Transhipment vs storage
In transhipment, goods typically stay at the depot for less than 24 hours – often only a few hours at the overnight sorting centre. Storage, by contrast, means deliberately holding stock for days, weeks or months. Transhipment facilities (cross-docking warehouses) are optimised for throughput: short distances, automatic sorting technology and high conveyor speeds.
The technical equipment of transhipment facilities
Modern transhipment facilities use automatic sorting technology: telescopic conveyors for loading and unloading, barcode and RFID scanners for identification, and ring sorters or tilt-tray sorters for high throughput. Large hubs such as the DHL hub in Leipzig process more than 200,000 parcels an hour.
Transhipment and the risk of damage
Every transhipment is a potential point of damage – particularly for fragile goods. Direct transports without transhipment minimise the risk. For groupage involving transhipment: robust packaging, stackability and clear marking ("this way up", "fragile") reduce damage considerably.
