There's more to supply chain security than foiling terrorists. There are still plenty of challenges for us right here at home protecting our DCs, the people who work in them, and the products they house.
Art van Bodegraven was, among other roles, chief design officer for the DES Leadership Academy. He passed away on June 18, 2017. He will be greatly missed.
We thought we had a fairly clear idea of what supply chain security was all about until Sept. 11, 2001. On that terrible day, we awoke to the nightmare that terrorists could exploit our transportation system, using jetliners as weapons of destruction. —And as we've learned from the Oklahoma City bombings and Madrid tragedy, it's not just planes that can be turned into lethal weapons, but trucks and trains as well.
But as we debate how best to "harden" the nation's transportation system, we sometimes forget that there's more to supply chain security than foiling terrorists. There are still plenty of challenges for us right here at home protecting our DCs, the people who work in them, and the products they house. What follows are some tips for keeping your people, property and products safe.
Someone to watch over them
As you might expect, workplace injuries pose a bigger threat to DC workers' safety than terrorists. What you might not realize is which workers are most at risk. Despite what you'd think, it's not the new and inexperienced ones who are most vulnerable. Federal studies have shown that workers with five or more years' experience are more likely to be injured on the job. Experienced workers often become careless, and carelessness leads to accidents.
To address that problem, some DCs have set up job rotation systems. Workers who change tasks every few hours are less likely to become bored than those who do the same thing all day long. Rotation also reduces the likelihood of injuries due to repetitive motion.
DC workers are also at elevated risk of injuries caused by strain. Tasks like order picking may seem much safer than, say, loading trucks, but they actually account for a large share of injuries because they can force workers into awkward postures.
To reduce the risk of injury, carefully plan out the arrangement of stock in your DC, paying particular attention to ergonomics. The fastest-moving items should always be stored in the "Golden Zone," the space between the average worker's belt and shoulder height. It's equally important to provide proper training. Before you send anyone out onto the floor, be sure to show him or her the best and safest way to pick.
Though people are oftentimes reluctant to address it, another widespread problem is employee substance abuse. An estimated 10 percent of all people in the work force have a substance abuse problem, and impaired DC workers can pose a safety threat to co-workers. No DC should be without a prevention program. That program should include a published policy, screening for all new hires, training for supervisors and managers, and a rehabilitation program.
Protecting property
When it comes to protecting property, your focus will be less on prevention than on containing the damage. High winds, floods, earthquakes and lightning strikes will remain forever outside our control—as will more mundane disasters like power failures.
But you can take steps to mitigate the damage. Some DCs, for example, have installed emergency generators that provide sufficient power to maintain computer operations and at least partial illumination in the buildings in the event of a power loss.
Two of the best ways to control casualty risks are to buy insurance and to seek professional advice. The more progressive insurance companies have ongoing loss-prevention research and development programs and can provide counsel. Many offer inspection services as well.
Vanishing act
Like people and property, products must be kept safe. And their safety is not always easy to ensure. Whether raw materials or finished goods, products face a variety of threats: damage, theft and deterioration among them.
Much of the time, damage to goods occurs in transit (generally due to mishandling of the cargo), but products can also sustain damage just sitting on a shelf in a DC. That's particularly true if the products being stored are subject to deterioration due to age, chemical reactions, biological changes or improper temperature control. If your products fall into one of those categories, make sure you have the proper monitoring systems in place.
Another big problem is theft. At one time or another, most warehouses will experience pilferage (theft of small amounts over an extended period). Typically, pilferage is the result of collusion, usually between a warehouse employee and a truck driver. This is the most difficult type of theft to detect and control, since no one has yet devised a 100-percent failsafe electronic or paper tracking system.
Obviously, the best way to reduce the risk of theft is to hire only honest workers. But how do you do that? One option is to hire a psychological testing service that screens out candidates with larcenous tendencies. Another deterrent is to conduct random detailed checks of outbound loads. A third method is the undercover investigation. Detective agencies and some specialist consultants provide undercover services. The investigator poses as an ordinary employee and tries to blend in with the crowd in order to monitor operations from the inside. This is a delicate and dangerous undertaking that requires complete confidentiality.
