The Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference (CVOC), scheduled for Aug. 25-26 in Dallas, announced its lineup of speakers expected to share real-world insights on the state of the recovery and what the industry must do to survive and thrive in the fourth quarter and beyond.

Presenters confirmed to date include:

• Donald Broughton, managing director and senior research analyst, Avondale Partners;
• Max Fuller, co-chairman, U.S. Xpress;
• Stu MacKay, president, MacKay & Company;
• Jim O’Neal, president, O&S Trucking;
• Rusty Rush, president and CEO, Rush Enterprises;
• Dan Sobic, executive vice president, Paccar; and
• Eric Starks, president, FTR Associates.

According to the announcement, the CVOC will provide critical information for all segments of the commercial fleet business, including fleet executives, truck OEMs, part and component suppliers, truck dealers, distributors, and maintenance and repair specialists. Sessions will include:

• Outlook for freight, truck buying and parts and service activity;
• The changing landscape of the capital markets;
• Trucking 2020: The changing roles of OEMs, suppliers, dealers and fleets;
• How fleets are dealing with current and future cost and productivity challenges; and
• The impact of federal environmental and safety policies on trucking.

Presented by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association and Randall-Reilly Business Media and Information, the CVOC will be held at the Dallas Convention Center the day prior to and the opening day of the Great American Trucking Show. Registration begins at 11 a.m., Wednesday, followed by a networking lunch. A networking reception will be held immediately following the program on Wednesday. The conference ends at noon on Thursday when the Great American Trucking Show opens. The event is sponsored by Castrol, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Utility Trailer.

For pricing and registration details visit www.hdma.org or call 919-406-8814 or e-mail info@hdma.org.

Navistar announced that eligible customers can make tax-exempt purchases through its PartSmart Web site – partsmartparts.com.

Tax-exempt customers include fleets that transport over state lines, resellers, government agencies and nonprofits. During online purchases, tax-exempt organizations are prompted to complete a tax-exempt form and provide proof of tax-exempt status. Once accepted, the customer’s profile within the partsmartparts.com site will automatically eliminate sales tax. State tax exempt status is required; federal tax-exempt status is not accepted.

“The tax-exempt functionality makes e-commerce for truck and bus parts more accessible to a greater percentage of our customers,” says Patti Corso, e-Commerce Catalog manager for Navistar Parts. “This one-time process will open a growing selection of online parts ordering to new customers throughout the United States.”

After five consecutive weeks of declining prices, the national average retail price of a gallon of diesel climbed 3.3 cents to $2.961 for the week ending Monday, June 21. The price had fallen 19.9 cents in the previous five weeks after six consecutive weeks of increases. This week’s price is 34.5 cents higher than the same week last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

All regions tracked by the DOE saw price increases except for one, the Rocky Mountains, which enjoyed a 0.9-cent decline to $2.980. Elsewhere, the biggest increase, 4.4 cents, was found in the Midwest, where prices climbed to $2.936. The smallest increase, 0.4 cent, was found in New England, where prices climbed to $3.029.

The nation’s most expensive diesel by region, $3.093, was found on the West Coast, where prices climbed 3.9 cents. The nation’s least expensive diesel by region, $2.908, was found on the Gulf Coast, where prices climbed 3.4 cents.

California, which the DOE tracks separately for its weekly update, saw a 5.7-cent price increase to $3.125; that price is 33.6 cents higher than the same week last year.

The DOE’s latest monthly short-term energy outlook projects that diesel will average $2.96 this year and $3.11 in 2011; last year, diesel averaged $2.46 a gallon.

Fontaine Fifth Wheel announced it has dedicated 9,000 square feet of its new headquarters in Trussville, Ala., to a research and development lab equipped with top-of-the-line computers, software, a 3-D printer and custom testing equipment. According to the company, it is the largest fifth wheel research lab in the world.

“Fifth wheels are our business – we don’t make anything else,” explains Henry Bell, president of Fontaine Fifth Wheel North America. “As a result of this singular focus, we invest considerable resources in fifth wheel research and development. In fact, even during the current recession and industry downturn, we have not reduced engineering personnel and have actually increased our R&D budget every year since 2007.”

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is eliminating the requirement for most for-hire motor common carriers of property and freight forwarders to maintain cargo insurance in prescribed minimum amounts and file evidence of this insurance with FMCSA.   Household goods motor carriers and household goods freight forwarders will continue to be subject to the requirement. The final rule, published today in the Federal Register, is effective March 21, 2011. To view the rule, go to www.regulations.gov and search docket number FMCSA-2010-0189.

