christopher Harper, Author at DJ Products

Words of Wisdom: Make Sure to Read the Fine Print on the Load Rate Confirmation

A number of companies use our terminal tractor to increase efficiency in their yards, but what happens when a facility doesn’t share that sense of urgency? One husband-and-wife owner-operator trucking team recently shared their story of a great job that turned into a disaster to warn about the importance of reading the fine print on the load rate confirmation.

Too Good to be True?

After delivering a load in Phoenix, Gary and Ondena Caraway were left without an outbound job. Ultimately, they found and booked a job for Amazon through Mercer, the carrier from which the Caraways lease their truck. The job required a deadhead into Las Vegas, but the rate seemed to be enough to make it worthwhile.

The first sign of trouble came when the Caraways dropped their trailer at noon for loading. While it was promised for 4 p.m. that same day, it wasn’t ready for pick-up until 4:30 the next morning.

An Unpleasant Surprise

The Caraways left Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon with an appointment to deliver the load to the Amazon facility in Edwardsville, IL at 4 a.m. the following Sunday. On the way, Gary pulled up Mercer’s mobile app to complete the required documentation.

At that point, Gary noticed the fine print stating that unloading time was 12 to 48 hours. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the process ended up stretching out to a full week. Based on the number of bobtails the Caraways saw at a nearby truck stop, they’re convinced that theirs was not an isolated situation.

Move Trailers Safely and Efficiently with the Electric Yard Dog from DJ Products

Time is money, and our electric terminal tractor lets you optimize your operations for maximum productivity. Call 800.686.2651 to learn more.

Recyclable Corrugated Pallets and Their Advantages

In the United States, over two billion pallets are made annually and are the quintessential warehouse equipment. Pallets are vital for maintaining the integrity of a product, for storage and make tasks like moving and loading products much simpler. Still, they don’t last forever and they take up space in delivery.

Disposal of wooden pallets after breakage is costly and time-consuming. When they fail, injury to hard-working employees could occur. Recyclable corrugated pallets are the newer, safer, durable, and more cost-effective solution for multiple warehouse tasks.

Pros to Corrugated Pallets

Corrugated pallets have many benefits that appeal to the warehouse industries. Here are a few of them:

– They pack well. Unlike bulky wooden pallets, they ship flat taking up less space, which means lower shipping cost.

– Plastic and wooden pallets are weighty and difficult to move efficiently. Corrugated pallets are much lighter in weight, in part because of the alternative material used.

– The recyclable corrugated pallets are very customizable. They even come with water-resistant options. This works well for those who require warehouse equipment that can be adjusted to fit specific needs.

– Because they are recyclable, disposal of the corrugated pallets lower cost and the risk of injury by deconstruction.

Reliability Pays Dividends

In the same way, the right battery powered machinery can prevent injury by allowing for less employee-to-equipment contact, upping efficiency, and lowering labor costs.

Like the reliability, durability, and problem-solving of corrugated pallets, DJ products are tested and trusted to create simple solutions to tough problems. If you are seeking ways to keep your valued employees safe on the job, ease the workload with high-quality warehouse equipment that stands up under the weight of the load. Click here to find out more!

Beyond the Dumpster: Will Landfill Models be Changed in 2018?

According to this recent article on waste management and the technology that is rising to meet burgeoning challenges, change is coming. The waste industry is taking note of how automated machinery and the application of robotics can help make the occupational “hazards” that come with waste disposal an easier, simpler process. Disposing of waste comes with its own set of unique and troublesome problems. Risks and safety concerns that can be addressed with simple solutions like those are epitomized in the WasteCaddy line of products.

Reasons Behind Changing the Current Landfill Model

The waste disposal industry is finding ample reasons to change their traditional Landfill Model. Below are a few of those reasons:

– Ocean pollution seems to be increasing, weighing heavily on the inner workings of waste removal/recycling teams.

– More trash without advanced technology to meet demand is a recipe for disaster. Without efficient solutions, landfills will continue to grow in size.

– The infrastructure affected by recycling is in a downward spiral. Profits will decline without a noted change to the processes they’ve employed in their operations.

Technology can breed efficiency. The utilization of remote control, battery powered, well-designed machinery benefits small businesses and large companies alike. Transporting a small dumpster with a dumpster mover machine that pushes the load for you lowers labor and eliminates potential safety hazards. These same machines minimize points of human contact with the hazardous waste material. Premiere small machines are packed with a host of attributes built into their ingenious designs.

DJ Products: A Waste-Not Solution

A heavy-duty dumpster mover comes in a size that works for any business. Warehouses, restaurants, and waste plants understand solid machinery facilitates safe, functional environments. DJ Products won’t waste your time so click here to see for yourself!

A Team-Oriented Warehouse Staff is a Productive Warehouse Staff

The finest warehouse equipment money can buy means nothing if the employees using it aren’t on the same page. How do you get a group of individuals working toward the same goal? Here are five helpful tips to build trust among your employees so they’re working as a team.

1. Be a Leader

Every team needs a leader, but that doesn’t mean someone who imposes their will on its members. Keep the lines of communication open and be prepared to listen to employees’ concerns and ideas. Don’t let other duties distract you from what’s happening on the warehouse floor.

