Local Kansas City Logistics Company with Cross-Docking Capabilities
We are not just a trucking company.
In the last blog post we covered three main questions about trucking:
- What do we move?
- Where do we move it?
- What do we move it with?
By answering those, you should now have a deeper understanding of our trucking operation. Now, if you have noticed, our website is pulselogistics.com with a heavy emphasis on logistics. We do not mention trucking in our URL because our services encompass much more. We use the term “logistics” because we plan, implement, and control the movement and storage of goods between their points of origin and their destination. To do this effectively we offer more options like cross-docking, warehousing, and brokerage services. We plan on dedicating a blog post per service so you can get a better grasp on what we do here at Pulse Logistics. Today’s post will be about cross-docking.
What is cross-docking?
Cross-docking is the practice of unloading freight from an incoming truck or rail and then reloading that freight onto an outbound truck with minimal or no storage time in between. There are multiple reasons to utilize cross-docking services, but in our case, it is usually because the freight that has come to our terminal needs to be sorted and sent to different destinations within the Kansas City Metro (perfect job for a local Kansas City carrier). Freight from all over the country comes to our terminal to get unloaded onto our dock. From there, we have dock workers use forklifts to pull the pallets off, set them on dock, sort them, and then load them on our own trucks so that we can deliver it. Our box trucks get the majority of this work.
Inbound Freight Doors
This is where the inbound freight comes into our terminal. As you can see, those trailers do not say “Pulse” on them. These are other carriers that have backed into our doors to get unloaded.
Where the cross-docking magic happens.
We take the freight off the inbound carrier’s trailer and set it on the dock. Then, it will be sorted and put on box trucks for delivery.
Outbound Freight Doors
All of our box trucks line up here to get loaded by the dock workers. They will sort the pallets with forklifts and load them into the truck according to the routes that were created by our dispatcher. All of this usually occurs a few days before delivery time but there are exceptions.
How does a local carrier utilize cross-docking services?
The trucking companies that bring their freight to us are not set up to do local deliveries in every city across the United States, so they seek out local carriers to finish their final mile deliveries. This involves a cross-docking fee and a delivery fee for the carrier but it lets them continue on with their next line-haul, which allows them to keep their longer ranging trucks to keep moving.
Here is a good example of how our inbound and outbound freight flows through our terminal.
What is next?
So far, we have covered our trucking operation and our cross-docking operation. Hopefully, we went deep enough to give you guys a decent grasp of both of those services. We will be continuing on with this theme and eventually, those of you who stick with it will understand how these services fit into our model and how they allow us to solve problems for our customers.
Be sure to give us a call at the number below if you need help with any of these services!