Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

roadtrip

please don't go

When it comes to hiring hourly workers, most DCs consider themselves lucky if the new hires stick around for 12 months. Not so The Container Store's distribution center in Texas. The Dallas-area DC hires workers with the expectation that they'll settle in for a career. And it's seldom disappointed.

Kip Tindell, CEO and president of the nationwide retailer, described his company's DC hiring and retention policies during his keynote address at the Warehousing Education and Research Council's annual conference last month. The company's acclaimed worker-friendly policies—which have landed it on Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" six times—start with the hiring process, he told his audience. That intensive hiring procedure can involve as many as seven interviews, even for DC employees. Candidates aren't necessarily chosen for their DC experience, Tindell added. "We look for enthusiasm and personality," he said. "We can teach them to drive a forklift." Once hired, new employees receive plenty of attention and support. The company provides an extensive regimen of training—averaging 241 hours in an employee's first year on the job. And when it comes to worker retention, Tindell attributes The Container Store's success to a corporate emphasis on communication. "We have a productive, communications-driven culture in the DC," Tindell told the audience. "Communication is leadership."


It hasn't always been that way. In its early days, the company focused more on keeping its managers and sales associates happy. But that changed in 1995, when Amy Carovillano joined the company as vice president of logistics and distribution. At Carovillano's prompting, Tindell said, managers began asking themselves: "Why not [hire] career minded people in the DC? Why not pay them better? Why not have the same culture as in the office?" And in the end, a worker-friendly DC culture was born.

The Latest

More Stories

autonomous tugger vehicle

Cyngn delivers autonomous tuggers to wheel maker COATS

Autonomous forklift maker Cyngn is deploying its DriveMod Tugger model at COATS Company, the largest full-line wheel service equipment manufacturer in North America, the companies said today.

The deal was announced the same week that California-based Cyngn said it had raised $33 million in funding through a stock sale.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

photo of self driving forklift
Lift Trucks, Personnel & Burden Carriers

Cyngn gains $33 million for its self-driving forklifts

Study: Industry workers bypass essential processes amid mounting stress

Study: Industry workers bypass essential processes amid mounting stress

Manufacturing and logistics workers are raising a red flag over workplace quality issues according to industry research released this week.

A comparative study of more than 4,000 workers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia found that manufacturing and logistics workers say they have seen colleagues reduce the quality of their work and not follow processes in the workplace over the past year, with rates exceeding the overall average by 11% and 8%, respectively.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo of a cargo ship cruising

Project44 tallies supply chain impacts of a turbulent 2024

Following a year in which global logistics networks were buffeted by labor strikes, natural disasters, regional political violence, and economic turbulence, the supply chain visibility provider Project44 has compiled the impact of each of those events in a new study.

The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.

Keep ReadingShow less
diagram of transportation modes

Shippeo gains $30 million backing for its transportation visibility platform

The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.

The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cover image for the white paper, "The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: expectations for 2025."

CSCMP releases new white paper looking at potential supply chain impact of incoming Trump administration

Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.

With a new white paper—"The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: Expectations for 2025”—the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) seeks to provide some guidance on what companies can expect for the first year of the second Trump Administration.

Keep ReadingShow less