Top 5 Benefits of a Cross Dock Warehouse

One of the top benefits provided by the cross dock warehouse is efficiency. With traditional warehouses, products that are being shipped end up in a warehouse, where they are stored until they are needed (ie, warehouses keep products in stock). With cross dock warehousing, a product being shipped from Florida to Minnesota via a warehouse in Illinois will not be stored in Illinois at all. Rather, it will be unloaded, repacked, and sent directly to its destination in Minnesota (in this example), which streamlines the entire operation. Cross docking also involves consolidating items that are being shipped to the same location, which makes for more efficient distribution overall.

A cross dock warehouse essentially eliminates the need for storage, as cross dock warehouses specialize in “just in time shipping” where a good is delivered directly to its final destination rather than being kept in a warehouse.

Cross dock warehouses make it possible for goods to reach customers more quickly, as with cross docking, goods are sent directly where they need to be rather than to a warehouse where they will be temporarily stored first.

When a good is handled by a lot of different people, there is a greater chance of human error at play. Reducing the number of people who will handle a good by eliminating the storage step from the logistics process reduces the risk of a product being damaged before it can reach its final destination, and cross dock warehouses do exactly that.

It costs money to store goods in a warehouse. Cross docking helps reduce storage costs (as well as packaging costs and costs of labor). It also helps reduce transportation costs, as goods that are transported with cross docking can be consolidated with other goods that are going to the same place. This reduces overall distribution costs.