Cross-Dock Desk · Inbound to outbound, same day
Cross-Docking.
Inbound to outbound. Nothing sits still.
Freight arrives, gets sorted against outbound orders and leaves the same day — no put-away, no pick, no pallet positions billed while your inventory waits.
Hours, not days
Dwell
Store · PO · SKU
Sorted by
None billed
Storage
GTA + 18 sites
Network
Overview
Skip the warehouse step your freight never needed.
Cross-docking receives inbound freight, sorts it straight against outbound orders and loads it onto the delivering truck — usually within the same shift. Nothing is put away and nothing is picked later, so you stop paying for pallet positions and you take days out of the order cycle. It is the right answer when the freight is already sold or already allocated: retail replenishment going to many stores, several suppliers’ POs that need to arrive as one delivery, or imports that have a destination the moment they land. Qeep runs it through the same network as our warehousing — 4.2M sq ft across 18 warehouse locations, including bonded, food-grade and GMP space.
In the inbound door, sorted, and out the outbound door on the same shift.
How it works
From quote to POD, step by step.
1
Receive & verify
Inbound trailers or containers are unloaded, counted against the ASN or packing list and checked for damage before anything moves.
2
Sort to outbound
Freight is sorted by destination — store, PO, route or SKU — and staged in front of the outbound door it belongs to.
3
Build the outbound load
Each outbound trailer is built, blocked and braced, with labels and paperwork matched to the receiving location’s requirements.
4
Dispatch same day
Trucks leave on the same shift wherever the schedule allows, so the freight is moving again before storage would ever have been charged.
Pricing
What drives the rate?
Transparent inputs, not mystery margins. Here’s exactly what goes into a cross-docking quote.
Get my ratePalletized vs floor-loaded
Palletized freight moves on a forklift and prices lowest; hand-unloading floor-loaded cartons is the single biggest cost driver.
Sort complexity
Sorting to a handful of outbound doors is cheap; sorting to dozens of stores or to SKU level is labour, and priced as labour.
Number of outbound loads
More destinations means more trailers to build and more paperwork sets, so cost scales with outbound count rather than inbound volume.
Timing & dock hours
Freight that arrives inside normal dock hours flows straight through; after-hours or weekend sorts carry a premium.
Retail compliance
Routing guides, labelling and appointment requirements add handling — worth pricing in up front rather than absorbing chargebacks later.
Inbound labelling and data quality
A pallet with a scannable licence plate and an advance shipping notice on file sorts in seconds. Unlabelled, floor-loaded freight with no ASN has to be identified by hand. Data quality moves this line more than volume does.
Sort granularity
Pallet-level, store-level and SKU-level sorting are three different labour profiles on the same tonnage. Moving from a pallet sort to a store sort can multiply the handling cost, so the sort level is agreed before the first load rather than assumed.
Dock hours and appointment windows
Freight that arrives and departs inside normal dock hours is priced normally. Overnight sorts, weekend dispatch and narrow receiving appointments at the destination all constrain the schedule and carry a premium.
Dwell beyond free time
Cross-dock rates include a free dwell measured in hours. Freight held longer occupies a door and floor space that the operation needs, so it is billed daily. Persistent dwell is a signal to move the freight to warehousing instead.
Compare
Cross-docking vs warehousing — flow it through or hold it
| Factor | Cross-docking | Warehousing |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | Received, sorted and shipped out in the same shift | Received, put away, then picked when an order releases |
| Dwell time | Hours | Days to months, as inventory planning requires |
| Priced on | Handling — per pallet or per carton moved | Pallet positions per month, plus in-and-out handling |
| Right when | The freight is already sold or already allocated | You need buffer stock near customers, or orders release over time |
| Inventory system | Matched against the outbound order, not stored as stock | WMS with lot, SKU and order-level visibility |
| Effect on cash | No storage billed, shorter order cycle | Carrying cost, but availability when demand is unpredictable |
Frequently asked
Cross-Docking questions, answered.
What is cross-docking?
Cross-docking is receiving inbound freight and shipping it straight back out — sorted against outbound orders — without putting it away into storage. Freight typically arrives and departs within the same shift, so you pay for handling instead of pallet positions and you take days out of the order cycle.
How is cross-docking different from transloading?
