Facing challenges head-on: interview with 2022 NFSD chair Jonathan Dawley
In today’s pandemic-era labor environment, operator and pedestrian safety is more important—and perhaps more difficult to achieve—than ever, says National Forklift Safety Day 2022 Chair Jonathan Dawley.
Contributing Editor Toby Gooley is a writer and editor specializing in supply chain, logistics, and material handling, and a lecturer at MIT's Center for Transportation & Logistics. She previously was Senior Editor at DC VELOCITY and Editor of DCV's sister publication, CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. Prior to joining AGiLE Business Media in 2007, she spent 20 years at Logistics Management magazine as Managing Editor and Senior Editor covering international trade and transportation. Prior to that she was an export traffic manager for 10 years. She holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from Cornell University.
The world has changed dramatically in the nine years since the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) launched the annual National Forklift Safety Day program to educate customers, policymakers, and government officials about the safe use of forklifts and the importance of proper operator training. The Covid-19 pandemic has deeply impacted businesses, including those that use forklifts, in myriad ways. One of the biggest changes has been in the labor market, where every industry is challenged not just to hire but also to retain trained workers. The high rate of turnover has directly affected forklift safety. “The unique, transitory environment for employees we’re in requires us to be on our game all the time” when it comes to operator and pedestrian safety, says 2022 National Forklift Safety Day Chair Jonathan Dawley.
Dawley is president and CEO of Summerville, South Carolina-based Kion North America Corp., which provides the Linde Material Handling and Baoli brands of lift trucks. He has spent his career in manufacturing industries like material handling, automotive, and infrastructure and heavy construction equipment. He joined the Kion Group in 2020 from Putzmeister Holding GmbH, where he had been president and CEO of the Americas region. Prior to that, he was responsible for the global aftermarket business at JLG Industries Corp., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corp. He gained extensive experience in intralogistics as well as in the material handling business in senior management roles at Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. from 2005 to 2014, most recently as president of Hyster Co. distribution.
Described by peers and colleagues as a strategic thinker with vision and deep technical knowledge, Dawley has long experience in manufacturing, developing international markets, financial management, and industrial technology and automation. He is active as a board member in the German American Chamber of Commerce (Southeast), the Charleston (South Carolina) Metro Chamber, and the president’s industry board at College of Charleston.
DC Velocity recently spoke with Dawley about the labor-related conditions that are challenging forklift safety today, his thoughts on training technology, and his priorities for National Forklift Safety Day 2022.
Q: What are your current job responsibilities?
A: As president and CEO of Kion North America, I am responsible for sales and marketing; operations, including production, supply chain, and procurement; engineering and product strategy functions; and administrative functions such as human resources and finance. Ultimately, though, my job is to lead the company to success. I am a growth-stage CEO, which means I am changing the culture of the company to manage and support our growth. One thing about our culture that won’t change, though, is our commitment to caring for and developing our people. I put building a sustainable culture at the center of all of my actions.
Q: How did you get into material handling originally?
A: My first exposure came while I was working and getting my college degree. Through that job, I met the COO of a large forklift dealer. He became a customer and later asked me what I was doing with my life. I explained that I was finishing my degree, and he said, “Come talk to me as soon as you finish.” I did, and he hired me as an aftermarket sales rep at the dealership.
I ended up going on to work for automotive OEMs and suppliers for the following 10 years, but material handling really did get in my blood, as I enjoyed the diversity of applications. Eventually, I came back into this business in 2005, when I was hired by one of the leading lift truck manufacturers in North America. I was there for nearly 10 years, holding numerous senior leadership roles. I left the industry for six years but am now back, with the privilege of leading Kion North America.
Q: Is there anything you especially like or find exceptionally interesting about the industrial truck industry?
A: I enjoy the diversity of applications and the opportunity to problem solve in many different industries. As a young person entering the industry, I was able to experience many different market sectors, from automotive manufacturing to warehousing to food and beverage applications. Learning about different industries, processes, and business models, and solving diverse problems for these customers were attractors early on. Plus, the industrial truck industry is the backbone of logistics. It’s exciting to be in an industry that has a direct impact on every supply chain around the world.
Currently, there is so much going on in the area of technology. Customers worry about finding good employees and about employee turnover, and this demographic change is driving more automation. In the past, automation was seen as a disruptive technology that was a threat to jobs, but today it’s clear that with a very tight labor market for the foreseeable future, we have to apply automation as a support for businesses and the economy. At the same time, customers want to ensure their employees’ safety, and they also want to be more efficient and competitive. So, in addition to automation, we are looking at technologies that can help them in areas like energy efficiency and safety.
The technology opportunities are very interesting, but at the end of the day, success comes back around to people. In this industry, you have to get on the ground with people to understand their needs and build relationships.
Q: You have a lot of experience that is timely and relevant today, such as international business development, Industry 4.0, and automation. How will your background contribute to ITA’s efforts to promote forklift safety?
