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.
For the first time, the weight of a lift truck operator will determine the type of safety lanyards
and harnesses that workers may use to prevent and limit falls from man-up lift trucks, according to a
new standard that takes effect Feb. 23.
The standard, developed by the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation and accepted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), also makes fixed-length,
nonabsorbing lanyards obsolete. Only energy-absorbing or self-retracting lanyards will now be allowed.
All man-up trucks, whether new or already in service, must comply with the new standard, which is outlined in
clause 4.17 of the ANSI/ITSDF B56.1 standard
(Safety Standard for Low-Lift and High-Lift Trucks).
As of Feb. 23, an operator weighing less than 220 lbs. may use:
A body belt with a self-retracting lanyard
A full-body harness with an energy-absorbing lanyard (maximum 6 feet in length)
A full-body harness with a self-retracting lanyard
An operator weighing between 220 and 310 lbs. may use:
A full-body harness with an energy-absorbing lanyard (maximum 6 feet)
A full-body harness with a self-retracting lanyard
An operator weighing between 311 and 400 lbs. may use:
A full-body harness with a self-retracting lanyard
The new standard specifically states that lift trucks' capacity must be reduced by the weight of
any operator weighing more than 220 lbs., and that self-retracting lanyards used by an operator weighing
more than 310 lbs. must be rated for that operator's weight.
These concerns have come to the fore as operators' average weight has been rising in recent years,
according to Ron Grisez, manager of product safety for Crown Equipment Corp. Grisez served on the subcommittee
task group that updated the standard.
Until now, operators of man-up trucks like order pickers and turret trucks were allowed to use a fixed-length
lanyard to anchor themselves to the operator compartment. But, unlike the self-retracting and energy-absorbing lanyards
available today, fixed-length lanyards cannot absorb any of the force of the body weight in a fall, said Grisez.
Energy-absorbing devices will also limit the length of a fall, and self-retracting lanyards may prevent a fall altogether,
Grisez said. "Fixed-length lanyards have been performing well, but decelerating devices will limit the arresting forces
dramatically," he added.
OSHA WEIGHS IN
Some safety experts question whether body belts are appropriate for use on elevated industrial trucks,
saying that the belts will limit but may not prevent falls. It appears that the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) has similar reservations.
In a Dec. 12, 2002, letter of interpretation, the agency noted that it considers a body belt and
lanyard to be the minimum protection required to protect employees from falling from elevated powered
industrial truck platforms. However, the letter went on to say, "OSHA's newer standards which address
fall hazards call for the use of body harnesses rather than body belts when used as part of a personal
fall arrest system. OSHA has determined in these rulemakings that there are hazards associated with body
belts that are greatly reduced by the substitution of body harnesses. Accordingly, we believe that body
harnesses rather than body belts are the appropriate form of fall protection for employees working on elevated
powered industrial truck platforms."
And in a June 28, 2004, letter of
interpretation, the agency reiterated that although industry standards allow the use of a body belt with a lanyard,
"OSHA strongly encourages employers to use body harnesses in place of body belts."
More information about the ANSI/ITSDF standard is available at www.itsdf.org/pB56.asp, or from the appropriate lift truck
dealer.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was updated on Feb. 18, 2013, to include more information.
The number of container ships waiting outside U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports has swelled from just three vessels on Sunday to 54 on Thursday as a dockworker strike has swiftly halted bustling container traffic at some of the nation’s business facilities, according to analysis by Everstream Analytics.
As of Thursday morning, the two ports with the biggest traffic jams are Savannah (15 ships) and New York (14), followed by single-digit numbers at Mobile, Charleston, Houston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Miami, Everstream said.
The impact of that clogged flow of goods will depend on how long the strike lasts, analysts with Moody’s said. The firm’s Moody’s Analytics division estimates the strike will cause a daily hit to the U.S. economy of at least $500 million in the coming days. But that impact will jump to $2 billion per day if the strike persists for several weeks.
The immediate cost of the strike can be seen in rising surcharges and rerouting delays, which can be absorbed by most enterprise-scale companies but hit small and medium-sized businesses particularly hard, a report from Container xChange says.
“The timing of this strike is especially challenging as we are in our traditional peak season. While many pulled forward shipments earlier this year to mitigate risks, stockpiled inventories will only cushion businesses for so long. If the strike continues for an extended period, we could see significant strain on container availability and shipping schedules,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a release.
“For small and medium-sized container traders, this could result in skyrocketing logistics costs and delays, making it harder to secure containers. The longer the disruption lasts, the more difficult it will be for these businesses to keep pace with market demands,” Roeloffs said.
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
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.
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.