The term Cross Trade originates from Warehousing. This refers to the so-called cross-border transport. This means that the sender's registered office, the place of dispatch and the recipient's location are in different countries.

An example: The sender's company is located in Switzerland, but he wants to send goods from a city in China to a recipient or destination in Germany.

It is not uncommon for other countries as so-called transfer countriesre affected by the respective transport. In addition to the three different countries, there are also numerous other possibilities in the area of Cross Trade, which can quickly become much more complicated.

Cross trades can be carried out by using various modes of transport. These include cancelled ships, aeroplanesand also trucks. It is not uncommon for different modes of transport to be combined, which is mainly due to the fact that a multi-link transport chain is created.

Cross Trade – more important than ever

The Cross Trade transport is increasingly gaining in importance and is particularly common in international freight transport. Thanks to the cross-border division of labour in terms of globalisation, the flow of goods nowadays takes place across borders and at the same time is becoming increasingly differentiated and complex, so that there is no way around Cross Trade for many transports.

However, Cross Tradetransports should not be underestimated. In contrast to "normal" transports, these do of course place increased demands in terms of logistical planning as well as the complete execution or the actual organisation. This is also due to the fact that more partners are usually involved in such a transport. For example, with regard to Customs as well as taxation and the handling of the transport, more regulations must be observed and recognised.

The Cross Tradetransports are very often "special transports", which is also associated with numerous regulations and complicated organisation. In addition, these transports often take place away from the typical routes, which means that standard solutions are often not feasible.