Getting down and dirty with logistics

Employees of the Cleveland-based freight forwarder and third-party logistics company United World Line (UWL) have their hands full managing their customers' global freight. But most never get a chance to get down and dirty with the trucks, warehouses, and ships where all the action happens.

Earlier this year, the company rectified the situation, sending four employees—all winners of its quarterly "Supply Chain Award"—on a trip to New York. Thanks to UWL's close partnerships with ocean carriers, employees got to spend time on a giant container vessel, including lunch with the captain and his crew in the officers' mess. They also had a chance to ride on trucks to pick up containers from a rail ramp and test-drive forklifts at a UWL warehouse.

"In managing global freight, staff don't often get a chance to see or touch the movement of goods across the supply chain," UWL President Duncan Wright said in a statement. "You'd be amazed at how few have ever been on an actual vessel, yet they spend long and challenging hours making sure their customers' cargo remains on time and is discharged and cleared in the ports."

The company has already selected the next quarterly award winners. The four honorees will visit UWL's network of warehouses, containerships, and trucking terminals in and around Georgia's Port of Savannah.