Cross-docking is a practice in logistics of unloading materials from a manufacturer or mode of transportation directly to the customer or another mode of transportation, with little or no storage in between. This may be done to change the type of conveyance, to sort material intended for different destinations, or to combine material from different origins into transport vehicles (or containers) with the same or similar destinations. Cross docking takes place in a distribution docking terminal; usually consisting of trucks and dock doors on two (inbound and outbound) sides with minimal storage space. In the LTL trucking industry, cross-docking is done by moving cargo from one transport vehicle directly onto another, with minimal or no warehousing. In retail practice, cross-docking operations may utilize staging areas where inbound materials are sorted, consolidated, and stored until the outbound shipment is complete and ready to ship. History Cross-dock operations were pioneered in the US trucking industry in the 1930s, and have been in continuous use in less-than-truckload operations ever since. The US military began using cross-docking operations in the 1950s. Wal-Mart began using cross-docking in the retail sector in the late 1980s. As of 2014 almost half of all US warehouses are cross-docking. Advantages of retail cross-docking Streamlines the supply chain, from point of origin to point of sale Reduces labor costs through less inventory handling Reduces inventory holding costs by reducing storage times and potentially eliminating the need to retain safety stock Products reach the distributor, and consequently the customer, faster Reduces or eliminates warehousing costs May increase available retail sales space Less risk of inventory handling No need for large warehouse areas Easier to screen product quality Risks of cross-docking Fewer suppliers Supply chain vulnerability from disruptions Reduced storage availability An adequate transport fleet is needed to operate A computerized logistics system is needed Additional freight handling can lead to product damage Labor costs are also incurred in the moving and shipping of stock Accidentally splitting up shipments larger than a single pallet leading to multiple deliveries or lost items Types of Cross-docking Full Pallet Load Operation Case-load Order Makeup Hybrid Cross-docking Opportunistic Cross-docking Truck/Rail Consolidation Short-term Storage Typical applications "Hub and spoke" arrangements, where materials are brought in to one central location and then sorted for delivery to a variety of destinations Consolidation arrangements, where a variety of smaller shipments are combined into one larger shipment for economy of transport