A: Having a background in product strategy and technology is especially relevant in leading a material handling company right now. Manufacturers and warehouse companies are dealing with not being able to get enough employees or are experiencing high rates of employee turnover. When you have high turnover, that means many new employees, so it’s important to keep up with basic levels of training. At the same time, business opportunities are growing and businesses that use forklifts are expanding, so businesses are working at a very fast pace.
In times like these, we can use technology to our benefit. We in the forklift industry can supply systems that enable another layer of safety management on top of the core safety training. For example, collision-avoidance systems can help with operator awareness of safe practices. But technology-based systems are not replacements for training and education—they are supplemental, or supportive of training.
Q: What are your personal priorities as National Forklift Safety Day chair?
A: First, I want to get the industry aligned, from the manufacturer to the dealer, to maximize awareness at the end-user level of the need for training and the basic tool kits and training the industry provides. I would like the industry to create one harmonized message to send to forklift end-users. Second, I’d like to look at how we can leverage technology to support operator training. While technology is not a replacement for basic training and good culture, technologies such as automation and collision-avoidance systems are a good supplement and can reinforce good safety principles. And third, I want to find a way to get dealer networks more engaged with National Forklift Safety Day. Every manufacturer and its dealers should consider holding open houses to drive safety awareness—for example, by holding operator training classes on site during that time.
Q: Are there specific topics this year’s National Forklift Safety Day program will focus on?
A: As always, we will emphasize that forklift safety is not a one-time issue and that it is as important for pedestrians as it is for operators. We will also be looking at the safety-related challenges warehouses and manufacturers are facing as we start to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy improves. For example, some businesses have grown dramatically, and in some cases that has meant higher levels of inventory. As a result, there may be material in new places in the DC or the factory where there wasn’t anything before. Perhaps that forces a pedestrian to walk outside of the normal marked path, which puts them in the way of equipment, or an operator has to drive around something that wasn’t there yesterday and pedestrians aren’t expecting a forklift to be there. These changing situations can compromise safety and put employees at risk.
Q: The pandemic has had a huge impact on forklift operations and labor. Has this “new normal” affected how end-users approach forklift safety?
A: It has. We need an additional 3.2 million workers in the United States to cover current job openings. As facilities search for employees in a very constrained labor environment, they may end up hiring people who may not have the same capabilities and experience as the previous employee base. That, together with the high rates of turnover that businesses everywhere are seeing, is making safety training more difficult, creating risk for end-users.
There are also two employee-related dynamics many businesses are seeing. One is that some employees do not feel a long-term commitment to the company that hires them, which means you have to engage them and help them feel connected so they will want to stay with the company. Another is that if someone does have a laissez faire attitude about coming to work, then they likely do not have a sense of urgency about safety. So, you have to aim for daily engagement, and supervisors on the line have to constantly be reinforcing the importance of safety. And if we as business leaders don’t establish a culture of accountability, then the safety system falls apart.
Q: What’s the main message you would like DC Velocity’s readers to take away from National Forklift Safety Day?
A: The main message is that safety is a culture. To make safety a priority in companies, that message has to come from the top, and we have to live it ourselves, day in and day out. We can leverage advanced technology to help limit risks, but we also have to ensure people practice the basics of safe operation every day and that training is maintained.
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.
By delivering the self-driving tuggers to COATS’ 150,000+ square foot manufacturing facility in La Vergne, Tennessee, Cyngn said it would enable COATS to enhance efficiency by automating the delivery of wheel service components from its production lines.
“Cyngn’s self-driving tugger was the perfect solution to support our strategy of advancing automation and incorporating scalable technology seamlessly into our operations,” Steve Bergmeyer, Continuous Improvement and Quality Manager at COATS, said in a release. “With its high load capacity, we can concentrate on increasing our ability to manage heavier components and bulk orders, driving greater efficiency, reducing costs, and accelerating delivery timelines.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it follows another deployment of DriveMod Tuggers with electric automaker Rivian earlier this year.
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.
The study—the Resilience Nation report—was commissioned by UK-based regulatory and compliance software company Ideagen, and it polled workers in industries such as energy, aviation, healthcare, and financial services. The results “explore the major threats and macroeconomic factors affecting people today, providing perspectives on resilience across global landscapes,” according to the authors.
According to the study, 41% of manufacturing and logistics workers said they’d witnessed their peers hiding mistakes, and 45% said they’ve observed coworkers cutting corners due to apathy—9% above the average. The results also showed that workers are seeing colleagues take safety risks: More than a third of respondents said they’ve seen people putting themselves in physical danger at work.
The authors said growing pressure inside and outside of the workplace are to blame for the lack of diligence and resiliency on the job. Internally, workers say they are under pressure to deliver more despite reduced capacity. Among the external pressures, respondents cited the rising cost of living as the biggest problem (39%), closely followed by inflation rates, supply chain challenges, and energy prices.
“People are being asked to deliver more at work when their resilience is being challenged by economic and political headwinds,” Ideagen’s CEO Ben Dorks said in a statement announcing the findings. “Ultimately, this is having a determinantal impact on business productivity, workplace health and safety, and the quality of work produced, as well as further reducing the resilience of the nation at large.”
