Synergy Cross Dock

How It Works

Simple and elegant

Inbound bills are imported into Synergy Cross Dock from your host system or entered through skeleton bill input in Cross Dock itself. When the inbound trailer bumps the dock, a supervisor assigns that trailer to the door where it’s located. To strip the trailer, the dockman scans a bar code on the freight, pro, or the bar-coded stripping manifest generated by Cross Dock. As each pro is scanned, several things occur. First, the scan is recorded in Cross Dock as an “unload docktran,” Next, a list of valid doors/bays matching that pro’s destination display on the dockman’s mobile computer, sorted in priority order by cut time and weight loaded. The dockman then takes the pro to the correct loading door.

As the pro is scanned at the loading door, a check is made to compare the pro’s destination with the destination(s) assigned to the loading trailer. It there is a match, loading is permitted. If the pro’s destination does not match the door’s destinations, a Misload Error is displayed, effectively preventing the misrouting of the freight.

Finally, a supervisor closes the trailer, recording the floor space left. If there is freight on the dock or in the yard for that trailer’s destination, a warning displays the pros and location, allowing the supervisor to maximize cube and service levels. Last, a close manifest can be printed to travel with the load (for linehaul loads.)

Record and Control

Synergy Cross Dock is interested in freight at the interval between the inbound trailer bumping the dock and the outbound trailer closing and dispatching. During this time the exact location of every shipment is known, and every transaction involving the shipment is recorded along with the circumstances of the transaction. This detailed recording of freight handling and exceptions gives you an unprecedented control over your shipments. As a result, a complete picture can be assembled of the shipment’s journey, including every hand that touched it and all transactions that occurred.

The (Almost) Paperless Dock

Most carriers with a non-automated dock make hundreds or even thousands of copies/prints each night of pros and manifests for freight handling. In addition, there are OS&D forms, reweigh forms, and even manual time sheets for dockmen. With Synergy Cross Dock most, if not all, of this paperwork can be eliminated, along with the attendant labor and equipment costs associated with it. Accuracy is also improved since employee and timestamp are recorded for all transactions, and no handwriting is involved.

Since the manifest is contained within the dockman’s mobile computer, strip and load sheets are not needed. Freight can be worked by directly scanning the pro’s attached bar code sticker, or from a bar-coded strip sheet printed from Cross Dock. OS&D incidents and reweighs are recorded directly in Cross Dock, eliminating manualforms. Of course a hard copy can be generated for any of these transactions as needed. There is even the ability to electronically record the dockman’s work day, including breaks and lunch. Say hello to Synergy Cross Dock and goodbye to killing trees.

The Freight Locator

What good is an automated system if freight is left on the dock unnecessarily? Using the Freight Locator, a search can be made for freight going to a city or linehaul destination. The results can include dispatched inbound trailers due to arrive within a specified time frame. There is also an automatic check done at trailer closing to warn of any unloaded freight for that trailer’s destination(s). The result? Fuller trailers and better customer service.

Fast Bill Input

Even if your P&D trucks are equipped with mobile data, there is a certain number of pros that arrive at the dock daily that are not in the system. These are typically from trailers spotted at a customer site, interline shipments, and customer drop-offs. These pros must be entered into Cross Dock for the freight to be worked. Cross Dock contains a facility for fast skeleton bill entry. You can import your zip table and lanes table into Cross Dock, which will then route your manually entered shipments to the proper terminal with breaks included.

Misload Prevention

If all pros have the correct destination before handling, misloads can be completely eliminated as a drain on profitability and customer service.

The Dynamic Dock

A non-automated dock is generally a static dock, because of the difficulty in changing door destinations on the fly. Synergy Cross Dock records the trailer/door combination and the destinations assigned to the trailer/door in a central location, so any changes on the dock are recorded instantly, and freight is always routed to the correct door when a change is made.

There is a graphical dock display available on any workstation running Cross Dock that shows the status, trailer, assigned dockmen and destinations of each door on the dock in real time. You can also display and print trailer manifests, assign dockmen, and modify the trailer, destinations and cut time of a door.

Using the paradigm of the dynamic dock, you can have a set of doors set up for loading P&D routes in early morning, then switch them to strip inbound linehaul trailers after the P&D units are dispatched. Later that night, you can set them up to strip the arriving P&D units.

Outbound Linehaul Planning

With inbound bills being downloaded from your host system, Synergy Cross Dock can aid in your outbound linehaul planning. Reports can show weight for each linehaul destination and highlight direct load opportunities as well.

Using this feature can ensure greater cube on linehaul shipments, improve customer service, and eliminate unprofitable lanes by combining breaks on one trailer.