Cross-docking

Cross-docking often aims to minimize overheads related to storing goods between shipments or while awaiting a customer's order.

[2] In the LTL trucking industry, cross-docking is done by moving cargo from one transport vehicle directly onto another, with minimal or no warehousing.

In retail practice, cross-docking operations may utilize staging areas where inbound materials are sorted, consolidated, and stored until the outbound shipment is complete and ready to ship.

Cross-dock facilities are generally designed in an "I" configuration, which is an elongated rectangle.

[8] Making the Move to Crossdocking, Maida Napolitano and the staff of Gross & Associates, 2000 copyright, www.werc.org