In a classic warehouse, goods arrive, go onto racking, get picked as orders come in and are dispatched. Cross-docking skips those steps: what comes off the inbound vehicle is sorted by order and loaded from the dock onto an outbound vehicle, and goods usually stay on site less than 24 hours.
The model cuts stock and space cost for fast-moving products with steady demand, such as milk, fresh produce and ready meals. Without an appointment window the inbound vehicle waits for the outbound one, the goods sit on the dock and the time saved is lost.
With temperature-controlled loads the dock is the weakest link; product carried in an insulated container with eutectic plates is less affected by that wait. Try the model as a few weeks of pilot on one product group and one route: record arrival and departure times, unmatched cases and reasons for waiting.