When jurisdiction over motor carrier and freight forwarder cargo insurance was transferred to FMCSA following enactment of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, FMCSA continued to register carriers as either common or contract under the transition rule because the agency had not yet implemented the new unified registration system. In the May 2005 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking designed to implement this new system, FMCSA proposed to eliminate the cargo insurance requirement for all motor carriers and freight forwarders except those involved in the transportation of household goods for individual shippers.

Section 4303 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) mandated that the transition rule be terminated by Jan. 1, 2007. Consequently, all for-hire motor carriers subject to the agency’s commercial jurisdiction were required to be issued Motor Carrier Certificates of Registration that no longer classified them as common or contract carriers. Section 4303 also provided that all exempt for-hire and private motor carriers registered with FMCSA on Jan. 1, 2005, automatically would be considered registered for purposes of the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement.

As a result of the termination of the transition rule, FMCSA’s cargo insurance regulations, which expressly applied only to common carriers and freight forwarders, no longer were consistent with the governing statute. Because of this inconsistency and the resulting confusion over the scope of the agency’s cargo insurance requirements, FMCSA considered it necessary to issue a final rule amending these requirements prior to issuance of a final rule. With the elimination of the distinction between common and contract carriers for registration purposes, FMCSA had to determine whether the requirement for cargo insurance should be retained and extended to all carriers, including the 70,400 contract carriers currently exempt from the requirement, or eliminated for some or all 96,300 common carriers and 1,600 freight forwarders.

In its NPRM on the Unified Registration System, FMCSA proposed limiting the requirement for cargo insurance to household goods motor carriers and household goods freight forwarders in order to protect individual shippers. In its discussion of the proposal, the agency noted that motor carriers typically have cargo insurance well in excess of the regulatory requirements, in part because many shippers require such insurance as a condition of doing business.

Some common carriers also offer shippers the opportunity to purchase additional cargo insurance. In addition, shippers always have had the opportunity to purchase cargo or inland-marine insurance directly from insurance providers rather than rely on motor carriers and freight forwarders to provide coverage for loss and damage risks. Contract carriers negotiate issues of insurance and liability when they write contracts with shippers. FMCSA said that extending the coverage to the approximate 70,400 exclusive contract carriers would impose a burden on these carriers while providing little or no benefit to their customers, who already had contractual agreements dealing with carrier liability and insurance.

The only shippers that FMCSA considered in need of the protection provided by the cargo insurance requirement are individuals who arrange to move their own household goods. FMCSA concluded that such individuals are less knowledgeable about carrier liability requirements and need the protection afforded by the existing regulations.

Eaton Corp. has published two new color brochures that outline the features and benefits of its new lineup of UltraShift Plus heavy-duty automated transmissions. Free printed copies or downloadable versions of the 22-page publications are available at Roadranger.com.

The new UltraShift Plus Brochure for Linehaul Applications (TRSL2505) – designed for over-the-road fleets, owner-operators and truck dealers – provides an overview of the UltraShift Plus Linehaul Active Shifting (LAS), Multipurpose High Performance (MHP) and Multipurpose Extreme Performance (MXP) automated transmissions. Information is provided on drivetrain integration, gear selection logic and low-speed maneuverability. Fuel economy, safety and lifecycle costs also are presented in the new brochure.

The new UltraShift Plus Brochure for Vocational Applications (TRSL2506) – designed for construction, concrete, heavy-haul and other vocational markets – provides an overview on the UltraShift Plus Vocational Construction Series (VCS), Vocational Multipurpose Series (VMS) and Vocational Extreme Performance (VXP) automated transmissions. While again covering drivetrain integration, gear selection logic and low-speed maneuverability features, the brochure also includes information on the cost and performance advantages of an automated transmission versus a torque converter automatic transmission.

Eaton says the new family of fully automated UltraShift Plus transmissions feature new automated clutch technology and intelligent shift selection software that employs grade sensing, weight computation and driver throttle commands to make intelligent shift decisions for efficient, safe and profitable vehicle performance.

Dean Foods, the nation’s largest dairy processor and owner of one of the largest refrigerated direct-store delivery distribution networks in the food and beverage industry, on Monday, June 21, unveiled a delivery vehicle equipped with a new prototype truck refrigeration system developed by Thermo King, a provider of temperature and climate control products for the transportation industry.

The companies say the advanced cost-efficient and environmentally-sustainable truck refrigeration system significantly reduces the emissions associated with traditional diesel-powered transport refrigeration.

