christopher Harper, Author at DJ Products

Rail and Trucking Industries Face Off in Freight Hauling Rate Battle

Price wars are shaking up the shipping industry as rail lines lower prices to keep and attract customers. Following a turbulent 2015 that was impacted by the west coast labor disputes, BNSF and other railways are offering significantly reduced spot rates for 53-foot containers on routes across the country.

JOC.com reports that 17 out of 18 major lanes have roughly 20% lower rates compared to one year ago. Many lanes now cost about $300 less.

These aggressive price reductions have spurred high enough demand that the rail lines may not be able to sustain the competitive advantage. Logistics and investment experts predict that prices will level out, but the rail companies are enjoying the price battle in the meantime.

Rail Freight in 2016

Warehousing and distribution companies looking to take advantage of the rail rate cuts can expect rates to eventually level off or increase. However, the high rates of early 2015 were due in part to port congestion so the rates are likely to stay lower than they were during that time.

For a company switching to rail or increasing their volume of rail freight, new equipment can facilitate the process. A rail cart caddy has the ability to maneuver and move rail cars indoors or outdoors with a battery-powered motor.

One employee can move a rail car at up to 3 miles per hour. The rail cart caddy connects with a coupler and the employee then steers the car with a twist grip handle.

For more info on the rail cart caddy and other material handling solutions for the logistics industry, contact DJ Products.

Reviews and Ratings, Even Hospitals Have to Worry About Them

Ratings systems and online review sites have hospitals under the magnifying glass more than ever. Healthcare organizations must worry about their reputation with the government’s Hospital Compare data and organizations like Leapfrog.

As Leapfrog recently explained to The Sentinel, every rating system has differences by design. Reviews and ratings judge hospitals not only on outcomes and safety, but also on more subjective matters like employee responsiveness and patient satisfaction.

Across the variety of review systems, the key factors are:

Safety: Leapfrog places a special emphasis on safety scores, aggregated from various surveys.

Patient Experience: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) relies heavily on critical aspects of patient experience (as opposed to “satisfaction,” which is more subjective).

Communications and Responsiveness: How quickly and effectively staff responds to questions and problems greatly affects customer satisfaction.

Discharge Experience: Communications upon discharge and follow-up protocols also matter heavily.

How Can My Hospital Get Better Ratings and Reviews?

Hospitals should respond to surveys and provide data whenever possible. Transparency always helps.

Be proactive and ask patients about their experience during and after care. It’s easier to solve problems before negative reviews are left online.

Focus on communication and meeting patient expectations:

User-friendly inpatient forms

Educate staff on communication skills

Emphasize a comfortable and clean environment

Use modern equipment, software, and apps as applicable

Powered hospital carts can help improve patient care and satisfaction. Employees can respond to patient calls more quickly and effectively, and janitorial staff can perform their duties most efficiently.

For help expediting patient care and providing a safe and clean environment, visit DJProducts.com for information about hospital carts.

Warehouse Smart Systems and Software Boost Efficiency

As automation takes over your warehouse processes, the old warehouse management systems may be insufficient. A WMS can help direct people, but you need a warehouse control system (WCS) to direct the machines. A smart system provides the data you need, while also optimizing with some adjustments automatically.

Warehouse “smart systems,” like a modern WCS, can boost efficiency through real-time alerts and automated decision making. When one piece of equipment malfunctions, the manager can see that on the WCS and immediately take action to prevent a domino effect on the rest of the process.

When you manage a variety of industrial warehouse tugs, conveyor belts, scissor lifts, and other automated and manual equipment in one place, you need a single overview and command center to keep them working in harmony. That’s the beauty of a warehouse smart system.

Scott Stone of Cisco-Eagle describes the benefits of a WCS:

Efficiency: Maximize the potential benefits of automated materials handling by letting a WCS automatically monitor and adjust equipment in real-time.

Maintenance: The WCS serves as a proactive tool to detect equipment problems faster than a chain of human communication.

Real-time Data: Make better warehouse efficiency and performance decisions by using data on specific equipment and the entire process, all in one place.

Every step to bridge together manual and automated processes helps. Automate what you can, and use ergonomic equipment to help partially automate human tasks. Motorized equipment like our industrial warehouse tugs makes more of your processes efficient and reliable.

Explore our industrial warehouse tugs including the PartsCaddy electric platform cart and the RiderCaddy motorized tug at DJProducts.com.

Handling Peak Demand in Warehouse Fulfillment Operations

Warehouse efficiency often centers around getting the job done as well as possible, as often as possible. Failing to master peak demand, however, can be disastrous — when orders are high, your business can’t afford to drop the ball.

In the age of internet ordering and globalization, many warehouses are struggling with small waves of peak demand throughout the year. Gone are the days of back-to-school, Christmas, and construction season dictating the peaks.

