If you want to know the difference between cross-docking and trans-loading services, you are in the right place. Both are transportation services that play a vital role in transferring the finished products to their destination, without which it would be impossible. And when your business is transcending the domestic barriers to reach international destinations, it is time for you to know it. Also, both are part of the dynamic process of the goods supply chain that is constantly changing to make it more efficient to fulfill clients’ requirements. Both create many benefits for businesses, especially if using a third-party warehouse.
Go Freight Hub is the best logistical solution having both the docking and trans-loading services with innovative ways to optimize your supply chain to become efficient. But there are specific differences that you need to know between the two for effective freight transportation service to your clients.
What are cross-docking services?
Cross-docking services unload cargo quickly without dismantling the pallets but distributing them into smaller goods to load them to different destinations. The inbound freight truck stops at a warehouse with a temporary storage facility to unload to outbound freight trucks. It is one of the transportation methods to consolidate multiple inbound loads into one outbound load for a specific destination. A good example is inbound freight loads from the east coast get distributed and loaded into too many outbound freight trucks to reach destinations like Texas, California, etc.
What are the benefits of cross-docking services?
- Saves transportation costs by consolidating multiple inbound truckloads into full outbound truckloads to reach specific destinations.
- Since cross-docking decreases the requirement for storing many goods, it simplifies inventory management.
- There is no need for a full-fledged warehouse with all facilities for storing goods for a long time until the customers demand it.
- Reduces damage, theft risks and inventory levels to focus on what to do with the resources rather than worrying about storing them safely.
What are translating services?
Overseas goods get unloaded at the nearest warehouse to the port, and the pallets are dismantled to store them for a long time. They once again get re-palletized for outbound shipping when the goods are required. Hence, it is a transfer of goods from one form to another, like intermodal transportation, but it leaves the container to get stored in the warehouse. There are multiple forms of transportation during trans-loading, like from ship to trains and truck. A good example is three manufacturer suppliers’ ships a year’s need which get stored in a warehouse. When needed, they are dismantled and loaded in a single container to reach the manufacturer in time.
What are the benefits of trans-loading?
- Decreases frequent shipping costs as even a year’s supply to the manufacturer can get stored in the warehouse and sent when needed.
- Reduces costs as the warehouse can store multiple supplier goods for sending them in a single outbound truckload.
- Enables to transport full truckloads to warehouses instead of having much smaller LTL or less than truckload shipments
- Using third-party warehouses to store trans-load cargo can save money by reducing the cost of building and maintaining warehouses.
- Offers value to the value chain by offering many value-added services like weighing, packaging, customs management & others
Cross-docking VS trans-loading transportation services
1) Cross-docking is transporting intact pallets from inbound to outbound, but trans-loading is sorting the re-palletized goods
2) Cross-docking will not have to deal with the international shipment, but trans-loading will have to do it by dismantling the pallets at the warehouse nearby the port
3) Cross-docking has a faster turnaround time as it does not have to store or dismantle the pallets, which is the case for trans-loading for a longer time
4) Cross-docking is a single form of transportation, whereas trans-loading is multiple forms of transportation
The above facts and the difference between cross-docking and trans-loading will help you to book Go Freight Hub, which the Inc.Com confirmed to be the fastest-growing logistics & Transportation Company in America in 2020.