Thermo King says the diesel-free hybrid electric-powered refrigeration technology will help Dean Foods reduce its carbon footprint while creating operational efficiencies and cost savings. The technology also represents a step toward achieving Dean Foods’ commitment to remove 50,000 metric tons of carbon from its transportation system by 2013, the equivalent of removing 9,500 cars from the road.

“The commitment shown by Dean Foods and Thermo King demonstrates how corporations can use innovative technology to drive environmentally sustainable practices that increase business efficiency and have positive economic impacts,” says U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and Energy & Environment Subcommittee of the Science & Technology Committee. Johnson attended an announcement in Dallas about the reduced-emissions truck refrigeration technology, held at Dean Foods’ Schepps Dairy processing and distribution plant.

“Our highest priority is reducing the cost and improving the efficiency of our operations,” says Harrald Kroeker, president of Dean Foods’ Fresh Dairy Direct business unit. “Innovations that eliminate the use of diesel fuel, which is a major expenditure and our second-largest source of emissions, drive cost savings to our business that benefit the environment.”

The electric-powered refrigeration units replace traditional mechanical models that rely on a separate diesel-powered engine to facilitate cooling while en route and require oil, filters and anti-freeze as part of their routine maintenance. The new unit reduces emissions and waste by operating on electricity both while parked and while driving, eliminating the need for an independent engine in the refrigeration unit. Thermo King says the new unit also emits less noise than conventional mechanical refrigeration units, an important consideration for local communities.

The prototype truck refrigeration system already has been put into service in Dean Foods’ Dallas-area fleet and made daily deliveries from the company’s Oak Farms Dairy facility since March. The company aims to achieve at least a 50 percent savings in diesel fuel usage as compared to traditional refrigerated vehicles by adopting the new technology over the longer-term. Eliminating the diesel used in the refrigeration units of traditional vehicles would remove 21,000 pounds of carbon per vehicle per year and significantly reduce costs. Because Dean Foods typically replaces about 200 delivery trucks each year, the company says this is an important step toward substantially decreasing fuel usage and related carbon emissions.

“This emissions-reducing technology delivers superior functionality by offering fresh and frozen precise temperature management with complete flexibility for the management of fleets,” says Dave Regnery, president of the Hussmann, Thermo King and Trane businesses in North America. “Thermo King is proud to collaborate with Dean Foods in leading innovation that creates an efficient and sustainable option for refrigerated transportation.”

“Our size and scale give Dean Foods the ability to implement changes in our operations that have tremendous positive impacts on the environment and for the entire food and beverage delivery industry,” says Chip Jones, senior vice president of sustainability and corporate responsibility for Dean Foods. “We continuously adopt innovative technology across our 13,000-vehicle network, and collaborating with strategic suppliers like Thermo King is a critical tactic in advancing our company’s sustainability goals.”

Cummins Inc. has signed a 40,000-square-foot lease with SmartSpace to open a consolidated customer care center in Nashville, Tenn., by the end of 2010. The center is projected to bring more than 200 new jobs to the metropolitan area.

Cummins employees from existing centers in Memphis and Cookeville, Tenn., and from Columbus, Ind., will be relocating to Nashville to kick off the operation, with additional team members being hired from Nashville as the new center grows. Nashville currently is home to Cummins Business Services and the Company’s Filtration business.

“We chose Nashville from among two dozen cities based on several factors, including its talented work force, strong infrastructure and overall quality of living,” says Jim Schacht, executive director of Cummins Business Services. “We wanted a city with a population of 1 to 3 million people that offered a stable economy, a dynamic work force and ease of accessibility, and Nashville offers all of that.”

The customer care center will respond to calls from Cummins customers throughout the United States. “By consolidating our multiple contact centers into one location, we hope to reach higher levels of customer service and consistency of care,” Schacht says.

Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems announced the availability of its patented single piston PAN 22 Series air disc brake on three Meritor trailer suspensions – the new Meritor Trailing Arm air suspension 23,000 lb. unit, and RideSentry air-ride trailer suspension (MPA 20 and 38/40,000 lb.) models. The brake can be specified immediately.

According to the announcement, with the new Meritor integrated weld on the axle’s torque plate, an aluminum hub, flat style rotor and axle ratings up to 23,000 lbs., the air disc brake model has become one of the lightest disc brakes packages available today. The lightweight and long pad life single piston air disc brake utilizes WABCO’s tested and field proven technology.