Supply chain experts weigh in with tips for handling fulfillment waves:

Use the data: SDC Executive stresses the importance of analytics to predict and plan for peak waves. Warehouse execution software helps develop historical insights that can be used for layout and staffing decisions.

Cross training: Ideally every worker will be a master of their task, but the presence of staff members who can be deployed in various capacities helps whenever various waves cause spikes in packing or sorting for a few hours.

Separate stock: Maintain a section for the most common items and another section with everything, suggests Logistics Management. Or keep separate online and B&M fulfillment areas.

Automation is a must: Every expert on fulfillment efficiency agrees that automated solutions are necessary to keep up with modern demand and to stay flexible. Industrial warehouse tugs speed up stocking and picking, while also keeping employees fresh for better productivity.

If peak demand causes trouble at your warehouse, invest in automated materials handling solutions to tackle the core of the problem. Then start using data and managerial insights to fine-tune and look for ways to stay flexible.

Visit DJProducts.com for more information on industrial warehouse tugs.

Couple Quits Job and Travels in a Cargo Trailer

What used to be the retiree’s dream has become a new model for happiness among younger couples. Sell what you don’t need, buy a trailer, and hit the road for adventure and freedom.

The blog “Pay Gas, Not Rent” chronicles the unique experiences of one 27-year-old couple. The former teacher and social worker from Alaska became intrigued by the tiny house movement and decided to customize a cargo trailer into a home.

Singin’ and Travelin’ Across the Country

Curtiss O’Rorke Stedman and Kelly Tousley left their jobs and home behind to see the continent while finding excitement and relaxation on the road. Stedman performs Americana music a few days a week for most of the couple’s cash, while the biggest chunk of income going toward gas and lodging.

Trailer living has grown in popularity as young people decide to do away with physical belongings and focus on experiences. As long as a trailer has a bed, bathroom, and basic cooking equipment, it can make a home.

The Changing Market for Trailers

Sales of trailers are up, such as Airstreams and basic cargo trailers, as more people decide to live in them full-time. If your business is seeing increased action on trailers, it might just be time for a trailer caddy to help maneuver and store them efficiently.

A powered trailer caddy can handle loads up to 50,000 pounds with ergonomic steering. Any employee can walk along and move trailers into parking spaces or service areas. For dealerships and distributors, a trailer caddy can revolutionize how you handle inventory. Contact DJ Products for more info about car, truck, and trailer movers.

Midair Small Craft Crash Causes Concern Near Historic Lighthouse

In a tragic turn, three pilots died in an unusual small plane collision off the coast of Southern California earlier this month. After three days of searching, divers found two of the bodies, and with additional searching the third pilot and more wreckage were found two days later.

The crash occurred near Angels Gate Light, a lighthouse and a registered historic site in Los Angeles Harbor at the San Pedro Breakwater. Flight students often take off from the Torrance Airport and fly around the coastline in the area.

One of the pilots was Mary Falstrom, a 72-year-old woman flying alone. Her husband expressed a warm outlook that she died doing what she loved. The day of the crash she was piloting a Citabria stunt plane.

The other plane was a Beech 35 Bonanza piloted by two men, aged 61 and 81. Reports indicate that all pilots involved were fit and experienced.

Casting a pall over local aviation, the crash is a sad ending for the pilots and their families. Falstrom was involved in the Ninety-Nines organization of female pilots and volunteered at the aviation museum at the Torrance Airport.

DJ Products supports private aviation with our small aircraft tugs and other systems for moving planes and equipment. We are saddened by stories such as this one and we hope small aircraft operators stay safe and careful for every flight.

Follow the DJ Products blog to stay aware of the latest aviation news and learn about our small aircraft tugs and aviation equipment that can help keep everyone safe and productive around the hangar.

Auto Recalls Hit Dealership Pocketbooks

In a battle of legal and ethical concerns, new and used car dealers across the nation are grappling with a crisis of dead inventory. At the center of the problem lies millions of Honda cars with recalled airbags.

Used cars with open recalls may be sold legally, but industry leaders and the Federal Trade Commission are pushing for transparency. Customers need to be warned about open recalls, and that often shuts down the sale.

On lots across the country, dealers are looking for ways to store used cars that cannot be sold. At the same time, dealers need new inventory pumped in to keep sales numbers afloat.

For dealers who need to move dead inventory to storage lots, part of the solution will be a motorized car pusher. These pieces of equipment can maneuver vehicles to service centers, around lots, and onto trailers. The operator walks along and steers while a battery-powered motor propels the car pusher up to 3 miles per hour.

In the case of the Honda airbags, the manufacturer says parts will be available to address the huge 2.2-million vehicle recall by late summer 2016. Dealers with stock on their hands may want a solution to set affected vehicles aside.

