There's no magic in the process, or the buildings, or the technology used at the military's sprawling distribution complex near Harrisburg, Pa. It's the ethic that pervades the DDSP that makes the operation something special.
Steve Geary is adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee's Haaslam College of Business and is a lecturer at The Gordon Institute at Tufts University. He is the President of the Supply Chain Visions family of companies, consultancies that work across the government sector. Steve is a contributing editor at DC Velocity, and editor-at-large for CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.
It's not too often that a supervisor in a distribution center puts his life in the hands of the workers on the line.
Once a month, Master Sergeant Sean Wilson does just that.
Wilson is team leader and master rigger—a certified parachute packing specialist—on a line at the Defense Distribution Depot Susquehanna Pennsylvania (DDSP), the military's sprawling distribution complex near Harrisburg, Pa. His crew packs parachutes for military use. And once a month, Wilson takes one of those parachutes—selected randomly by somebody outside the team—boards an aircraft that takes him thousands of feet above the base, and jumps out.
Wilson's trust in his team, and the team's commitment to ensuring that every parachute is reliable, stands as testament to the ethic that pervades the DDSP complex. At this facility, the phrase "good enough for government work" means something far removed from the pejorative it has become over the years. The phrase entered our lexicon during World War II, when something that was "good enough for government work" met the most rigorous of standards: You could literally stake your life on it. And that's precisely the standard that employees at DDSP hold themselves to today.
Making a difference
DDSP is the headquarters location of the Defense Distribution Command, which is the physical distribution arm of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and the largest distribution depot operated by the Department of Defense. It sprawls over 380 acres, split between two locations near Harrisburg, providing military and commercial repair parts, clothing and textiles, medical supplies, and industrial and electronic components to military customers throughout the United States and around the world. DDSP has over $10 billion worth of inventory on the shelf, with more than 870,000 unique items in stock spread across over 1 million storage locations. Compare that to Wal-Mart, which systemwide handles on the order of 120,000 SKUs.
DDSP, with more than 3,700 military and civilian employees, is the largest of the 25 distribution centers operated by DLA both here and abroad, and it supports a customer base that includes units in Europe, Africa, Central and South America, Southwest Asia, and the eastern half of the United States. The facility houses 9.4 million square feet of covered storage spread across 58 warehouses, with the largest building, the Eastern Distribution Center, providing 1.7 million square feet alone.
In short, it is a distribution goliath, shipping billions of dollars of supplies to locations around the world every year. And it has one customer: the U.S. military. Crucially, it is the DC supporting operations in Southwest Asia, where the United States continues to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That knowledge makes employees at the facility—40 percent of whom are veterans—take their jobs very seriously. As you might expect, the relationship between workers and management in the unionized facility is different from what might be found in DCs in the private sector. The same might be said of the employees' attitude toward their work.
Take Bob Keeney, supply specialist and former vice president of Local 2004 of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, for example. Keeney, a military veteran like so many of his peers, has been in the warehouse for 32 years. His father-in-law came back from Korea and went to work there, and Keeney did the same thing when he got out of the Navy in 1974. His particular expertise is in the nasty stuff that moves through a military warehouse: explosives, radioactive materials, fumicides, and other sorts of ugly things.
While talking, he suggests that we shift the conversation after hours to a bar called Julie's near the DC, and he offers to buy me a beer. He is dressed in a T-shirt and jeans; the handiwork of tattoo artists adorns both arms. We get on the topic of continuous improvement and DDSP's current lean initiative. It turns out that Keeney likes lean. "Partnership [between management and the workforce] is the way to do the work ... I look for the day when we have everybody on board. The old way was adversarial," he says. Now, however, "you become like a cog. You understand where you are on that wheel. You try to make it easy for the next guy."
He sees the work as important. "I enjoy making a difference, trying to do good," he explains. "We have obligations to the soldiers in the field, to the agency. If you don't believe in what you are doing, you're not going to be a good employee."
Focused on the warfighter
The same commitment comes across in conversations with senior management. Ed Visker has been the deputy commander of the DDSP since June 2006. Visker, who has a B.S. in banking and finance, as well as a couple of master's degrees, including one in logistics systems management from the University of Southern California, has spent 30 years in the logistics business, primarily with the military. Before coming to DDSP, he reached the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. He served in the Airborne, and his tour included deployment to Iraq during the first Gulf War and time in Special Operations. He's got the qualifications and the experience to be a senior manager in any global distribution business.
Visker first came to DDSP as a soldier. "As a young platoon leader and company commander, I was in a general supply company. We used to bring the unit here to train. We helped clear the footprint for this building that we're in right now. We brought in all our rough-terrain forklifts and cranes and set up shop down by the pond for the month of February. We emptied out the old sheds that used to be sitting here."
He describes how he sees the mission of DDSP and how to accomplish it. "I don't know that anybody would tell you that they're a warehousing professional. We are supporting the warfighter," he says. "I think you would get that out of just about anybody you talk to. We're really focused on the warfighter. I share with them pictures that I brought back from my time in the desert to remind them that these guys are out at the pointy end of the spear and it's important."
That perspective drives the operation. "We're a strategic platform.We need to think bigger," he says. "We're focused on three basic values: respect for people, customer focus, and continuous improvement. It gets the folks on the floor more engaged. It's largely about relearning: How do we manage the organization? How do we lead people in the organization?"
Lessons from the private sector
DDSP is taking lessons from the private sector. For example, managers have visited a Wal-Mart DC about 100 miles from their facility to see how the retail giant employs technology. They have visited Toyota and adopted many of the fundamentals of the Toyota Production System to drive continuous improvement.
Their success in imbuing that sense of mission throughout the operation reveals itself in a conversation with a group of DDSP employees sitting around a conference table. The "youngster" is probably in his late 30s, but most of them qualified for AARP a long time ago. Some are white collar, some blue collar, but they're all veterans.
Many retired after a career in the military and came to the DDSP, while others did a tour or two. Their service experience spans all of the military departments. They have tales that range from the Vietnam War to Southwest Asia, covering a lot of ground in between.
The conversation drifts toward why they do what they do for a living now. One reminisces about what it was like when he was in the field and heard the magic words, "Your supplies are here." He's a middle manager now, a believer in getting out with his team. He offers, "Every day I tell them about the men and women we're serving. My heart is a heart of compassion for the mission. I don't ever give it up."
Another is more matter of fact. "They need it when they need it. That's what drives me," he says. "Some of them are giving their lives."
A late arrival joins in, asserting, "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get that soldier what they need."
He gets a little more introspective, recalling what it was like for him when he came to the DDSP. "I got here and didn't realize what I'd gotten myself into here." He was on the floor one day, looking around, and saw "a section full of caskets. I realized that was going to be the last ride home for some soldiers," he recalls. "My whole mindset changed. People are depending on me."
No magic
The scale of the operation at DDSP is impressive, but the facility really isn't. Some of the buildings date back to World War I, and even the 1.7 million-square-foot building dates back to the mid '80s. There's no magic in the process, or the buildings, or the technology.
What makes DDSP special are the people, the pride, and the intelligence of the leadership that is harnessing the power of those two combined.
The final step in the distribution process at DDSP includes a personal statement from whoever does the final check on the shipment before it leaves the facility. Each shipment going out has a sticker on it, and the sticker is signed by a real person. It reads, "Packed with Pride at DDSP."
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.”