An optimized pad size increases lining life to maximize vehicle up time. An integral molded friction pad virtually eliminates rust jacking.

“We continue to expand the availability of PAN 22 – which is now available on the most popular trailer suspensions in the industry,” said Mark Melletat, director of Trailer Systems and field operations for Meritor WABCO. “Our reliable internal-sealed, automatic adjuster lessens brake out of adjustments, along with minimal fade.  This provides uniform stopping performance, which is especially important with the demands of today’s highly congested roadways. It’s a cost effective and lightweight solution that is optimized for on-highway line haul axle ratings up to and including 23,000 lbs., and ideal with 22.5 inch wheels.”

The company said that at 79 pounds including pads, the PAN 22 weighs less than any other air disc brake in its class. It also features a design that results in fewer parts to service. It also delivers powerful braking torque performance – up to 24,000 Nm. It has larger, thicker pads than competitive designs, which results in longer pad replacement intervals, the company said.

Melletat added that the brake is perfect for customers who want the outstanding stopping performance, directional stability, and superior fade resistance of an air disc brake but “at a life-cycle cost that adds value to trailers.”

Putting the Pieces Together

Improving warehouse efficiencies requires optimum layout and the right technologies.

Edward Neeley doesn’t like to let opportunities slip by and he doesn’t like to waste time. “I quit school because they had recess,” the president of Truck Supply of South Carolina jokes.

So when the land across the street from the company’s Columbia, S.C., headquarters went up for sale about three months ago, he looked out his window and he saw the future of his business.

Just six weeks after purchasing the property, Neeley says they already have blueprints drawn up for a new warehouse and retail store, and engineers already were walking the new land to make sure it would accommodate the building plans and conform to zoning laws and other regulations.

“Where we’re at right now, we’ve just outgrown it,” says Neeley. “The piece of property that we’re on now is more conducive to some other options. So when this other piece of property became available, we knew we had to look at it to try to get everything under one roof. We’re in three different buildings right now, but we’ll be able to put it all under one roof [when the facility is complete].”

It’s a realization that many distributors come to. Eventually, there comes a point when the business, if it is to continue to grow, needs to physically expand. The company simply needs more space if it plans to add volume or more product lines.

When that time comes, if the company does not want multiple branches by opening or acquiring a new business location, the options left on the table are to expand and renovate an existing location or go to a new location, one that already exists or one that needs to be built.

In some cases, the choice is already determined. Expanding an existing warehouse is sometimes not possible if there is no adjacent land to expand on or if zoning or existing infrastructure does not allow for upward expansion by literally raising the roof. But if expansion without moving is possible, in many cases that may be preferable. After all, customers already know where to find you.

“Say, for instance, they need to expand, they need better cube utilization, they need more pallet positions, etc.,” says Ken Brzozowski, vice president of national accounts with the Raymond Corporation, manufacturers of lift trucks. “If they have the land adjacent to their business [large enough to accommodate their growth needs]…we would look at that, and we would try very hard to keep them on the existing land if possible. We would look at going with a more high density type approach – going higher with very narrow aisles if it’s applicable, and coming up with a number of alternatives to see if we can house the additional growth in the space available. If we could expand on the same property, obviously that’s a home run if you can do that.”

Up, up and away is the way to go when it comes to racking. Warehouse designs should allow for the highest possible clear height allowable by law to maximize inventory capacity.

Brzozowski, who has been in this business for more than 30 years, says this is the technical investigation aspect of what Raymond does and can involve evaluating a number of possible layouts.

But when existing facilities fall short, finding a new home is the only way to go. That was the decision facing Neeley, and fortunately for him the new home just happened to be across the street.

Neeley says he believes in learning from others and not repeating mistakes peers have made. As a member of the TruckPride marketing group, he networked to identify other distributors with operations of similar size and scope. He then paid visits to their facilities, studying their warehouses, the flow of their work and other logistical aspects. His investigations took him to distributorships in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New York.

“I believe everybody should get out and visit each other to see what they have and pick up different ideas. That’s the advice I have,” Neeley says. “Don’t sit home and try beating your head against the wall and try and recreate the wheel.”

KEEP IT CLOSE

One of the facilities Neeley visited was the headquarters for Automann in Somerset, N.J. There, he learned that some optimization strategies make so much sense that they sound simple. However, for companies steeped in routine, it may not be so obvious.

Many warehouse distributors organize inventory by product segments – all filters are in one location, all driveline components in another, etc. From an organizational standpoint, it makes perfect sense, but it may not be the best system for top productivity.

