The federal government came under heavy fire for what was seen as a slow response to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster to occur on U.S. soil. Fortunately, the same can't be said of the corporate world, which rushed to deliver relief supplies to the devastated Gulf Coast region even as the contributors themselves faced losses. "This …hurricane has had such an overwhelming impact on just about the whole country," says David Ross, a supply chain specialist with Intentia Americas. "Across the board there are just all kinds of issues."
But none of those issues was big enough to deter logistics and distribution companies, which responded with a rush of cash and in-kind donations. "I'm not going to suggest that our members are any more patriotic or charitable than anyone else, but there has just been a massive private-sector outpouring from both corporations and individuals with respect to equipment and supplies needed in the relief effort," says Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
After Katrina hit in late August, help came from far and wide and from companies both large and small. Donors ranged from billion dollar corporations like UPS, FedEx, DHL and Bridgestone-Firestone, to smaller independent firms like The Shippers Group Warehouse, a Dallas-based third-party logistics service company (3PL). As this issue went to press, Mark Strickland, president of Shippers Group Warehouse, was doing his best to fill requests from some of his New Orleans-area customers for pallets of emergency supplies even as he worried about other New Orleans clients. A full week after Katrina hit, Strickland had yet to hear from a number of his customers in the area.
3PLs answer the call
Shippers Group Warehouse wasn't the only 3PL to join the relief effort. Paul Verst, president of Verst Group Logistics, a third-party provider based in Walton, Ky., reports that two company trucks loaded with relief supplies left for the region within a week of the tragedy. Verst Group was transporting food, clothing, personal hygiene items, toys, water and other goods supplied by Kroger, Procter & Gamble, Chiquita Brands and others. Verst Group's drivers volunteered their time for the two-day-plus trip, and the company donated the fuel and equipment needed. It should be noted that Chiquita mobilized its resources to help other victims at a time when the company itself was coping with hurricane-related property damage. The importer reported that its DC in Gulfport, Miss., which handled about 25 percent of its banana imports to the United States last year, was too damaged to receive shipments.
"I'm amazed at how many local companies have sent truckload after truckload of goods," says Verst, who anticipated running more trucks on the 11-hour route to Louisiana. "I am so proud of the way our teammates responded to the urgent need."
The Verst Group story is typical of what may well be thousands of similar stories that unfolded at small businesses across the country in the days following Katrina's deadly strike. Another example is that of Brian Collins, president and CEO of Commonwealth Inc. Warehousing and Distribution, who assisted his local church by providing a truck, forklift, pallet jack, pallets, stretch wrap and tape for the loading of relief trucks going to Mississippi.
Commonwealth has also donated supplies via several of its customers. "It was amazing to watch car after car coming in. Everybody had cases of bottled water and people were going to the stores and buying the materials they need down there," says Collins. "It was heart warming."
In fact, Collins' contribution to the relief effort went much further than helping his church pack trucks with relief supplies. At press time, Collins and his family had agreed to house a displaced New Orleans family in one of their rental homes, which will be furnished and supplied by their church's congregation. Collins plans to provide a job for one family member at Commonwealth's Cincinnati distribution center.
Emergency services
Aside from the shortage of relief supplies, the biggest issue relief workers faced was actually finding ways to get food and bottled water into the hardest-hit areas. That's where carriers and some private companies came in. Bridgestone-Firestone, for example, offered its enormous private fleet of trucks to the relief effort, and employees filled trailers with essential supplies, not tires, for delivery to the area.
DHL donated up to $500,000 of in-kind shipping services toward immediate relief efforts for Katrina's victims in Alabama,Mississippi, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle. The transportation aid will include immediate air and ground logistics and transportation support for the American Red Cross and other organizations active in both relief efforts and long-term rebuilding activities. DHL was transporting urgently needed food, water, clothing, personal care supplies, communications equipment and other essential items.
DHL has also pledged to continue its philanthropic efforts as the aid effort shifts from immediate relief to reconstruction. "We will leverage our resources and logistics expertise in support of immediate disaster relief and long-term reconstruction efforts along the Gulf Coast," says John Mullen, joint chief executive officer for DHL Express. "By harnessing our logistics expertise, our local presence, and our transportation network, we can make a difference."
DHL rivals UPS and FedEx also implemented programs intended to ease the pain from Katrina. FedEx announced that it was limiting its standard fuel surcharge in order to benefit customers hit by extremely volatile fuel prices in Katrina's aftermath. The company's fuel surcharge, which is updated weekly, will not exceed the most current prehurricane levels until the first week of October."In our industry, the fuel surcharge is designed to manage normal supply and demand market [fluctuations], not temporary spikes caused by disasters," says Douglas G. Duncan, president and CEO of FedEx Freight.
UPS pledged personnel and the use of its transport services, and had helped move more than four million pounds, or 2,000 tons, of supplies for the relief effort just a week after the hurricane struck. In Louisiana, where Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco organized a team to help direct the state's emergency relief effort, UPS stepped in to support that team's distribution and logistics activities.