When hacking is not a cough but a crime
The Information Age has given rise to a new, and potentially catastrophic, security risk—the threat that your vital data will be compromised. Skilled and tenacious hackers can access mission-critical information about customers, suppliers, accounts, products and employees.
These info tech security breaches are just as dangerous as any physical security breach. Both preventive countermeasures and reactive forensic computer specialists are vital weapons against this spreading threat.
It's a scary ol' world out there, and it's getting scarier. Today's managers face some tough choices. Relax security too much and you could compromise your operation. Tighten security too much and you risk choking off the vital flow of commerce. Think hard about the nature of each threat to your DC and its likelihood. The last thing you want to become is your own worst enemy.
The way that shippers and carriers classify loads of less than truckload (LTL) freight to determine delivery rates is set to change in 2025 for the first time in decades, introducing a new approach that is designed to support more standardized practices.
But the transition may take some time. Businesses throughout the logistics sector will be affected by the transition, since the NMFC is a critical tool for setting prices that is used daily by transportation providers, trucking fleets, third party logistics providers (3PLs), and freight brokers.
For example, the current system creates 18 classes of freight that are identified by numbers from 50 to 500, according to a blog post by Nolan Transportation Group (NTG). Lower classed freight costs less to ship, ranging from basic goods that fit on a standard shrink-wrapped 4X4 pallet (class 50) up to highly valuable or delicate items such as bags of gold dust or boxes of ping pong balls (class 500).
In the future, that system will be streamlined by four new features, NMFTA said:
standardized density scale for LTL freight with no handling, stowability, and liability issues,
unique identifiers for freight with special handling, stowability, or liability needs,
condensed and modernized commodity listings, and
improved usability of the ClassIT classification tool.
The new changes look to simplify the classification by grouping similar articles together and assigning most classes based solely on density – the most measurable of the four characteristics, he said. Exceptions will be handled separately, adding one or more of the three remaining characteristics in cases where density alone is not adequate to determine an accurate class.
When the updates roll out in 2025, many shippers will see shifts in the LTL prices they pay to move loads, because the way their freight is classified – and subsequently billed – might change. To cope with those changes, he said it’s important for shippers to review their pricing agreements and be prepared for these adjustments, while carriers should prepare to manage customer relationships through the transition.
“This shift is a big deal for the LTL industry, and it’s going to require a lot of work upfront,” Davis said. “But ultimately, simplifying the classification system should help reduce friction between shippers and carriers. We want to make the process as straightforward as possible, eliminate unnecessary disputes, and make the system more intuitive for everyone. It’s a change that’s long overdue, and while there might be challenges in the short term, I believe it will benefit the industry in the long run.
Business leaders in the manufacturing and transportation sectors will increasingly turn to technology in 2025 to adapt to developments in a tricky economic environment, according to a report from Forrester.
That approach is needed because companies in asset-intensive industries like manufacturing and transportation quickly feel the pain when energy prices rise, raw materials are harder to access, or borrowing money for capital projects becomes more expensive, according to researcher Paul Miller, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
And all of those conditions arose in 2024, forcing leaders to focus even more than usual on managing costs and improving efficiency. Forrester’s latest forecast doesn’t anticipate any dramatic improvement in the global macroeconomic situation in 2025, but it does anticipate several ways that companies will adapt.
For 2025, Forrester predicts that:
over 25% of big last-mile service and delivery fleets in Europe will be electric. Across the continent, parcel delivery firms, utility companies, and local governments operating large fleets of small vans over relatively short distances see electrification as an opportunity to manage costs while lowering carbon emissions.
less than 5% of the robots entering factories and warehouses will walk. While industry coverage often focuses on two-legged robots, Forrester says the compelling use cases for those legs are less common — or obvious — than supporters suggest. The report says that those robots have a wow factor, but they may not have the best form factor for addressing industry’s dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks.
carmakers will make significant cuts to their digital divisions, admitting defeat after the industry invested billions of dollars in recent years to build the capability to design the connected and digital features installed in modern vehicles. Instead, the future of mobility will be underpinned by ecosystems of various technology providers, not necessarily reliant on the same large automaker that made the car itself.
