Goods distribution center
Within a goods distribution center (also a goods distribution center or central transshipment point ), local and long-distance transport of one or more freight forwarders are linked. Goods are sorted according to their destination and journeys are coordinated with one another.
Demarcation problem
The term is often used synonymously or only with a vague distinction from the term freight center. The difference to freight traffic centers lies in the focus on the intermodal connection of different modes of transport, while goods distribution centers specialize in connecting local and long-distance transport. However, this demarcation does not apply absolutely: Local and long-distance transport is also linked in freight centers; conversely, different modes of transport are often connected in goods distribution centers.
Processes in goods distribution centers
In goods distribution centers, goods that have been received by customers both in group transport in local transport and received by the company's own forwarding branches and partners in long-distance transport are redistributed according to their target routes. A relation represents a certain area, which can contain both a rough relation (e.g. according to branches) or a fine relation (e.g. according to truck tours). For example, Berlin receives 1 as a rough relation and the tour number 32 for a tour within Berlin-Spandau, which results in the target relation 132. Relations are company-specific, but in almost all cases the following applies: relations refer to postcodes and indicate a tour number. Partner forwarding agencies usually also have their own relation, i.e. their own tour number.
The main goods turnover usually takes place between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. and takes place in the following order: First, the goods are unloaded and, based on the relation given by the dispatcher , to the designated parking spaces (often delimited by lines and labeled with the corresponding relation) switched off. In the further course of the night the vehicles are reloaded according to the relations. The other shipping options result from the relationship:
- The recipient is located in the shipping company's catchment area, and the shipment is delivered by local transport.
- The shipment is forwarded to a branch or to another long-distance goods distribution center.
- The shipment is loaded via a partner shipping company.
Not all relations can be served on a daily basis. Therefore, a goods distribution center should always be viewed as an interim storage facility for a period of up to a week. In some cases, customers also specify fixed delivery dates, which can also require short storage. This applies in particular to just-in-time transactions . Customers rarely incur fees for this service. The delivery of the consignment to the customer is technically called roll -out. Similarly, some freight forwarders refer to the collection of consignments from customers as curling .
At the customer's request, there is in most cases the option of storing shipments for a longer period in a warehouse connected to the goods distribution center for storage fees.