In consultation with Gov. Blanco and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, UPS placed individual liaison officers at the command of the state governments. Two hurricane relief officers have been assigned to each of the two states and will remain accessible at all times to ensure that any emergency movement of food or supplies is handled as promptly as possible.
Filling the tanks
One of the keys to providing relief and restoring a severely snarled supply chain was getting fuel to the heavily hit areas along the Gulf Coast. Acting on a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Navy, Schneider National took on the task of creating a critical diesel supply chain needed to fuel emergency vehicles and generators being used for hurricane rescue and relief efforts in the greater New Orleans area.
Diesel is essential for running emergency vehicles, heavy-duty trucks and the generators that are providing power to command posts, hospitals and nursing homes. Three Schneider National bulk tanker trucks were part of a police-led caravan to the Port of New Orleans, where a U.S. tanker containing diesel fuel is docked. Crews are siphoning diesel fuel from the freighter, then transporting loads to nine to 12 base camps in and around the greater New Orleans area. The government asked Schneider to provide drivers, supervision and dispatch for this effort for 30 days, with possible extensions.
The operation is unique for Schneider, which doesn't typically transport fuel. According to company representative Janet Bonkowski, 75 percent of the company's bulk volume is classified as non-hazardous. "It's safe to say we have not done anything like this in recent memory, including some of the more recent (9-11, Hurricane Ivan) disaster efforts we've been involved in," she says. "The magnitude of this disaster and desire to do what we can to support rescue and relief efforts motivated our associates to figure out how we could logistically do this and then made it happen."
Six Schneider National bulk haulers from the hurricane-ravaged area are participating in the effort, along with several members of the company's Reserve, La., and Houston, Texas, Operating Center leadership teams.
"The donation of supplies has been huge," says Connie Harvey, a representative of the American Red Cross. "The outpouring of corporate donations has been extremely large and important to our ability to put food on tables and hand out water and other supplies to the people who need it. In-kind donations are a huge part of our operations." Harvey also noted that companies that donated employees to the cause—from truck drivers to executive logisticians—made a huge difference. "We're a largely volunteer-based organization," she says. "We do have logistics and transportation people on staff but we also have volunteers who play a critical role in assuring that our logistics and transportation operations are successful."
E-commerce activity remains robust, but a growing number of consumers are reintegrating physical stores into their shopping journeys in 2024, emphasizing the need for retailers to focus on omnichannel business strategies. That’s according to an e-commerce study from Ryder System, Inc., released this week.
Ryder surveyed more than 1,300 consumers for its 2024 E-Commerce Consumer Study and found that 61% of consumers shop in-store “because they enjoy the experience,” a 21% increase compared to results from Ryder’s 2023 survey on the same subject. The current survey also found that 35% shop in-store because they don’t want to wait for online orders in the mail (up 4% from last year), and 15% say they shop in-store to avoid package theft (up 8% from last year).
“Retail and e-commerce continue to evolve,” Jeff Wolpov, Ryder’s senior vice president of e-commerce, said in a statement announcing the survey’s findings. “The emergence of e-commerce and growth of omnichannel fulfillment, particularly over the past four years, has altered consumer expectations and behavior dramatically and will continue to do so as time and technology allow.
“This latest study demonstrates that, while consumers maintain a robust
appetite for e-commerce, they are simultaneously embracing in-person shopping, presenting an impetus for merchants to refine their omnichannel strategies.”
Other findings include:
• Apparel and cosmetics shoppers show growing attraction to buying in-store. When purchasing apparel and cosmetics, shoppers are more inclined to make purchases in a physical location than they were last year, according to Ryder. Forty-one percent of shoppers who buy cosmetics said they prefer to do so either in a brand’s physical retail location or a department/convenience store (+9%). As for apparel shoppers, 54% said they prefer to buy clothing in those same brick-and-mortar locations (+9%).
• More customers prefer returning online purchases in physical stores. Fifty-five percent of shoppers (+15%) now say they would rather return online purchases in-store–the first time since early 2020 the preference to Buy Online Return In-Store (BORIS) has outweighed returning via mail, according to the survey. Forty percent of shoppers said they often make additional purchases when picking up or returning online purchases in-store (+2%).
• Consumers are extremely reliant on mobile devices when shopping in-store. This year’s survey reveals that 77% of consumers search for items on their mobile devices while in a store, Ryder said. Sixty-nine percent said they compare prices with items in nearby stores, 58% check availability at other stores, 31% want to learn more about a product, and 17% want to see other items frequently purchased with a product they’re considering.
Ryder said the findings also underscore the importance of investing in technology solutions that allow companies to provide customers with flexible purchasing options.
