David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the group editorial director for DC Velocity and Supply Chain Quarterly magazines. In this role, he is responsible for the editorial content of both brands of Agile Business Media. Dave joined DC Velocity in April of 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior editor for Modern Materials Handling magazine. Dave also has extensive experience as a broadcast journalist. Before writing for supply chain publications, he was a journalist, television producer and director in Pittsburgh. Dave combines a background of reporting on logistics with his video production experience to bring new opportunities to DC Velocity readers, including web videos highlighting top distribution and logistics facilities, webcasts and other cross-media projects. He continues to live and work in the Pittsburgh area.
Sartori Co. knows that its reputation is on the line with every shipment of cheese that leaves its premises. The fourth-generation family-owned company prides itself on making quality and food safety top priorities as it fills orders from its 100,000-square-foot converting center in Plymouth, Wis. The facility converts 40-pound blocks of cheese and 20-pound cheese wheels into grated, shredded, and packaged cheese products.
Like all food manufacturers, Sartori also has a responsibility to maintain quality throughout its supply chain. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which President Obama signed into law in 2011, sets guidelines for assuring the security of the nation's food supply against such threats as contamination, tampering, theft, and terrorism. It charges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with regulating how goods are grown, harvested, and processed. So in essence, the FSMA covers the entire supply chain. And distribution center integrity is a key part of assuring security.
Many would be surprised to learn that the most vulnerable place in their facility is their docks. Docks are where thieves, rodents, dust, and outside temperatures can steal, contaminate, or spoil precious cargo. That's why companies like Sartori have taken steps to shore up this vital area of their distribution operations. They have selected dock equipment with an eye toward choosing items that not only aid in productivity, but also protect products from spoiling, damage, and tampering.
IMPOSING RESTRAINT
Sartori has six dock positions at the Plymouth operation, which it uses for receiving hard cheeses from its two production facilities along with other ingredients and packaging supplies. Once the cheese is converted into store-ready products, it will move through the same shipping docks onto outbound trailers. To keep these trailers snug to the dock faces, Sartori relies on vehicle restraint systems from dock equipment manufacturer Rite-Hite.
Vehicle restraints lock to the rear impact guard of the trailer, keeping the trailer secure to the dock. They're designed to deter thieves from moving the trailer away from the dock in order to steal items inside the vehicle or to gain entrance to the facility itself. Restraints work much better than wheel chocks for stabilizing trailers, assuring that the trailer will not creep away from the dock, which can happen after repeated entries by lift trucks into the trailer.
Restraints also protect the trailer from being driven off accidently before loading or unloading is complete. Plus, the restraint reduces the chance of trailers' collapsing from their wheels popping up.
Restraints can even be wired into security systems. If the restraint is tampered with or not released properly, an alert can be sent to the security system.
DOING THEIR LEVEL BEST
Once a vehicle is properly restrained, the next challenge becomes protecting the trailer's contents from theft and in the case of temperature-sensitive products, contamination. This is where a vertically stored dock leveler can be useful.
A dock leveler acts as a bridge between the dock and the trailer bed. The alignment is rarely perfect when a truck backs up to a loading dock—there is normally a gap of a few inches between the two. Deploying a dock leveler, which is typically a large plate, allows lift trucks, pallet jacks, and people to pass smoothly from trailer to dock.
Dock levelers come in two types—horizontal storing and vertical storing varieties. The first kind, the horizontal storing leveler, is stored within a pit in the floor. However, these models can present a safety and security risk. In order for the levelers to be deployed, trailer doors must be opened when the trailer is still at least 10 feet away from the dock (this ensures there's enough room for the doors to swing open without hitting the leveler). However, opening the doors outside might cause products to spill or shift, and it could compromise the temperatures within both the trailer and the dock. Another disadvantage is that deployment relies on the driver—who may be independent or working for a third party—rather than facility personnel, to open the trailer doors, creating an opportunity for theft or tampering.
To eliminate these risks, Sartori chose the second type of leveler—vertical storing hydraulic models, also from Rite-Hite—for use at the Plymouth facility. As the name implies, vertical storing levelers store upright at the dock area against the door opening. A principal advantage of vertical levelers is that they allow trailers to back in completely to the dock before the leveler is deployed, security seals on the trailers are broken, and the trailer doors are opened. This helps protect the integrity of the products, maintains proper temperatures in the trailer, and reduces the chance of theft. Vertical storing levelers require only a 12-inch pit, compared with 20 to 24 inches for horizontal storing levelers, which makes them easier to install.
