Bear Shift Cross-dock · coordinated by a licensed freight broker
Cross-dock and transload coordinated near your route
Cross-dock and transload near the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma move freight from the vehicle it arrived on to the one that will deliver it, without a long stay in between. We set the transfer up with an independent partner warehouse that has the dock doors and the crew, and we arrange the carriers on both sides, so the inbound and outbound trucks follow the same plan. The warehouse does the unloading and reloading; Bear Shift coordinates. Cross-docking moves freight from one truck to another without long-term storage; transloading moves it from an ocean container into a domestic trailer.
Two kinds of transfer
In a cross-dock, a truck backs into a dock door, the warehouse crew unloads the freight, sorts it by destination and loads it onto the trucks waiting at the outbound doors. One full load can be split into several local deliveries, or a handful of pickups can be combined into a single truck heading out of state.
Transload is the same idea applied to ocean freight: cartons or pallets come out of an import container and go into a 53-foot dry van or a box truck. Containers are often floor loaded, so the crew may build pallets as it unloads, when that warehouse offers palletizing. Moving the freight into a trailer frees the container to return to the port and lets the shipment continue on domestic equipment.
When freight should change trucks
- Importers splitting one container between several customers or warehouses.
- Distributors breaking a full truckload into local deliveries around Puget Sound.
- Shippers combining pickups from several suppliers into one outbound truck.
- Loads whose inbound truck cannot make the final delivery because of its size, schedule or equipment.
How we line up a cross-dock
- You tell us what is arriving, how it is loaded, when it lands and where each part has to go.
- We find an independent warehouse with dock space near the route and send you the price for the handling and the trucks.
- The warehouse sets the dock appointments, and we book the inbound and outbound carriers for those times.
- The crew unloads, sorts and reloads, and you get delivery updates and a proof of delivery for each outbound truck.
What helps us plan the transfer
Send the piece or pallet count, the weights, whether the freight is palletized or floor loaded, and the container size or the inbound trailer type. Add the arrival date, the delivery address for every outbound portion and any labels or markings that have to be checked. For a container, include its number and who is bringing it from the port, so the warehouse can schedule a door for it.
When a transfer takes longer
A cross-dock works best when the outbound truck is ready soon after the inbound one arrives. If freight has to sit longer than the transfer plan allows, the extra days are charged as storage, and building pallets from loose cartons, shrink-wrapping or relabeling count as extra work too. Everything that applies is listed in the price we send you before anything is booked.
Storage is provided by independent warehouses; Bear Shift coordinates it. See who is responsible for your goods while they are stored.
Freight going straight through, with no warehouse stop? Ask a person for a transport quote
Have freight that needs to change trucks?
Cross-dock and transload questions
How long can freight stay on the dock?
A cross-dock is built for a short stop, often the same day or the next, depending on the warehouse and on the outbound appointment. There is no fixed limit we can quote for every warehouse. If the freight needs to wait longer, we arrange it as storage and include those days in the price before you book.
Can you coordinate a container transload?
Yes. We coordinate it with an independent warehouse near the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma: the container reaches the warehouse on a drayage truck, the crew unloads it, and the freight goes onto the domestic trucks we arrange. If you don't have a drayage provider yet, ask us and we tell you whether we can arrange that move as well.
Who unloads and reloads the freight?
The warehouse crew, with its own forklifts and dock equipment. Bear Shift never touches the freight: we arrange the carriers and keep the warehouse and the drivers working from the same schedule. Tell us if the freight is loose cartons that have to be unloaded by hand, because that takes the crew longer and is priced accordingly.