Integrated carriers are expanding their ground networks, which entails the construction of additional surface hub or cross-dock facilities at or near strategic airport locations throughout the U.S. Many cargo carriers in older facilities have indicated a severe shortage of truck docking facilities. Previous planning parameters indicated a requirement of 0.3 truck dock spaces per 1,000 square feet of cargo building
area. Current development of cargo buildings include doubling the number of truck dock spaces due to the enhanced truck utilization mentioned earlier, and use a planning factor of 0.6 spaces per 1,000 square feet of building. This factor is an estimate and is not a substitute for obtaining more systematic data. It is imperative that the individual carrier operations are considered during this benchmarking exercise. The variability of truck operations among carriers is extensive