“Omnichannel strength is not a fad; it is a strategic necessity for e-commerce and retail businesses to stay competitive and achieve sustainable success in 2024 and beyond,” Wolpov also said. “The findings from this year’s study underscore what we know our customers are experiencing, which is the positive impact of integrating supply chain technology solutions across their sales channels, enabling them to provide their customers with flexible, convenient options to personalize their experience and heighten customer satisfaction.”
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.
“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.
Krish Nathan is the Americas CEO for SDI Element Logic, a provider of turnkey automation solutions and sortation systems. Nathan joined SDI Industries in 2000 and honed his project management and engineering expertise in developing and delivering complex material handling solutions. In 2014, he was appointed CEO, and in 2022, he led the search for a strategic partner that could expand SDI’s capabilities. This culminated in the acquisition of SDI by Element Logic, with SDI becoming the Americas branch of the company.
A native of the U.K., Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Coventry University and has studied executive leadership at Cranfield University.
Q: How would you describe the current state of the supply chain industry?
A: We see the supply chain industry as very dynamic and exciting, both from a growth perspective and from an innovation perspective. The pandemic hangover is still impacting decisions to nearshore, and that has resulted in a spike in business for us in both the USA and Mexico. Adding new technology to our portfolio has been a significant contributor to our continued expansion.
Q: Distributors were making huge tech investments during the pandemic simply to keep up with soaring consumer demand. How have things changed since then?
A: The consumer demand for e-commerce certainly appears to have cooled since the pandemic high, but our clients continue to see steady growth. Growth, combined with low unemployment and high labor costs, continues to make automation a good investment for many companies.
Q: Robotics are still in high demand for material handling applications. What are some of the benefits of these systems?
A: As an organization, we are investing heavily in software that will allow Element Logic to offer solutions for robotic picking that are hardware-agnostic. We have had success deploying unit picking for order fulfillment solutions and unit placing of items onto tray-based sorters.
From a benefit point of view, we’ve seen the consistency of a given operation improve. For example, the placement accuracy of a product onto a tray is far higher from a robotic arm than from a person. In order fulfillment applications, two of the biggest benefits are reliability and hours of operation. The robots don't call in sick, and they are happy to work 22 hours a day!
Q: SDI Element Logic offers a wide range of automated solutions, including automated storage and sortation equipment. What criteria should distributors use to determine what type of system is right for them?
A: There are a significant number of factors to consider when thinking about automation. In my experience, automation pays for itself in three key ways: It saves space, it increases the efficiency of labor, and it improves accuracy. So evaluating which of these will be [most] beneficial and quantifying the associated savings will lead to a “right sized” investment in technology.
Another important factor to consider is product mix. With a small SKU (stock-keeping unit) base, often automation doesn’t make sense. And with a huge SKU base, there will be products that don’t lend themselves to automation.
With any significant investment, you need to partner with an organization that has deep experience with the technologies that are being considered and … in-depth knowledge of the process that is being automated.
Q: How can a goods-to-person system reduce the amount of labor needed to fill orders?
A: In most order picking operations, there is a considerable amount of walking between pick faces to find the SKUs associated with a given order or set of orders. Goods-to-person eliminates the walking and allows the operator to just pick. I have seen studies that [show] that 75% of the time [required] to assemble an order in a manual picking environment is walking or “non-picking” time. So eliminating walking will reduce the amount of labor needed.
The goods-to-person approach also fits perfectly with robotic picking, so even the actual picking aspect of order assembly can be automated in some instances. For these reasons, [automation offers] a significant opportunity to reduce the labor needed to fulfill a customer order.
Q: If you could pick one thing a company should do to improve its distribution center operations, what would it be?
A: Evaluate. Evaluate the opportunities for improving by considering automation. In my experience, the challenge most companies have is recognizing that automation is an alternative. The barrier to entry is far lower than most people think!
Toyota Material Handling and its nationwide network of dealers showcased their commitment to improving their local communities during the company’s annual “Lift the Community Day.” Since 2021, Toyota associates have participated in an annual day-long philanthropic event held near Toyota’s Columbus, Indiana, headquarters. This year, the initiative expanded to include participation from Toyota’s dealers, increasing the impact on communities throughout the U.S. A total of 324 Toyota associates completed 2,300 hours of community service during this year’s event.
The PMMI Foundation, the charitable arm of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, awarded nearly $200,000 in scholarships to students pursuing careers in the packaging and processing industry. Each year, the PMMI Foundation provides academic scholarships to students studying packaging, food processing, and engineering to underscore its commitment to the future of the packaging and processing industry.
Truck leasing and fleet management services provider Fleet Advantage hosted its “Kids Around the Corner Foundation” back-to-school backpack drive in July. During the event, company associates assembled 200 backpacks filled with essential school supplies for high school-age students. The backpacks were then delivered to Henderson Behavioral Health’s Youth & Family Services location in Tamarac, Florida.
For the past seven years, third-party logistics service specialist ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.