# Cross-dock fee calculator

> Calculate a cross-dock visit's bill: handling per pallet in and out, the minimum, storage after free hours, accessorials, cost per pallet and your margin.

URL: https://roadmark.ai/tools/cross-dock-fees
Language: en

A cross-dock visit is usually billed as a handling fee per pallet in and per pallet out, with a minimum per visit, plus storage per pallet per day once the free time runs out and any restack, wrap or after-hours charges. Published figures we checked on Sep 27, 2026 run from $10.00 a pallet in and $10.00 out at one New Jersey dock to ranges of $20.00–$30.00 and $10.00–$50.00 a pallet quoted by others.

## How a cross-dock visit is billed

Handling pays for the forklift work at each end, storage for the floor space the freight holds past its free time, and accessorials for the work that isn't a straight transfer.

```
Handling in = minimum for the first N pallets + rate in × each pallet after them
Handling out = the same, at the rate out
Storage = pallets in × rate per pallet per day × days past the free time
Accessorials = restacked pallets × rate + wrapped or relabelled pallets × rate + after-hours surcharge
Total = handling in + handling out + storage + accessorials; cost per pallet = total ÷ pallets in
Margin = charge per pallet × pallets in − total
```

- **A minimum that covers N pallets:** bills a small visit as if it were N pallets; each pallet past N adds the rate. Set the count to 0 for a flat fee per visit on top of the rate. Here it applies to handling in and to handling out; check how your dock's card words it.
- **Free time:** runs from unloading. Past it, each started day counts as a day, the usual way docks bill storage, so an hour over can cost a full day.
- **The base rate:** usually covers unloading, a short stay in a staging lane and loading out. Sorting, restacking, wrapping, relabelling and after-hours work are extra.
- **Each line:** is rounded to the cent, and the total is the sum of the rounded lines, so the bill adds up.

## Worked example: Northline Freight's 22 pallets at the Mississauga dock.

Northline Freight's trailer TRL 5102 is at door 2 of the Mississauga cross-dock with 22 pallets, 25 minutes late. The dock's example rate card, in CAD, charges CA$12.00 a pallet in and CA$12.00 out, with a CA$120.00 minimum covering the first 10 pallets of a visit, 24 hours free and then CA$5.00 a pallet a day. Say the pallets leave on Wednesday afternoon, 30 hours after unloading, and 2 are rewrapped before loading. Handling is CA$264.00 in and CA$264.00 out, storage is 1 day at CA$110.00, and the wraps add CA$16.00: CA$654.00 for the visit, or CA$29.73 a pallet.

Charged to the customer at an example CA$35.00 a pallet, the visit brings in CA$770.00 and leaves CA$116.00, a 15.1% margin. Loaded out inside the 24 free hours, the same pallets cost CA$544.00 (CA$24.73 a pallet) and the margin is 29.4%.

Storage is what freight without a truck costs. The board's Montreal lane has 10 pallets and no truck booked; 4 are already past the free time, which on this card is CA$20.00 a day. By the same time tomorrow, 7 will be, at CA$35.00 a day.

## What another day on the floor costs

The worked example's pallets on the same card, loaded out after different stays. Nothing changes until the free 24 hours run out; after that, each started day adds CA$110.00.

| Hours on the floor | Storage days | Total | Per pallet | Margin at CA$35.00/plt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 12 h | 0 | CA$544.00 | CA$24.73 | 29.4% |
| 24 h | 0 | CA$544.00 | CA$24.73 | 29.4% |
| 30 h | 1 | CA$654.00 | CA$29.73 | 15.1% |
| 48 h | 1 | CA$654.00 | CA$29.73 | 15.1% |
| 72 h | 2 | CA$764.00 | CA$34.73 | 0.8% |
| 96 h | 3 | CA$874.00 | CA$39.73 | -13.5% |

## Published cross-dock rates, checked Sep 27, 2026

Most docks quote on request, so published figures are few. These are the ones we found on operators' own pages, read there on Sep 27, 2026, in U.S. dollars. They're what each page says, not quotes for your freight.

| Source | Handling | Minimums, free time and dwell | Accessorials and notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Nexus Warehouse Crossdock, Carlstadt NJ](https://nexuswh.com/crossdock/) (Rate card) | $10.00 per pallet in and $10.00 per pallet out | $100.00 minimum covers 1–10 pallets a visit; 2 hours of storage free, then $4.00 per pallet per day | After hours +$150.00 / +$250.00 / +$350.00 (5–7 pm, 7–8 pm, after 8 pm); oversized, damaged or non-standard freight priced separately |
| [Brown Distribution Centers, North Charleston SC](https://www.browndistribution.com/pricing) (Published ranges) | Cross-docking $10.00–$50.00 per pallet; basic unload or load $5.00–$8.00 per pallet | Not published | Complex handling (stretch wrap, rebuilds, oversized or damaged pallets) $8.00–$15.00 per pallet |
| [Cross Docks & Storage, Fresno CA](https://crossdocksandstorage.com/cross-docking-rates/) (Published ranges) | $20.00–$30.00 per pallet at many facilities | Dwell past the scheduled slot typically $50.00–$100.00 an hour | Labour add-ons (de-palletizing, sorting, reconfiguring) add 20–40% |
| [Denver Express, Denver CO](https://www.denverexpressco.com/cross-docking-rate-models-per-pallet-vs-per-load) (Rate models only) | Not published | Not published | Per pallet, per load, hourly or line items; the base rate covers unload, brief staging and outbound load |

Nexus's own same-day example: 20 pallets in and out come to $400.00 in handling, with no storage inside the free hours. Search summaries repeat other figures (restack, shrink-wrap, per-load rates); we left out any we couldn't find on an operator's own page.

