The rise of Cross Docking in international transport

Cross-docking is booming in the international transport sector. The company Antonio Marco is positioning itself to meet the growing demand from countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and Italy, among others.

What is cross docking?

This logistics operation enables goods to be consolidated in the logistics warehouse and picked up by different trucks. For instance, the truck A picks up 10 pallets, truck B picks up 8 pallets and truck C picks up 10 pallets. All the trucks are docked in different docks of our platform, we then cross goods to consolidate orders and be grouped at the goods reception area without being stored. It should be added that in order to meet the definition of cross-docking, the goods would have to be in the facilities for less than 24 hours.

How do we approach cross-docking at Antonio Marco?

The cross-docking company has to be in a strategic place, location is a must. The Antonio Marco logistics warehouse is located in the industrial area of la granadina, located on the A7 motorway between Murcia and Alicante. This is a vital area for the consolidation of goods from the southern Levantine axis formed by: Valencia, Alicante, Murcia and Almeria. We focus on the management of refrigerated goods, focusing on cold logistics our core business.

We have a high capacity of trucks for the collection of pallets within a radius of 450 kilometres from Valencia to El Ejido, Almeria. We understand how important it is for our customers to be able to react quick, which is why we position an average of ten trucks within the aforementioned radius of action.

Advantages of cross docking

  • Fast handling of goods without being stored
  • No disruption of the cold chain if this is managed by a 360° cold chain provider as Antonio Marco
  • Cost reduction due to consolidation of orders using maximum truck capacity
  • Reduction of extra costs due to the non-additional cost of having to add second drivers when dealing with perishable goods.

Disadvantages of cross docking

  • Sometimes difficult to make the client understand how cross docking turns into competitive advantage.
  • Saturation of the goods reception area at peak times of the year
  • Need for a large area in the logistics warehouse if handling different kind of goods: dry, cold and frozen.
  • Maintain high reactivity levels in order to solve timetable problems in warehouses.