3PL & Cross-Dock FAQ

Question 1

What is a 3PL?

Accepted Answer

A 3PL (third-party logistics provider) handles warehousing, fulfillment and shipping on your behalf. Instead of leasing your own warehouse and hiring staff, you pay a 3PL to receive, store, prepare and ship your goods — usually at per-skid, per-carton or per-hour rates.

Question 2

When should a business use a 3PL?

Accepted Answer

A 3PL makes sense when storage needs, order volume or shipping complexity grow beyond what you can handle in-house. It is also the standard choice for companies selling into a market where they have no facility of their own — for example, a Canadian company shipping to U.S. customers.

Question 3

What is cross-docking?

Accepted Answer

Cross-docking moves freight directly from an inbound trailer to an outbound trailer with little or no storage time in between. It is ideal for freight that is already spoken for and just needs to be transferred, sorted or consolidated on its way to the next destination.

Question 4

How does cross-docking save money?

Accepted Answer

Cross-docking reduces or eliminates storage time, which lowers storage charges and gets freight moving faster. It also cuts handling because goods are touched fewer times, and it helps you avoid paying for warehouse space you only need for a few hours.

Question 5

What is the difference between cross-docking, warehousing and fulfillment?

Accepted Answer

Cross-docking is a fast transfer of freight between trailers. Warehousing is storing goods for days, weeks or months until they are needed. Fulfillment is processing individual orders — picking the right items, packing them and shipping them to your customers. Many businesses use all three at different points.

Question 6

How can a Canadian company ship products to U.S. customers more efficiently?

Accepted Answer

The most common approach is to stage inventory at a U.S. warehouse close to the border, like Can-Am's facility in Niagara Falls, NY. You ship to the U.S. warehouse in bulk, then fulfill U.S. orders domestically — which usually means faster delivery and lower per-order shipping costs than shipping each order across the border individually.

Question 7

Can a Canadian business use a U.S. warehouse?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Canadian businesses regularly use U.S. warehouses for receiving, storage and fulfillment. You do not need a U.S. address or entity to use Can-Am — we receive your freight, store it and ship it on your instructions.

Question 8

Can Can-Am receive freight in the United States for a Canadian company?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We receive freight at our Niagara Falls, NY facility on behalf of Canadian companies every week — inbound freight, returns and supplier deliveries. We can store it, consolidate it, rework it and ship it wherever it needs to go next.

Question 9

What is U.S. fulfillment for Canadian companies?

Accepted Answer

U.S. fulfillment means storing your products in a U.S. warehouse and having that partner pick, pack and ship orders to your U.S. customers. Your customers get domestic delivery speed, and you avoid cross-border shipping friction on every individual order.

Question 10

What is U.S. parcel injection?

Accepted Answer

Parcel injection means introducing your parcels directly into a U.S. carrier network — UPS, FedEx, USPS or DHL — at a domestic U.S. origin. Instead of each parcel crossing the border individually, bulk freight crosses once and parcels are injected domestically, which typically lowers cost and shortens delivery time.

Question 11

How can Canadian companies reduce U.S. parcel shipping costs?

Accepted Answer

The biggest lever is shipping parcels domestically instead of cross-border. By consolidating product into one bulk shipment to a U.S. warehouse and injecting parcels from there, you replace many international shipments with one inbound move plus domestic parcel rates.

Question 12

What is pick and pack?

Accepted Answer

Pick and pack is the process of pulling the right items from storage (picking) and packing them securely for shipment (pack) for each order. It is the core of e-commerce and B2B order fulfillment.

Question 13

What is kitting?

Accepted Answer

Kitting combines multiple separate items into a single sellable unit or kit — for example, bundling a product with its accessories, instructions and promotional inserts. We perform kitting in-house at published labor rates.

Question 14

When should a business use pallet storage instead of cross-docking?

Accepted Answer

Use cross-docking when freight is moving straight through and just needs a transfer point. Use pallet storage when inventory needs to sit for days, weeks or months, or when you will draw it down gradually as orders come in. Many customers combine both.

Question 15

What information is needed for a fast warehouse or freight quote?

Accepted Answer

For a warehouse quote: how many pallets or cartons, how long they will stay, and what services you need (receiving, pick and pack, kitting, relabeling). For freight: origin, destination, dimensions, weight and your timeline. With those details we can usually quote quickly.

Question 16

How does Can-Am help with UPS, FedEx, USPS and DHL?

Accepted Answer

We receive, prepare and hand off parcel shipments to UPS, FedEx, USPS and DHL from our dock every business day. That includes carton handling, labeling and staging so your parcels are ready for carrier pickup.

Question 17

How does Can-Am help with LTL and truckload freight?

Accepted Answer

LTL and truckload moves are arranged through our partnership with Priority 1 Logistics, which brings competitive rates across 90+ LTL carriers and 40,000+ full truckload partners, plus a free transportation management system for quoting and paperwork.

Question 18

How do cross-border freight and customs handoffs work?

Accepted Answer

Freight crossing between Canada and the U.S. clears customs at the border with documentation prepared by licensed customs brokers. Can-Am is not a customs broker — clearance is handled by your broker or one you appoint — but we coordinate the freight side: receiving, staging and dispatching so shipments move through the border crossings near our facility smoothly.

Question 19

Why use a Niagara Falls, NY warehouse for Canada-to-USA distribution?

Accepted Answer

Location. Our facility sits minutes from the Lewiston-Queenston, Whirlpool and Rainbow bridges and within driving range of the Greater Toronto Area, with fast access to the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. That shortens the Canada-to-U.S. leg and puts U.S. customers within next-day or two-day ground reach for much of the country.

Question 20

What does a cross-dock warehouse charge?

Accepted Answer

Most cross-dock warehouses charge per-skid handling fees for the in and out moves, plus storage if freight stays beyond a free window. Can-Am publishes its rates: $10 per skid to receive, $10 per skid for outbound handling, $5 per pallet per day after 24 hours, with labor at $65 per hour billed in 15-minute increments. See our pricing page for the full list.

Question 21

How can a company reduce fulfillment costs without operating its own U.S. warehouse?

Accepted Answer

Use a 3PL. Instead of paying for a lease, racking, equipment and staff year-round, you pay published per-skid, per-carton and per-hour rates only when you use them. You also gain a location close to the border and carrier networks without the capital investment.