Cross-docking

How it is used

Used by retailers, parcel networks and LTL carriers to cut storage costs and speed up delivery. It needs precise timing between inbound and outbound trucks. The building is a cross-dock, and goods are 'cross-docked'.

Example sentences

1. Fresh produce goes through cross-docking at the DC and reaches the stores the same night.

2. Cross-docking only works if the inbound trucks arrive on time.

Common collocations

• cross-docking operation
• cross-dock facility
• cross-docked goods
• cross-docking centre

Related terms

• distribution centerA warehouse designed to move goods quickly on to stores, customers or other locations rather than to store them for a long time.
• loading dockThe area of a warehouse with doors at truck-floor height where vehicles park to be loaded or unloaded.
• inboundComing into a company or facility, especially materials and goods arriving from suppliers; the opposite of outbound, which describes goods going out to customers.
• LTLShort for less than truckload: a road shipment too small to fill a truck, so it travels with other customers' goods and is priced by space or weight.
• warehouseA large building where goods, materials or products are received, stored and prepared for shipment.

More terms: Warehousing

• pallet
• picking
• forklift
• put-away
• goods receipt
• WMS