Automann, a master distributor of suspension and brake components, kept its inventory organized by product categories until the company moved into a new facility two years ago, which it built from scratch. With the move, it found a much more efficient way of doing it.

“The way we organize the warehouse is the items that are picked with greater frequency are kept in the front of the warehouse [nearest the shipping and receiving area],” says C.J. Khanduja, Automann’s vice president. “The items that are picked less frequently are in the rear of the warehouse. So the order pickers are not wasting time going back and forth for items that are popular.”

While logical, unless you’ve been exposed to this type of system or have had someone consult with you about its benefits, it may not be so apparent.

“Some companies might struggle to do that because they’re used to having things by product category, so that’s a change in the way you need to think about things. But once you do it, it’s not that difficult,” says Khanduja.

STACK IT

Regardless if you’re building a new facility or expanding an existing one, experts say to build the roof at the maximum height allowed by law. It’s a consideration Neeley says he’s incorporated into his new building design to allow for future growth.

The higher the ceilings, the higher the racks. The higher the racks, the more allowable lift clearance. The higher the lift clearance, the more inventory you can store.

Brzozowski says part of the technical investigation is to determine just how high the racks can go for maximum clear height, and an important part of that is to know what the local zoning laws and other regulations will allow. “Because you’ve got snow load situations you’re going to be dealing with, weather conditions, seismic activity, and all the other things that are going to come into place,” he says.

Allowable height has grown through the years, bolstered by higher quality construction and engineering. Brzozowski says when he first got into the business clear heights were at most about 20 feet. But that’s changed dramatically.

Thinking Inside the Box---At its most basic level, the warehouse is a big box used to store smaller boxes. Products come in, are inventoried and then go out. The efficiency and accuracy of that flow of goods takes this basic principle to a scientific level. Warehouse layouts, racking configurations, inventory placement and logistics and material handling technologies all play a crucial role in determining productivity and profitability.

“As the years progressed, the size of the building became important because construction costs started to increase. So density was obviously an objective, but also, the cost of the expansion also became very involved in the conversation,” says Brzozowski. “I would say every 10 years the clear height would go up another 10 feet. It’s almost like a little rule of thumb. So the 20 footer became a 30-foot clear height. The 30-foot clear height became a 40-foot clear height. And now the 40-foot clear height becomes a 50-foot clear height. So people started to understand that the better the clear height, the more density you get and you can decrease the footprint. That’s the key thing, reducing the footprint.”

The spacing between racks also must be carefully considered. Narrow-aisle configurations allow for more racks, thus more inventory space, but it can’t be too narrow to create a dangerous or counterproductive picking environment. Usually a warehouse will combine a strategy of narrow and wide aisles. Lighter and less cumbersome products, such as a case of filters, can be stored in a narrow aisle, while more bulky and harder to maneuver components, such as transmissions, require wide aisles and should be stored as close to the ground as possible.

It also makes sense, Brzozowski says, to keep faster moving items on the floor because they can be moved in and out more quickly than those higher up on the racks.

The overall strategy, he says, is to create an “active band” that contains the most frequently picked products that can be accessed with the least amount of effort in the shortest possible time. “You create an active band relative to the movement by SKU,” Brzozowski says. “You keep the truck not having to lift all the way up because you’ll just lose time lifting. But in some cases, because it’s random, you’ll have to do that, it depends on how sophisticated the customer is in their inventory management and movement.

“Slotting is extremely importantly. It’s where you slot your product relative to accessing it and trying to active band it as best possible. The customers who do a good job at inventory management and location and slotting have better productivity rates.”

TRACK IT

Once the inventory is in the best possible place and you are making the most efficient use of space, technology is needed to track it with the greatest possible accuracy. That requires implementing a logistics management system that integrates key areas of your business and helps eliminate human error.

John Sterling, president and CEO of Foxfire, maker of warehouse logistics and management software, says any inventory tracking solution should communicate with the distributors’ business systems and account for all inventory from the moment it arrives until it’s sent out the door.

“We pick up the shipments when they come to the warehouse – and we know they’re coming because the software is talking to whatever accounting or ERP [enterprise resource planning] system the customer uses – so we know what to expect,” explains Sterling. “We receive it into the warehouse…and we’ve set the system up and configured it to know where the shipments are supposed to go in the warehouse, where the optimum place is for it.

“We keep track of any inventory movements in the warehouse, and when it’s time to ship an item, we know exactly where it is and we work with the accounting system to know when the orders need to be picked, what order should be picked and then we get it shipped out the door.”

