Cross-docking vs warehousing: warehousing holds inventory until it is ordered; cross-docking moves cargo from the inbound dock to the outbound dock without putting it away.
What is cross-docking?
Cross-docking is a warehouse process in which cargo is unloaded at the inbound dock and moved across to the outbound dock for loading onto trucks bound for its next stop, with little or no time in storage. The cargo is sorted rather than put away, so the warehouse acts as a transfer point rather than a store.
How it works for an importer
- The container is drayed from the port to the cross-dock once it is released
- The dock unloads it and sorts the cartons by their marks against the packing list, by customer, store or distribution center
- Outbound trucks, full truckload or less-than-truckload, are loaded and leave, usually the same day
It works only when the outbound side is planned before the inbound arrives: the carton marks and the destination of each part must be known, and the trucks booked to meet the unload.
Common types
- Continuous: pallets or cartons go straight from the inbound load to the outbound load, with minimal storage
- Break-bulk or deconsolidation cross-dock: one inbound container is split into several outbound deliveries, for example a container shared by several customers
- Consolidation cross-dock: several small inbound loads are combined into full outbound loads
Cross-docking vs transloading vs warehousing
Transloading is the change of equipment, such as a 40-foot ocean container into a 53-foot domestic trailer; cross-docking is about time, since the cargo does not go into storage. The two are often combined: a transload done the same day is a cross-dock move. Warehousing holds inventory for days or months and issues a warehouse receipt for goods in storage.
Mistakes that cost money
- Unreleased cargo. A cross-dock can take only goods CBP has released; until then, cargo waits at the terminal, a CFS or a bonded warehouse
- Late paperwork. Without the packing list and destinations before arrival, the cargo is put into storage and the saving disappears
- Outbound trucks not ready. Cargo waiting for a truck is billed as storage
Airlift arranges cross-docking per shipment through partner facilities, with the drayage in and the trucks out. See warehousing and cross-docking and trucking and drayage.
Related terms
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