The vertical storing leveler also seals directly to the concrete floor and its two sides, closing the gaps between the dock and the trailer. "It keeps the inside elements in and the outside elements out," says Troy Bergum, product manager for Rite-Hite Co. At Sartori, the vertical levelers' sealing capabilities help maintain an internal dock temperature of 34 to 36 degrees, which is ideal for the company's cheese products.
On top of that, they allow overhead doors to close all the way to the pit floor, preventing entry by unauthorized people or animals.
SEAL THE DEAL
As an added measure of protection against temperature fluctuations as well as dust and pests, Sartori also uses both dock seals and soft-sided dock shelters.
Dock seals are designed to provide a tight seal around the trailer sides and top. The devices are typically made of foam with a covering material that allows them to compress into the interior of the trailer for a tight fit that seals out dirt and outside air. Seals are best suited for dock openings of 9 by 10 feet and operations where most of the trucks and trailers entering or leaving the dock are of a consistent size.
Shelters are better suited for operations that need to accommodate trucks and trailers of varying sizes and for dock openings that are over 10 by 10 feet. Typically made out of fabric, shelters extend out farther toward the trailer or truck and are designed to cover any gaps between the vehicle and the dock. They offer the flexibility to create a seal along the entire width of the trailer, regardless of what that width might be. While they're designed to offer protection against the elements, they do not have the same climate-control capabilities that compressed seals do.
In addition to standard seals and shelters, equipment makers offer hoods made out of fabric or metal that fit over the tops of the seals to protect them from the buildup of snow and ice. Many vendors will also provide customized seals that fit dock leveler pits and trailer tops to further protect them against rain, snow, and extreme temperatures.
While no single system can prevent all theft and contamination, properly deploying the right dock equipment can greatly reduce the chance of your facility's being the weakest link in the supply chain.
Even as a last-minute deal today appeared to delay the tariff on Mexico, that deal is set to last only one month, and tariffs on the other two countries are still set to go into effect at midnight tonight.
Once new U.S. tariffs go into effect, those other countries are widely expected to respond with retaliatory tariffs of their own on U.S. exports, that would reduce demand for U.S. and manufacturing goods. In the context of that unpredictable business landscape, many U.S. business groups have been pressuring the White House to pull back from the new policy.
Here is a sampling of the reaction to the tariff plan by the U.S. business community:
American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)
“Tariffs are taxes,” AAPA President and CEO Cary Davis said in a release. “Though the port industry supports President Trump’s efforts to combat the flow of illicit drugs, tariffs will slow down our supply chains, tax American businesses, and increase costs for hard-working citizens. Instead, we call on the Administration and Congress to thoughtfully pursue alternatives to achieving these policy goals and exempt items critical to national security from tariffs, including port equipment.”
Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)
“We understand the president is working toward an agreement. The leaders of all four nations should come together and work to reach a deal before Feb. 4 because enacting broad-based tariffs will be disruptive to the U.S. economy,” Michael Hanson, RILA’s Senior Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, said in a release. “The American people are counting on President Trump to grow the U.S. economy and lower inflation, and broad-based tariffs will put that at risk.”
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
“Manufacturers understand the need to deal with any sort of crisis that involves illicit drugs crossing our border, and we hope the three countries can come together quickly to confront this challenge,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a release. “However, with essential tax reforms left on the cutting room floor by the last Congress and the Biden administration, manufacturers are already facing mounting cost pressures. A 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico threatens to upend the very supply chains that have made U.S. manufacturing more competitive globally. The ripple effects will be severe, particularly for small and medium-sized manufacturers that lack the flexibility and capital to rapidly find alternative suppliers or absorb skyrocketing energy costs. These businesses—employing millions of American workers—will face significant disruptions. Ultimately, manufacturers will bear the brunt of these tariffs, undermining our ability to sell our products at a competitive price and putting American jobs at risk.”
American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA)
“Widespread tariff actions on Mexico, Canada, and China announced this evening will inject massive costs into our inflation-weary economy while exposing us to a damaging tit-for-tat tariff war that will harm key export markets that U.S. farmers and manufacturers need,” Steve Lamar, AAFA’s president and CEO, said in a release. “We should be forging deeper collaboration with our free trade agreement partners, not taking actions that call into question the very foundation of that partnership."
Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA)
“We are concerned that placing tariffs on generic drug products produced outside the U.S. will put additional pressure on an industry that is already experiencing financial distress. Distributors and generic manufacturers and cannot absorb the rising costs of broad tariffs. It is worth noting that distributors operate on low profit margins — 0.3 percent. As a result, the U.S. will likely see new and worsened shortages of important medications and the costs will be passed down to payers and patients, including those in the Medicare and Medicaid programs," the group said in a statement.
National Retail Federation (NRF)
“We support the Trump administration’s goal of strengthening trade relationships and creating fair and favorable terms for America,” NRF Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French said in a release. “But imposing steep tariffs on three of our closest trading partners is a serious step. We strongly encourage all parties to continue negotiating to find solutions that will strengthen trade relationships and avoid shifting the costs of shared policy failures onto the backs of American families, workers and small businesses.”
Businesses are scrambling today to insulate their supply chains from the impacts of a trade war being launched by the Trump Administration, which is planning to erect high tariff walls on Tuesday against goods imported from Canada, Mexico, and China.
Tariffs are import taxes paid by American companies and collected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency as goods produced in certain countries cross borders into the U.S.
In a last-minute deal announced on Monday, leaders of both countries said the tariffs on goods from Mexico will be delayed one month after that country agreed to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to stem to flow of drugs such as fentanyl from Mexico, according to published reports.
If the deal holds, it could avoid some of the worst impacts of the tariffs on U.S. manufacturers that rely on parts and raw materials imported from Mexico. That blow would be particularly harsh on companies in the automotive and electrical equipment sectors, according to an analysis by S&P Global Ratings.
However, tariff damage is still on track to occur for U.S. companies with tight supply chain connections to Canada, concentrated in commodity-related processing sectors, the firm said. That disruption would increase if those countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own, a move that would slow the export of U.S. goods. Such an event would hurt most for American businesses in the agriculture and fishing, metals, and automotive areas, according to the analysis from Satyam Panday, Chief US and Canada Economist, S&P Global Ratings.
To dull the pain of those events, U.S. business interests would likely seek to cushion the declines in output by looking to factors such as exchange rate movements, availability of substitutes, and the willingness of producers to absorb the higher cost associated with tariffs, Panday said.
Weighing the long-term effects of a trade war
The extent to which increased tariffs will warp long-standing supply chain patterns is hard to calculate, since it is largely dependent on how long these tariffs will actually last, according to a statement from Tony Pelli, director of supply chain resilience, BSI Consulting. “The pause [on tariffs with Mexico] will help reduce the impacts on agricultural products in particular, but not necessarily on the automotive industry given the high degree of integration across all three North American countries,” he said.
“Tariffs on Canada or Mexico will disrupt supply chains beyond just finished goods,” Pelli said. “Some products cross the US, Mexico, and Canada borders four to five times, with the greatest impact on the auto and electronics industries. These supply chains have been tightly integrated for around 30 years, and it will be difficult for firms to simply source elsewhere. There are dense supplier networks along the US border with Mexico and Canada (especially Ontario) that you can’t just pick up and move somewhere else, which would likely slow or even stop auto manufacturing in the US for a time.”
If the tariffs on either Canada or Mexico stay in place for an extended period, the effects will soon become clear, said Hamish Woodrow, head of strategic analytics at Motive, a fleet management and operations platform. “Ultimately, the burden of these tariffs will fall on U.S. consumers and retailers. Prices will rise, and businesses will pass along costs as they navigate increased expenses and uncertainty,” Woodrow said.
But in the meantime, companies with international supply chains are quickly making contingency plans for any of the possible outcomes. “The immediate impact of tariffs on trucking, freight, and supply chains will be muted. Goods already en route, shipments six weeks out on the water, and landed inventory will continue to flow, meaning the real disruption will be felt in Q2 as businesses adjust to the new reality,” Woodrow said.
“By the end of the day, companies will be deploying mitigation strategies—many will delay inventory shipments to later in the year, waiting to see if the policy shifts or exemptions are introduced. Those who preloaded inventory will likely adopt a wait-and-see approach, holding off on further adjustments until the market reacts. In the short term, sourcing alternatives are limited, forcing supply chains to pause and reassess long-term investments while monitoring policy developments,” said Woodrow.
Editor's note: This story was revised on February 3 to add input from BSI and Motive.
