Buildings recently designed for use by all-cargo or integrated carriers have become highly specialized in nature and configuration. They are usually larger single-purpose structures having access from numerous sides. These buildings may be 100-300 feet deep (depending on sortation versus throughput focus) and 500-600 feet long in the case of large hub locations. In addition, facilities may need to be designed tall enough to take into account any requirement for multi-tiered sorting devices.
Some all-cargo buildings are equipped with nose docking wings with sophisticated container handling conveyors, such that the aircraft can be parked with the cargo door adjacent to the dock, thus allowing shipments to be efficiently loaded and unloaded directly from the building to the aircraft. This is highly specialized and has only a select tenant base.
An important planning and design consideration of all-cargo and integrated carrier buildings is the relationship between the buildings and adjacent aircraft ramp and associated taxiways. The facility's configuration and orientation will often be driven by this relationship. The cost of constructing airside aprons, aircraft ramp and taxiways usually far exceeds the cost of constructing landside facilities such as access roads and parking lots. Consequently, the final planning and design solution will often depend on existing or proposed airside conditions.