In crossdocking, goods are unloaded from the inbound transport vehicles and directly loaded into the outbound ones (trucks, trailers, rail cars etc).
There is little or no storage between these two points of transport.
This type of operation is done for several reasons. It may be to change the type of transport (for example from rail to truck). It is done to sort goods intended for different destinations. Or to consolidate goods from multiple points of origin, sharing the same destination, into one container.
In crossdocking, goods are transported to a central docking station. For convenience, arriving goods are received from one side, sorted in the middle area, and dispatched from the other side. Although most of the incoming goods are immediately loaded and dispatched further, some are temporarily stored, awaiting the arrival of vehicles, consolidation or deconsolidation (disassembling of pallets to facilitate distribution).
Crossdock services are mainly used in less than truckload (LTL) shipments, both in the military and civilian sector.