They overlap, and the difference is what you are solving. Transloading moves one shipment between pieces of equipment — an ocean container into a 53′ van, or rail to truck — usually to win cube and stop per-diem. Cross-docking takes many inbound shipments and re-sorts them by destination so they leave as different outbound loads. If your goal is cheaper inland linehaul on an import, that is transloading; if your goal is getting one delivery to each store, that is cross-docking.
How is it different from warehousing?
Warehousing holds inventory until an order releases and is priced on pallet positions per month. Cross-docking never stores the freight — it is matched against an outbound order on arrival and leaves the same day. We run both, so freight that needs to wait can be stored and freight that does not can flow straight through.
Can you cross-dock temperature-controlled freight?
Yes, through a sealed dock with pre-cooled outbound equipment so the cold chain is never broken, and we log temperatures at transfer so the record stays intact. Because cross-docked freight is only on the dock for hours rather than days, it is often the better option for dated goods than storing them.
Will cross-docking meet my retailer’s routing guide?
That is a question to settle before the first load, not after the first chargeback. Send us the routing guide and we will confirm which labelling, appointment, pallet and ASN requirements we can meet on the dock. Compliance work is real handling, so we price it in rather than discovering it later.
Does the extra handling increase damage risk?
Any touch carries some risk, which is why freight is counted and inspected on receipt and blocked and braced on the outbound load, with condition documented at transfer so a claim is clean if one is ever needed. In practice cross-docked freight is handled fewer times than freight that is received, put away, picked and then loaded.
What does cross-docking cost compared with storing the freight?
Cross-docking is a one-time handling charge; warehousing is that same in-and-out handling plus rent for every month the pallet sits. If the freight is already sold, cross-docking is almost always cheaper because you never pay the rent. If demand is uncertain and you need stock close to customers, storage earns its cost. Send the volume, the number of destinations and whether the freight is palletized and we will price both so you can compare.
What is the difference between pre-distribution and post-distribution cross-docking?
Pre-distribution means the freight is already allocated before it arrives: the supplier has built and labelled cartons or pallets by destination store, and the dock simply sorts and loads. Post-distribution means the allocation is decided at the dock, so inbound freight arrives as bulk and is broken down and re-sorted against orders on the day. Pre-distribution is faster and cheaper but requires the supplier to have accurate allocation data before shipping. Post-distribution costs more in labour but lets you hold the allocation decision until the last possible moment, which is worth paying for on promotional and seasonal freight.
What is flow-through cross-docking?
Flow-through is the continuous version: inbound trailers are unloaded and the freight moves straight across the dock into outbound trailers that are already staged and are dispatched on a fixed schedule, rather than being held until a full load accumulates. It suits high-frequency, predictable volume such as grocery replenishment and store-level distribution. The requirement is discipline on both sides, because a late inbound holds an outbound door and the schedule absorbs it, not the freight. Where inbound timing is unpredictable, a short staging window works better than pure flow-through.
How does cross-docking meet retail appointment and OTIF requirements?
It is usually the reason to cross-dock in the first place. Retail programmes are measured on a must-arrive-by date and an on-time in-full score, and both are lost in the middle of the chain rather than at the supplier. Cross-docking removes the storage cycle that eats the buffer, and it lets outbound loads be built against the receiving appointment rather than against inbound arrival. We book the delivery appointment before the freight is sorted, so the load leaves the dock against a confirmed door time rather than joining a queue at the distribution centre.
What labelling and data does a cross-dock need from me?
The dock can only sort what it can identify, so labelling is what decides whether a cross-dock is cheap or expensive. Ideally each pallet carries a licence plate label with a unique serial shipping container code, cartons carry a readable item barcode, and an advance shipping notice arrives electronically before the truck does so the expected contents are already in the system. Where that data is missing the freight has to be counted and identified by hand, which is slower, more error-prone and priced accordingly. We will work from a packing list, but the ASN is worth building.
Can you cross-dock LTL shipments into a full truckload?
Yes, and it is one of the highest-value uses of the dock. Several inbound LTL or parcel shipments arriving from different suppliers are received, verified and built into one outbound full truckload for a single destination. The saving comes from replacing several LTL rates, each carrying its own minimum and accessorials, with one truckload rate. It works when the inbound shipments arrive inside a window narrow enough that the outbound load does not sit waiting, which is why the cut-off time matters more than the volume.
