The “Door to Door” movement of Goods

World Bank Technical Team - July 5, 2005 - Back to Resources Page [1]

This note provides an explanation of the concepts of the “back to back” and “door to door”
movement of goods from the international perspective, and seeks to define an approach that will
work in the local context---both in the near-term and over time.

A. What is “Back to Back”?

1. A back-to-back cargo movement is generally understood as the transfer of loose goods
from one truck to another---in its literal form, positioning two trucks with their backs to one
another. Primitive variants involve labor-intensive handling and placement of cargo on the
ground during the transfer. This process inflicts serious time delays and damage to cargo and is
widely avoided in modern transport operations. It is, however, the hallmark of cargo transfer at
every crossing between Israel and the Palestinian areas as well as at a number of checkpoints
inside the West Bank. Even the new border terminals under development by the Government of
Israel envision variants of this type of back to back system.

2. Conversely, modern and efficient back to back movement can work well for some
cargoes. For example, it is common in modern container transport to consolidate loose cargo
from one or more trucks into a container that is then transported on a single trailer. “Crossdocking”
is the common technique used to implement this approach. It is more efficient and less
damaging than primitive back to back methods because it involves a coordinated transfer across
a level platform using mechanized equipment (forklifts and scanners, for example); this limits
any direct handling of cargo or the placement of cargo on the ground.

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World Bank Technical Team - July 5, 2005 - Back to Resources Page [1]