Respondents said they believe technology will eventually alleviate some of the stress occurring in manufacturing and logistics, however.
“People are optimistic that emerging tech and AI will ultimately lighten the load, but they’re not yet feeling the benefits,” Dorks added. “It’s a gap that now, more than ever, business leaders must look to close and support their workforce to ensure their staff remain safe and compliance needs are met across the business.”
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.
“While 2024 was characterized by frequent and overlapping disruptions that exposed many supply chain vulnerabilities, it was also a year of resilience,” the Project44 report said. “From labor strikes and natural disasters to geopolitical tensions, each event served as a critical learning opportunity, underscoring the necessity for robust contingency planning, effective labor relations, and durable infrastructure. As supply chains continue to evolve, the lessons learned this past year highlight the increased importance of proactive measures and collaborative efforts. These strategies are essential to fostering stability and adaptability in a world where unpredictability is becoming the norm.”
In addition to tallying the supply chain impact of those events, the report also made four broad predictions for trends in 2025 that may affect logistics operations. In Project44’s analysis, they include:
More technology and automation will be introduced into supply chains, particularly ports. This will help make operations more efficient but also increase the risk of cybersecurity attacks and service interruptions due to glitches and bugs. This could also add tensions among the labor pool and unions, who do not want jobs to be replaced with automation.
The new administration in the United States introduces a lot of uncertainty, with talks of major tariffs for numerous countries as well as talks of US freight getting preferential treatment through the Panama Canal. If these things do come to fruition, expect to see shifts in global trade patterns and sourcing.
Natural disasters will continue to become more frequent and more severe, as exhibited by the wildfires in Los Angeles and the winter storms throughout the southern states in the U.S. As a result, expect companies to invest more heavily in sustainability to mitigate climate change.
The peace treaty announced on Wednesday between Isael and Hamas in the Middle East could support increased freight volumes returning to the Suez Canal as political crisis in the area are resolved.
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.
Shippeo says it offers real-time shipment tracking across all transport modes, helping companies create sustainable, resilient supply chains. Its platform enables users to reduce logistics-related carbon emissions by making informed trade-offs between modes and carriers based on carbon footprint data.
"Global supply chains are facing unprecedented complexity, and real-time transport visibility is essential for building resilience” Prashant Bothra, Principal at Woven Capital, who is joining the Shippeo board, said in a release. “Shippeo’s platform empowers businesses to proactively address disruptions by transforming fragmented operations into streamlined, data-driven processes across all transport modes, offering precise tracking and predictive ETAs at scale—capabilities that would be resource-intensive to develop in-house. We are excited to support Shippeo’s journey to accelerate digitization while enhancing cost efficiency, planning accuracy, and customer experience across the supply chain.”
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.
As Mark Baxa, CSCMP president and CEO, says in the executive forward to the white paper, the incoming Trump Administration and a majority Republican congress are “poised to reshape trade policies, regulatory frameworks, and the very fabric of how we approach global commerce.”
The paper is written by import/export expert Thomas Cook, managing director for Blue Tiger International, a U.S.-based supply chain management consulting company that focuses on international trade. Cook is the former CEO of American River International in New York and Apex Global Logistics Supply Chain Operation in Los Angeles and has written 19 books on global trade.
In the paper, Cook, of course, takes a close look at tariff implications and new trade deals, emphasizing that Trump will seek revisions that will favor U.S. businesses and encourage manufacturing to return to the U.S. The paper, however, also looks beyond global trade to addresses topics such as Trump’s tougher stance on immigration and the possibility of mass deportations, greater support of Israel in the Middle East, proposals for increased energy production and mining, and intent to end the war in the Ukraine.
In general, Cook believes that many of the administration’s new policies will be beneficial to the overall economy. He does warn, however, that some policies will be disruptive and add risk and cost to global supply chains.
In light of those risks and possible disruptions, Cook’s paper offers 14 recommendations. Some of which include:
Create a team responsible for studying the changes Trump will introduce when he takes office;
Attend trade shows and make connections with vendors, suppliers, and service providers who can help you navigate those changes;
Consider becoming C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) certified to help mitigate potential import/export issues;
Adopt a risk management mindset and shift from focusing on lowest cost to best value for your spend;
Increase collaboration with internal and external partners;
Expect warehousing costs to rise in the short term as companies look to bring in foreign-made goods ahead of tariffs;
Expect greater scrutiny from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol of origin statements for imports in recognition of attempts by some Chinese manufacturers to evade U.S. import policies;
Reduce dependency on China for sourcing; and
Consider manufacturing and/or sourcing in the United States.
Cook advises readers to expect a loosening up of regulations and a reduction in government under Trump. He warns that while some world leaders will look to work with Trump, others will take more of a defiant stance. As a result, companies should expect to see retaliatory tariffs and duties on exports.
Cook concludes by offering advice to the incoming administration, including being sensitive to the effect retaliatory tariffs can have on American exports, working on federal debt reduction, and considering promoting free trade zones. He also proposes an ambitious water works program through the Army Corps of Engineers.