Businesses dependent on ocean freight are facing shipping delays due to volatile conditions, as the global average trip for ocean shipments climbed to 68 days in the fourth quarter compared to 60 days for that same quarter a year ago, counting time elapsed from initial booking to clearing the gate at the final port, according to E2open.
Those extended transit times and booking delays are the ripple effects of ongoing turmoil at key ports that is being caused by geopolitical tensions, labor shortages, and port congestion, Dallas-based E2open said in its quarterly “Ocean Shipping Index” report.
The most significant contributor to the year-over-year (YoY) increase is actual transit time, alongside extraordinary volatility that has created a complex landscape for businesses dependent on ocean freight, the report found.
"Economic headwinds, geopolitical turbulence and uncertain trade routes are creating unprecedented disruptions within the ocean shipping industry. From continued Red Sea diversions to port congestion and labor unrest, businesses face a complex landscape of obstacles, all while grappling with possibility of new U.S. tariffs," Pawan Joshi, chief strategy officer (CSO) at e2open, said in a release. "We can expect these ongoing issues will be exacerbated by the Lunar New Year holiday, as businesses relying on Asian suppliers often rush to place orders, adding strain to their supply chains.”
Lunar New Year this year runs from January 29 to February 8, and often leads to supply chain disruptions as massive worker travel patterns across Asia leads to closed factories and reduced port capacity.
That changing landscape is forcing companies to adapt or replace their traditional approaches to product design and production. Specifically, many are changing the way they run factories by optimizing supply chains, increasing sustainability, and integrating after-sales services into their business models.
“North American manufacturers have embraced the factory of the future. Working with service providers, many companies are using AI and the cloud to make production systems more efficient and resilient,” Bob Krohn, partner at ISG, said in the “2024 ISG Provider Lens Manufacturing Industry Services and Solutions report for North America.”
To get there, companies in the region are aggressively investing in digital technologies, especially AI and ML, for product design and production, ISG says. Under pressure to bring new products to market faster, manufacturers are using AI-enabled tools for more efficient design and rapid prototyping. And generative AI platforms are already in use at some companies, streamlining product design and engineering.
At the same time, North American manufacturers are seeking to increase both revenue and customer satisfaction by introducing services alongside or instead of traditional products, the report says. That includes implementing business models that may include offering subscription, pay-per-use, and asset-as-a-service options. And they hope to extend product life cycles through an increasing focus on after-sales servicing, repairs. and condition monitoring.
Additional benefits of manufacturers’ increased focus on tech include better handling of cybersecurity threats and data privacy regulations. It also helps build improved resilience to cope with supply chain disruptions by adopting cloud-based supply chain management, advanced analytics, real-time IoT tracking, and AI-enabled optimization.
“The changes of the past several years have spurred manufacturers into action,” Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research, said in a release. “Digital transformation and a culture of continuous improvement can position them for long-term success.”
Women are significantly underrepresented in the global transport sector workforce, comprising only 12% of transportation and storage workers worldwide as they face hurdles such as unfavorable workplace policies and significant gender gaps in operational, technical and leadership roles, a study from the World Bank Group shows.
This underrepresentation limits diverse perspectives in service design and decision-making, negatively affects businesses and undermines economic growth, according to the report, “Addressing Barriers to Women’s Participation in Transport.” The paper—which covers global trends and provides in-depth analysis of the women’s role in the transport sector in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—was prepared jointly by the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the International Transport Forum (ITF).
The slim proportion of women in the sector comes at a cost, since increasing female participation and leadership can drive innovation, enhance team performance, and improve service delivery for diverse users, while boosting GDP and addressing critical labor shortages, researchers said.
To drive solutions, the researchers today unveiled the Women in Transport (WiT) Network, which is designed to bring together transport stakeholders dedicated to empowering women across all facets and levels of the transport sector, and to serve as a forum for networking, recruitment, information exchange, training, and mentorship opportunities for women.
Initially, the WiT network will cover only the Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa regions, but it is expected to gradually expand into a global initiative.
“When transport services are inclusive, economies thrive. Yet, as this joint report and our work at the EIB reveal, few transport companies fully leverage policies to better attract, retain and promote women,” Laura Piovesan, the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s Director General of the Projects Directorate, said in a release. “The Women in Transport Network enables us to unite efforts and scale impactful solutions - benefiting women, employers, communities and the climate.”