## Where the figures come from

Each published figure above links to the operator's page it was read from, checked on Sep 27, 2026. The worked example's rates are examples, not Roadmark's prices or any operator's card.

Sources:

- [Nexus Warehouse Crossdock: crossdock rates](https://nexuswh.com/crossdock/)
- [Nexus Warehouse: cross-docking in New Jersey (same-day example)](https://nexuswh.com/blog/cross-docking-new-jersey/)
- [Brown Distribution Centers: warehousing pricing](https://www.browndistribution.com/pricing)
- [Cross Docks & Storage: cross docking rates 2025](https://crossdocksandstorage.com/cross-docking-rates/)
- [Denver Express: cross-docking rates, per pallet vs per load vs hourly](https://www.denverexpressco.com/cross-docking-rate-models-per-pallet-vs-per-load)

## Cross-dock fee questions

### What is a cross-docking fee?

What a dock charges to move freight from an inbound truck to an outbound one: usually a handling fee per pallet in and per pallet out, a minimum per visit, and storage per pallet per day if the freight stays past its free time, plus extras like restacking, wrapping or after-hours work.

### How much does cross-docking cost per pallet?

It depends on the dock and the freight. Of the pages we checked on Sep 27, 2026, Nexus Warehouse in New Jersey publishes $10.00 a pallet in and $10.00 out with a $100.00 minimum, Cross Docks & Storage says many facilities charge $20.00–$30.00 a pallet, and Brown Distribution Centers gives a $10.00–$50.00 range.

### What does the base cross-dock rate include?

Usually unloading, a short stay in a staging lane and loading the outbound trailer, as Denver Express describes it. Sorting, restacking, wrapping, relabelling, storage past the free time and work outside dock hours are billed on top.

### Why do docks charge a minimum per visit?

A truck at a door costs the dock a crew, a forklift and a door slot whether it brings three pallets or thirty. Nexus Warehouse's minimum, for example, covers the first 10 pallets of a visit; past that, each pallet is billed at the rate.

### When does cross-dock storage start?

When the free time on the rate card runs out, counted from unloading. Nexus Warehouse gives 2 hours; other docks give a day or more. After that it's usually per pallet per day, with each started day billed in full, so freight without a booked truck costs money every day it waits.

### Is floor-loaded freight more expensive to cross-dock?

Usually. Loose cartons have to be unloaded by hand and often palletized before they can move, so docks quote floor-loaded containers separately, as Nexus Warehouse does, or add labour charges for it.

### Who pays the cross-dock fee: the shipper, the broker or the carrier?

Whoever booked the dock. When a brokerage routes freight through a cross-dock, it usually pays the dock and bills the shipper, so the margin is the difference between the two. The calculator's customer charge shows it for a visit.

## More free calculators

- [Cross-dock](https://roadmark.ai/cross-dock)
- [Chargeable weight calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/chargeable-weight): Actual against volumetric weight for an air shipment, at IATA's 6,000 cm³/kg or 166 in³/lb, line by line.
- [Freight class calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/freight-class): Density in pounds per cubic foot for each pallet, and the class the NMFC's 13-sub density scale gives it.
- [Detention calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/detention): What a truck's time at the dock past its free time comes to, on the invoice and on the driver's pay.
- [Demurrage and per diem calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/demurrage): Last free day, charged days and the total for a container at the terminal or out on per diem, with tiered rates.
- [Fuel surcharge calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/fuel-surcharge): Surcharge per mile from the diesel price, the base price and miles per gallon, the total for a trip and its share of the linehaul.
- [Cost per mile calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/cost-per-mile): A truck's fixed and per-mile costs over the miles it runs, as a cost per mile, and the margin at a rate per mile.

## Related pages

- [Billing and settlements](https://roadmark.ai/billing): Invoices, driver pay and carrier pay
- [LTL](https://roadmark.ai/ltl): Pallets, freight class and linehaul
- [Warehouse and 3PL](https://roadmark.ai/warehouse): Receiving, storage and per-pallet billing
- [Brokers and 3PLs](https://roadmark.ai/brokers): Quote, cover, track and bill
- [Freight class calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/freight-class): Density in pounds per cubic foot for each pallet, and the class the NMFC's 13-sub density scale gives it.
- [Cross-docking for freight brokers: fees, load plans and OS&D](https://roadmark.ai/blog/cross-docking-for-freight-brokers): When cross-docking pays for a brokerage: rate cards, late inbounds, load plans, short and damaged pallets, and a day too long on the floor, with worked numbers.

Companies, people and shipment figures in product examples are fictional. They illustrate workflows and are not customer testimonials or measured results.