Cross-docking
We can't say it often enough, but thinking in terms of solutions is our daily driving force. That applies to transport, to storage, but there is also an intermediate form we offer: cross-docking. The meaning of cross-docking is nothing more than receiving goods and (almost) immediately loading them onto another truck headed to a specific destination. How do we approach this?
Temporary storage for up to three days.
When it comes to crossdocking, we think as flexibly as possible. This applies, of course, to all of our specializations and regular services. Formally, crossdocking is not storage. We maintain a period of one to a maximum of three working days during which we can hold your goods before the direct onward transport takes place.
Do you have a shipment that you know must reach its final destination within a few days? Then we’re happy to arrange that, regardless of size, dimensions or quantity.
Cross-docking requires smart planning.
We understand that speed in the logistics chain of our customers is a top priority. This can have several reasons: your customer expects certain items to arrive within a very short timeframe, you simply have no need for long storage (from a financial perspective) or, for example, it concerns products with a short shelf life. Additionally: the less your goods are loaded and unloaded, the smaller the chance of damage or shortages.
That aligns with our logistics vision: if you opt for cross-docking and for RFT Logistics, you are choosing a partner that organizes the process from receiving to dispatch down to the smallest details. Our planners ensure on a daily basis that there is a logical, cohesive schedule created so that our trucks are loaded as fully as possible. Followed by an equally logical route in the short term. We always keep the correct final destination (with a focus on the Netherlands and France) of your shipment clearly in sight.
Differences between cross-docking: outbound and inbound
If it concerns goods from the Netherlands to France, crossdocking mainly takes place via groupage: partial shipments from across the country that together form one full load. Each customer pays their share of the load. That is where our strength lies: the Less Than Truck Loads (groupage, therefore).
If we then drive back from France to our own country, we regularly take back full loads of 33 Europallets or 26 block pallets from a single location (Full Truck Loads). We also consolidate groupage for our return trips. Based on crossdocking in Roosendaal, a new distribution takes place for final destinations elsewhere in the Netherlands.
Solving a logistics puzzle.
It's all about solving that meticulous logistics puzzle: how can we transport a wide range of products from A to B as efficiently as possible, for the benefit of our customers, without unnecessarily overloading or adding extra kilometers across multiple loading points? Crossdocking is for us the ideal flexible solution that combines transport with temporary receiving and transshipment. Over the years it has become the core business of RFT Logistics.
Do you also want to keep the pace and have your products, shipments or pallets transported in our trucks in the short term? And do you not want to have your goods stored first? Choose crossdocking, via RFT Logistics!
With cross-docking you have to look ahead.
To keep the constant movement of goods going, it is our job to think ahead. Cross-docking requires rapid switching in a short time, flexibly responding to the needs of every type of customer, and coming up with a creative solution if those needs change over time.
We have been working with a variety of transport companies for a long time, which enables us to outsource transport to other destinations via our crossdock, while at the same time remaining your point of contact. Through these collaborations, we continually expand the number of destinations served by our services.
Special requests in cross-docking
It is not uncommon for customers to ask us whether we can handle loading or unloading, or cross-docking, a full sea container on their behalf, because they lack the capacity or the personnel. Then we ensure that we can also make that happen. From loading to unloading from or to your own warehouse, via our cross-dock, on the day you need it! This way of taking control has, over the years, become one of our areas of expertise.
Did you know that...?
Do we, in addition to basic cross-docking, also offer Value Added Services in the transport process?
These extra services include, among other things, restacking goods on pallets, labeling, applying stickers, sealing, and the processing of customs documentation and administration?
Not only do we transport products on Euro pallets or block pallets, but are all sorts of non-standard pallet formats suitable for our trucks and our own cross-docking warehouse?
Whatever your short-term needs are, please let us know. Cross-docking is the way to get your goods quickly to your destination without storage. RFT Logistics always keeps this under control for you.
Frequently asked questions about cross-docking
From foodstuffs to solar panels, from timber to long goods. And let's not forget hazardous substances (ADR). Contact us directly and we'll get to work for you!
Of course, we would like to know in advance how your shipment is packaged. We prefer products that are palletized, or can be palletized. And it's always nice if you have your own forklift when we come on-site to load or unload. We can always load/unload the pallets with the help of a loading ramp.
Our transparency and the fact that we always seek a solution, even if it is unconventional, have taken us a long way in the past, and we are eager to continue doing so with even more intensity!
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