The price moves with:
- Load type. Palletized freight moves across the dock fast. Floor-loaded cartons take labor per pallet built.
- Carton count and weight. Heavy cartons and mixed SKUs slow the build.
- Pallet spec. Standard 48 by 40 pallets cost less than custom sizes or retailer-specific builds.
- Consolidation ratio. Several 40-foot boxes reload into fewer 53-foot trailers, which cuts the outbound line.
- Outbound mode. Truckload, rail, LTL and parcel each carry different linehaul and handling.
- Dwell. Pallets that wait on the floor for a trailer bill storage per day after a short free window.
The drayage, demurrage and chassis guide explains the terminal side of the clock.
The export direction at Seagirt
Transloading runs both ways. Export shippers bring product by truck or rail, and a partner stuffs it into ocean containers against a booking, then drays it to Seagirt. In 2026 the State of Maryland opened a truck-to-container grain transload at Seagirt with capacity for more than 200 containers a week. It runs for a single grain merchant, but it shows the direction of the port: containerized exports loading a few hundred feet from the ship.
For other exporters, the partner network stuffs containers at docks in Dundalk and Sparrows Point. Bagged product, drummed product, machinery parts and forest products load into 20-foot and 40-foot boxes with blocking and bracing to the line’s standard. The container moves to the terminal on the cut-off day, not before, so you pay no terminal storage waiting for the vessel.
What to send for a quote
Email operations@sams3pl.com or use the quote form. We reply within one business day. Include:
- Container count per month, sizes and whether floor-loaded or palletized
- Carton count, carton dimensions and weight per container
- Pallet spec you need: size, height limit, labeling, wrap
- Outbound mode and destinations: truckload, rail, LTL or parcel
- Import or export, and the terminal or booking details
- Special handling: hazmat class, temperature, overweight or fragile
Questions shippers ask
01What is the difference between transloading and cross-docking?
Transloading changes the equipment: ocean container to domestic trailer or rail box. Cross-docking changes the sort: inbound freight is split or combined by destination and leaves the same day. Many moves do both at one dock.
02Can you palletize floor-loaded containers?
Yes. Transload partners break down floor-loaded cartons, build pallets to your spec and wrap and label them before reload.
03Where do the transload docks sit?
Partner docks sit in Dundalk, Sparrows Point and Curtis Bay, each a short drayage move from Seagirt. We pick the dock by your outbound lane.
04Do you handle export transloads?
Yes. Truck or rail inbound freight is stuffed into ocean containers at a partner site and drayed to Seagirt against your booking.
05How is transloading priced?
Per container to devan, per pallet to build, plus materials, drayage and the outbound linehaul. You get one rate sheet.