How do you sort freight, by store, by SKU or by pallet?
All three, and the granularity is the main cost driver. Pallet-level sorting is fastest: whole pallets move from inbound to the correct outbound door untouched. Store-level sorting breaks pallets down and rebuilds them by destination, which is normal in retail distribution. SKU-level sorting goes further and separates individual items, which is really a pick operation happening on a dock. Tell us the sort level you need and we will price the labour honestly, because the difference between a pallet sort and a SKU sort on the same volume can be several times the cost.
What happens if an inbound arrives short or damaged?
It is caught and documented at receipt rather than discovered at the store. Every inbound is counted against the advance shipping notice or packing list, condition is checked, and any shortage, overage or damage is recorded with photographs on an exception report issued the same day. Because the freight is not going into storage, the exception has to be resolved immediately: we will tell you what is short, hold the affected outbound or release it partial on your instruction, and give you the evidence needed to claim against the inbound carrier or debit the supplier.
How long can freight sit before cross-docking becomes storage?
The working definition is that cross-docked freight moves out within twenty-four hours, and most of it within the same shift. Rates normally include a free dwell period measured in hours, with a daily rate beyond it. If freight is routinely sitting for two or three days, the operation is not cross-docking any more, and warehousing with proper inventory visibility will be cheaper and safer, because a dock is not designed to track what is stored on it. We will say so rather than billing dock space at storage volumes.
Can you cross-dock temperature-sensitive, food-grade or hazardous freight?
Temperature-sensitive freight is cross-docked through a refrigerated dock rather than a dry dock with reefer trailers parked outside, and the transfer is timed so the product is out of a controlled environment for minutes rather than hours. Food-grade work needs a facility with the appropriate food safety programme and sanitation records. Regulated dangerous goods need a facility rated for the class involved, correct segregation, and staff with current transportation of dangerous goods certification. Not every dock qualifies for every commodity, so we match the site to the freight rather than defaulting to the nearest one.
How does cross-docking affect chargebacks and compliance penalties?
Retail chargebacks come from late delivery, wrong labelling, wrong pallet configuration and inaccurate advance shipping notices, and every one of those is decided at the dock. Cross-docking helps on timing because it removes the storage cycle, but it only helps on the rest if the sort is built to the routing guide: correct pallet height and overhang, correct label placement, correct carton counts per pallet, correct outbound ASN. Send us the routing guide at onboarding and we will configure the sort to it, because retrofitting compliance after the first chargeback is far more expensive.
Do you provide proof of what came in and what went out?
Yes. Each inbound is receipted with a count, condition notes and photographs; each outbound is documented with the loaded pallet count, seal number, carrier, driver and departure time, plus photographs of the loaded trailer before the doors close. That record is the difference between resolving a dispute in an email and losing a claim. Where you run a volume programme we report on the same fields every day, so inbound accuracy by supplier and outbound on-time performance by lane become visible rather than anecdotal.
Is cross-docking cheaper than shipping direct?
Not always, and it should not be sold as automatically cheaper. Cross-docking wins when it converts several expensive small shipments into fewer large ones, when it avoids a storage cycle you would otherwise pay for, or when it protects a delivery window whose failure carries a penalty. It loses when the freight would have moved direct on one truck anyway, because you are then paying to handle it twice for no consolidation benefit. Send us the lane, the shipment profile and the receiving requirements and we will tell you which case you are in.
Where you ship from
Rates and transit times change by market.
What a lane costs and how long it takes depends on the terminals, ramps and crossings at each end. Pick your market for the local detail.
We run cross-docking out of every market we cover — Mississauga, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, the United States, Mexico, Asia and Europe. Tell us the origin and destination and we will price the lane.
You may also need
One file. Multiple services. Same team.
Transloading
Ocean container to domestic 53 foot, rail to truck, bulk to packaged.
Warehousing
Bonded and ambient storage, pick and pack, B2B and DTC fulfilment.
Less-than-Truckload (LTL)
Shared trailer space for one to six pallets, at predictable published rates.
Freight Consolidation
Several LTL shipments into one truckload, at the full-load rate.
Let’s move it
Have a shipment? Get rates in 10 min.
Tell us the origin, destination and mode. A Qeep specialist replies within 10 minutes with live capacity, lane price, and a transit window you can actually plan around.