Key to this process is bar coding.

Though not in widespread use in the heavy-duty aftermarket, bar code technology improves inventory management and order accuracy.

Bar coding is not a new technology, but its adoption into the heavy-duty aftermarket has been slow, at best. While other industries that involve warehousing operations are adopting radio frequency identification technologies to track inventories, the trucking aftermarket is just starting to adopt bar coding with more fervor.

Typically, products arrive with, or are assigned upon receipt, a unique label identifier with a scannable series of lines, much like UPC codes used on retail products. The label is scanned with a handheld scanner and the product and its quantity is entered into the inventory tracking software. If configured to do so, the system also will let the warehouse employees know the exact location where this stock is to be stored, even routing the employees through the warehouse in the most efficient path.

When the company takes in an order, the order is relayed to the warehouse and a picker can again use the scanning device to navigate the aisles by the most efficient route, scanning the parts as they are collected to make sure the right parts are being picked and also to update the company’s inventory in real time.

While the task of having to inventory a warehouse full of products can be daunting, it is a system that can be cycled in gradually. “You start printing labels as items arrive, and then eventually that will cycle all through the warehouse,” says Sterling. “So it happens naturally as you start labeling your items.”

This method also can reveal what products have been sitting on your shelves for a long time and aren’t likely to move any time soon. If after a year there are components that still haven’t been assigned a bar code, you can assume these slow-moving parts may need a little help getting out the door with a specialized sales effort.

Among the benefits of bar coding, Sterling says, are reduced inventory shrinkage, less stock-outs and better inventory turns, all of which can help improve customer satisfaction.

There are also the financial benefits.

“These days…everyone has been asked to find ways to reduce costs in the way they operate the business. There’s an investment in our software, but there’s also a great payback,” Sterling says. “You can reduce labor. You get more organized so there is less labor to find and pick and ship items.”

He estimates that going from a manual or spreadsheet-based system to a bar-code system with logistics software can reduce warehouse labor requirements by as much as 50 percent.

Neeley said he plans to implement bar coding in his new facility, particularly because of its ability to keep products in healthy rotation and his inventory fresh.

“That was one of the things that we liked when we were up there [at Automann],” recalls Neeley. “They use their system to rotate stock and that’s what we want to do as well. You don’t want a case of filters to keep getting pushed to the back for two years because you keep getting new stock in.

“Just like a grocery store, you want the old stock out the door first.”

PICK IT

Getting products to and from the racks can be an art unto itself, and there are many configurations of lift trucks for a wide variety of applications. Usually a distributor will have at least two kinds in operation, a forklift-style truck to unload and load trailers in shipping and receiving, and one platform-style truck to work the aisles.

Brzozowski says during the technical investigation they determine the best lift equipment needed based on the configuration of the warehouse and flow of materials. The number of SKUs and pallet positions and the type and layout of racking all factor in. He says they can get creative in their solutions.

Keeping the most frequently picked products nearest to the shipping/receiving area means employees are making fewer trips through the aisles, maximizing productivity.

For instance, a dual-purpose machine can do both piece picking and pallet moving. “If the movement of pallets only requires three or four hours of work in a day, then it can be used for order picking the rest of the shift,” says Brzozowski. “So instead of just using it for full pallet movement, and then parking it for the rest of the day, that swing reach can be the piece-picking order picker at that point because it’s dual purpose.”

Safety also plays an important role in warehouse logistics. To help prevent lift-truck accidents, some warehouses, such as Automann, use a wire-guide system. This technology keeps lift trucks centered in aisles by locking the steer wheels in place via a buried cable. It’s a system that Brzozowski says “works like an invisible railroad track” and it can be retrofitted into existing warehouses.

“When you get on the wire, the steer tire is locked in place, your steering is locked, you can’t steer once you’re on the wire,” says Brzozowski. “You can only control up, down, forward and reverse.”

It’s a safety technology that Neeley says he’s considering for his new warehouse.

With plans in place and best practices of others noted and incorporated, Neeley hopes to have his new facility open for business by the beginning of 2011. The additional space – expected to be double his existing footprint at 22,500 sq.-ft. – will provide the company with needed volume capacity. Out of its Columbia facility, Truck Supply of South Carolina is averaging 4,500 pick tickets a month. The new warehouse will allow for about 6,000 pick tickets a month.

So, will that be the final move for the distributorship?

“It ought to cover us for another 12 to 15 years, with ease.” n