Regular online readers of DC Velocity and Supply Chain Xchange have probably noticed something new during the past few weeks. Our team has been working for months to produce shiny new websites that allow you to find the supply chain news and stories you need more easily.
It is always good for a media brand to undergo a refresh every once in a while. We certainly are not alone in retooling our websites; most of you likely go through that rather complex process every few years. But this was more than just your average refresh. We did it to take advantage of the most recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Most of the AI work will take place behind the scenes. We will not, for instance, use AI to generate our stories. Those will still be written by our award-winning editorial team (I realize I’m biased, but I believe them to be the best in the business). Instead, we will be applying AI to things like graphics, search functions, and prioritizing relevant stories to make it easier for you to find the information you need along with related content.
We have also redesigned the websites’ layouts to make it quick and easy to find articles on specific topics. For example, content on DC Velocity’s new site is divided into five categories: material handling, robotics, transportation, technology, and supply chain services. We also offer a robust video section, including case histories, webcasts, and executive interviews, plus our weekly podcasts.
Over on the Supply Chain Xchange site, we have organized articles into categories that align with the traditional five phases of supply chain management: plan, procure, produce, move, and store. Plus, we added a “tech” category just to round it off. You can also find links to our videos, newsletters, podcasts, webcasts, blogs, and much more on the site.
Our mobile-app users will also notice some enhancements. An increasing number of you are receiving your daily supply chain news on your phones and tablets, so we have revamped our sites for optimal performance on those devices. For instance, you’ll find that related stories will appear right after the article you’re reading in case you want to delve further into the topic.
However you view us, you will find snappier headlines, more graphics and illustrations, and sites that are easier to navigate.
I would personally like to thank our management, IT department, and editors for their work in making this transition a reality. In our more than 20 years as a media company, this is our largest expansion into digital yet.
We hope you enjoy the experience.
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In this chart, the red and green bars represent Trucking Conditions Index for 2024. The blue line represents the Trucking Conditions Index for 2023. The index shows that while business conditions for trucking companies improved in August of 2024 versus July of 2024, they are still overall negative.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index improved in August to -1.39 from the reading of -5.59 in July. The Bloomington, Indiana-based firm forecasts that its TCI readings will remain mostly negative-to-neutral through the beginning of 2025.
“Trucking is en route to more favorable conditions next year, but the road remains bumpy as both freight volume and capacity utilization are still soft, keeping rates weak. Our forecasts continue to show the truck freight market starting to favor carriers modestly before the second quarter of next year,” Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, said in a release.
The TCI tracks the changes representing five major conditions in the U.S. truck market: freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel prices, and financing costs. Combined into a single index, a positive score represents good, optimistic conditions, and a negative score shows the opposite.
A coalition of truckers is applauding the latest round of $30 million in federal funding to address what they call a “national truck parking crisis,” created when drivers face an imperative to pull over and stop when they cap out their hours of service, yet can seldom find a safe spot for their vehicle.
According to the White House, a total of 44 projects were selected in this round of funding, including projects that improve safety, mobility, and economic competitiveness, constructing major bridges, expanding port capacity, and redesigning interchanges. The money is the latest in a series of large infrastructure investments that have included nearly $12.8 billion in funding through the INFRA and Mega programs for 140 projects across 42 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The money funds: 35 bridge projects, 18 port projects, 20 rail projects, and 85 highway improvement projects.
In a statement, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) said the federal funds would make a big difference in driver safety and transportation networks.
"Lack of safe truck parking has been a top concern of truckers for decades and as a truck driver, I can tell you firsthand that when truckers don’t have a safe place to park, we are put in a no-win situation. We must either continue to drive while fatigued or out of legal driving time, or park in an undesignated and unsafe location like the side of the road or abandoned lot,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a release. “It forces truck drivers to make a choice between safety and following federal Hours-of-Service rules. OOIDA and the 150,000 small business truckers we represent thank Secretary Buttigieg and the Department for their increased focus on resolving an issue that has plagued our industry for decades.”