In the Mercer Consulting study of best practices for shippers and receivers, truckload carriers have a powerful new tool for dealing with dock delays. This study has resulted in a set of voluntary guidelines for shippers, carriers, and receivers, Richard Durst, chairman of the TCA Just-in-Time-to-Wait Panel told a general session of the Truckload Carriers Association annual meeting. The meeting was held in San Antonio, Texas, April 8 to 11, 2001.
“For years, we've been coming to these meetings and commiserating among ourselves about delays at loading and unloading,” Durst said. “Until two years ago, we were preaching to the choir. We knew that loading and unloading delays were a problem, but we did not know how to get that message across to our customers and to their customers. Finally, we have a comprehensive study of the problem that we can show to shippers and receivers. We can give them documented evidence that moving our equipment in and out of a distribution center benefits their businesses as much or more than it benefits our operations.”
The guidelines come in two forms. The original document is available as a paperbound booklet for distribution to shippers and receivers. In addition, a condensed version has been produced for drivers to show to shipping and receiving dock personnel. The driver version is laminated to reduce the likelihood of damage from the occasional cup of spilled coffee, Durst said.
Guidelines Show Driver Support
The voluntary guidelines are important for more than what they say, Durst said. As important as the content of the guidelines may be, the document is just as important as a symbol that carriers care about drivers and value their services. The results of the Mercer study have proved to be a great sales tool as well. They provide concrete evidence to sales personnel who are trying to convince shippers and receivers to increase efficiency at the dock, he said.
Copies of the guidelines are available from the Truckload Carriers Association. TCA provides an order form on association letterhead. Copies of the full study, a condensed version, the voluntary guidelines, and dock-specific guidelines are available.
The Mercer study and TCA's other efforts to reduce time lost at loading and unloading are beginning to take effect, Durst said. For instance, a TCA member from Total Logistics Control has recently been requested to produce a one-hour presentation for the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses. The presentation was well received and had at least 125 warehouse and motor carrier officials in attendance.
TCA is moving ahead to extend the work already in progress. It is working with shippers and receivers who want to identify their operations as driver friendly. These same efforts also will identify motor carriers that make extra efforts to provide attention and service to shipping and receiving personnel.
Motor carriers have a responsibility to read the Mercer Study and to make use of it, Durst said. The information is not complex. It does make common sense. Spreading the contents of the study and the guidelines that were developed from it will produce a new environment for motor carriers and their customers. By implementing the ideas contained in the voluntary guidelines for business practices, carriers and their customers can produce a winning situation for all parties to freight transactions, he said.
