CROSSDOCKING
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Shipping small partial loads destined for the same region as full truckloads saves loading and truck costs.
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Full truckloads are cross-docked in the destination region saving trucking costs without sacrificing transit time.
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Added cross-docking costs are outweighed by the savings of shipping truckload versus partial.
Crossdocking may be considered when multiple partial shipments to a common geographic area must be made saving overall logistics costs. In this example:
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Shipments to four customers in the same geographic region are scheduled to ship and deliver within two days of one another. Total cost of logistics is $2640
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$2400 in truck cost ($600/shipment for each 2000lb shipment)
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$240 in locating, scheduling, cutting BOL’s, loading and unloading four trucks ($60/truck)
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Four separate 2000lb loads are aggregated into one 8000lb truckload shipment which is then cross-docked and delivered right in the customer’s region. Total cost of logistics is $2160
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$900 in truck cost to ship the 8000lb load to the cross-dock
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$100 to locate, schedule, cut four BOLs, load and unload one truck and schedule crossdocking
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$160 to cross-dock four loads in the region (16 pallets at $10/pallet)
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$1000 to make final delivery to each customer ($250/shipment for four 2000lb shipments)
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$480 - TOTAL LOGISTICS COST SAVINGS