Of course, there will be more major auto recalls. The head of AutoNation has pledged not to sell vehicles with recalls, and CarMax offers online info about recalls. Whether new regulation is created or not, it seems clear that used car dealerships are moving toward restricting sales of recalled vehicles.

For more info about a motorized car pusher to assist with transporting vehicles, contact DJ Products.

Pentagon Changes the Face of Its Workforce Though Contractor Usage

Since 2012, the Pentagon has faced congressional pressure to reduce DoD spending on civilians and contractors. While the DoD hit benchmarks the first few years of the mission, it has begun increasing its spending on contractors. The DoD projects an increase of $1.2 billion spent on contractors from fiscal year 2014 through 2016.

A showdown or new changes may be looming, as the civilian federal employee union AFGE fights proposed moves to re-classify civilians such as commissary employees and reduce their pay. A consulting group has recommended such changes to the DoD.

For DoD contractors, the increased spending means solid and steady work for now. The AFGE and some DoD spending watchdogs would argue that civilian employees should be performing more of the jobs carried out by DoD contractors and military personnel, however.

If the DoD agrees to change course and cut contractor spending, the next step would likely be contract reviews to determine the necessity and efficiency of the service provided by each contractor. Larger contracts would yield greater scrutiny.

The Pentagon has generally indicated a focus on overall DoD spending, rather than specific concerns for whether various roles are carried out by military, civilians, or contractors. For DoD contractors, this means that cost-effective bids are the surest path to retaining and securing work.

DoD contractor equipment may be one area to strategically spend on overhead to make tasks more efficient and require fewer personnel. Vehicle movers, aircraft caddies, and equipment carts with battery-powered motors from DJ Products are GSA-approved for defense contractors. Take a look at DJ Products DOD contractor equipment for more information.

Highlighting the Trailer Caddy Extreme

Got trailers to move? At DJ Products we have taken our easy and powerful material handling equipment and scaled it up for semi trailer movers. Loaded with features and designed for simple, ergonomic performance, the TrailerCaddyHD Extreme is your best and most affordable option for moving trailers indoors or out.

The Heavy Duty Dolly for Semi Trailers

One person can easily maneuver any trailer up to 50,000 pounds with the TrailerCaddyHD Extreme. Connect with your choice of hitch type and all the operator has to do is steer the caddy and walk along.

Ergonomic design makes our semi trailer movers comfortable to use, reducing the risk of back pain, shoulder injuries, and other ailments. Even in tight spaces or on rocky outdoor ground, you can move trailers with pinpoint control and easy maneuvering.

Move equipment in and around lots, get the job done faster to free up time and reduce the risk of injuries — this is equipment that improves your peace of mind and bottom line.

TrailerCaddyHD Extreme Specs

We built the TrailerCaddyHD Extreme for 48’ and 53’ OTR trailers as well as other heavy equipment such as toy haulers, horse trailers and boats.

Heavy-duty 36-volt motor

15,000-lb. hydraulic lift

0-2 mph forward and reverse with adjustable speed control

Safety stop switch

Options for ball hitch, king pin, and pintle

Optional 18” aggressive tread tires

Looking for other specs? Check out our other car, truck, and trailer pushers.

Semi trailer movers from DJ Products are a common-sense investment that can radically improve productivity on your lot. For more information on the TrailerCaddyHD Extreme and other semi trailer movers, visit DJProducts.com.

Hospitality Industry Continues to Fight the Battle with Bed Bugs

Horror stories of bed bugs have been going viral lately, smearing the reputations of many hospitality brands. Hotels everywhere need to ask themselves: what is management doing to prevent bed bug infestations, and how would we respond to a complaint?

North Carolina Hotel Sued for Bed Bugs

Twenty-five bites, and a pillow containing hundreds of bed bugs. That was the horrifying experience of one woman’s stay at a Holiday Inn Express in North Carolina. She sued the hotel chain for $7 million.

Victims of bed bug attacks often report lingering effects of discomfort and paranoia. In one particular case, the victim was a recovering breast cancer survivor whose doctor feared an infection from germs carried by bed bugs. Needless to say, in such cases public sympathy goes to the customer.

Bed Bugs: A Matter of Housekeeping Policies

Nobody can avoid the risk of bed bugs being accidentally carried in. What hospitality management must do is practice constant vigilance, proactive cleaning, and fast response to sightings.

Housekeeping staff should look around mattresses, box springs, bed skirts, and all linens. Telltale signs include blood dots and brownish stains, often around the edges of linens.

The lookout for bed bugs does not need to slow down housekeeping services. Motorized linen carts can help staff tend to more rooms, quickly, and with less physical strain — freeing them up to be more thorough in visual inspections for bed bugs. Motorized linen carts with metal or plastic frames can also promote a cleaner transport system compared to canvas.

For more information on hospitality equipment including motorized linen carts to empower your workers, contact DJProducts.com.