Freight Glossary
Devanning
Devanning (also called unstuffing or stripping) is the process of unloading cargo from a shipping container, typically removing floor-loaded goods piece by piece from an ocean container and placing them on pallets or a warehouse floor. A 40 foot container packed floor to ceiling can take a team of four workers three to five hours to fully devan and palletize.
Why it matters
Devanning is labor-intensive and slow, often requiring specialized equipment or lumper services. Delays in devanning are a primary trigger for demurrage charges at ports and intermodal facilities. Lumper costs for devanning alone can run $300 to $600 per container, adding significant expense to the landed cost of imported goods.
When to use it
Plan for devanning time and labor whenever you are receiving floor-loaded ocean containers. Underestimating the time required is a common cause of detention, demurrage, and downstream distribution delays. If you import more than 10 containers per month, establish a dedicated devan schedule with pre-booked labor to avoid bottlenecks at the dock.
How Warp thinks about it
Warp's network picks up at cross-docks and DCs after devanning is complete. Shippers who palletize quickly after devanning can hand freight to Warp for rapid onward distribution across its active lane network. Per-pallet pricing makes it simple to cost out the onward move the moment devanning is done, with no need to reweigh or reclassify the freight.