2. Promote a Culture of Collaboration

Do your employees stay within the narrow “walls” of their job responsibilities? Start assigning groups of two or more to work on different projects. The jobs will be more interesting, they’ll get finished sooner and the employees will develop a bond of trust.

3. Conduct Cross-Training

When employees have a greater understanding of each other’s jobs, the team will function more smoothly and have a solid base for overcoming conflicts.

4. Plan Team Time Outside the Warehouse

It can be difficult to get a full appreciation of people and their personalities in a work environment. Social activities such as picnics and ball games provide a low-stress opportunity for employees to build friendships. Don’t make these gatherings mandatory, as that could end up being counterproductive.

5. Celebrate Success

Celebrating attainment of goals helps employees internalize their role in the company’s success and build their personal sense of worth.

State-of-the-Art Warehouse Equipment from DJ Products

Our battery-powered tugs, movers and pushers make the toughest warehouse jobs easier and reduce the risk of workplace injuries. Visit our website to learn more from our friendly sales engineers.

An Amazon Story: Productivity Metrics Cause Bizarre Employee Behavior

Dedicated warehouse employees deserve the best working conditions available. Maintaining high-quality efficient production and creating an environment that is considerate of employee needs can be a difficult task.

Productivity metrics can create pressurized, high-stress situations even for diligent employees. Those situations can become so intense that safety and in some cases healthy hygienic practices are compromised. To produce efficiency without compromising safety, quality labor-reducing machinery is needed.

The Premium Environment

A high-quality setting can produce premium results, by giving employees support through solutions that increase efficiency and productivity. A good working environment facilitates:

– Legal breaks for employees

– A tested and approved safety protocol

– Quality products are incorporated and used on a daily basis

– Frequent warehouse equipment checks

– A monitored rewards program

– Feedback from warehouse employees (make sure they feel safe while sharing their concerns or ideas)

Affordable Products Equal Big Pay-Off

If you worry about productivity in the workplace, evaluating all areas that may need improvement can save you time and cost in the long term. Check your machinery and discover if there are solutions that will increase productivity while allowing workers to concentrate on other necessary duties.

Incorporating battery powered heavy-duty warehouse equipment allows your employees the time they need to address other important tasks and keep productivity metrics front and center.

When you invest in helpful products like trailer movers and various load movers, you lower the likelihood of accidents on the job and increase productivity and employee sustainability. If you are searching for simplistic answers to up your profit and facilitate better safety practices for your dedicated work base, DJ products can help. Click here to get some helpful information on products that will fit your company’s unique needs!

Colorado Adds Human Trafficking Prevention Training to CDL Requirements

In 2016, the state of Colorado saw a 56 percent increase in human trafficking cases. The trucking industry is taking notice. Recently, human trafficking prevention was added to semi trailer movers’ requirements for acquiring a CDL.

Exercising proper safety measures is vital to all things related to the transfer of products, especially to those involved in the warehouse/trucking business. Similarly, DJ Products, a company that strives to provide quality machinery so that safety requirements are met, embodies that same care for human life by providing applicable solutions to the potential hazards in the industry.

Using Products to Protect

Safeguarding human lives is a priority. By putting in place machinery that lightens the workload and lowers the amount of work-related accidents, the potential for human error begins to evaporate. Semi trailer movers use precision machinery to make their tasks easier and to increase efficiency.

Products like the Yard Dog/Terminal Tractor move loads that weigh hundreds of thousands of pounds and allow workers to focus on other important tasks. Drivers and warehouse workers often work long hours and in human trafficking prevention, being aware is key. Increased hours of labor wreaks havoc on mental awareness.

The ability to observe surroundings more thoroughly because of the utilization of prime machinery can help stop the influx of human trafficking.

Giving to Get

Affordable solutions like time-saving, durable machinery may seem too simplistic to solve big problems, but like in human trafficking, simple changes create impactful results. At DJ Products, semi trailer movers benefit from the products we provide. Enduring, fail-safe machinery allows employees to use their energy for the benefit of many. Contact DJ Products today and find out how our products facilitate safety!

eCommerce Fulfillment Moves into the Traditional Warehouse

The world of eCommerce is steadily becoming an integral part of the manufacturing industry. As the influx of orders stream from eCommerce to warehouses across the nation, the need for organization and specific selection is ever increasing.

Direct-to-consumer ordering is trending upwards and manufacturers are starting to jump on board. How can you adjust your traditional methods to cater to the technological conveniences of your time? It’s time to utilize warehouse equipment that has efficiency built into their overall design.

Utilizing Quality Tools

Facilitating quality control for the individualized eCommerce orders that flood your manufacturing process is important. Efficiently designating space to eCommerce orders that require less bulk and some careful product handling can be problematic when using the wrong equipment. DJ Products has industrial material handling equipment that encourages quality results with customized warehouse equipment.

You can reduce unnecessary man hours and the repetitive motion that cripples hard-working employees. When you employ modified machinery to play your programmed “middleman,” opportunities expand. The need for space in the warehouse is not decreasing but increasing as personalized orders stemming from eCommerce grows.

Stocking Up

Automation is the new sliced bread in manufacturing. Smaller machinery and manageable amounts of inventory can be highly lucrative when managed correctly. For the many varieties of orders whether small or large, industrial-grade warehouse equipment can lighten loads, relieve safety concerns and demonstrate efficiency in any space. Efficiency equals profit.

With the explosion of eCommerce in manufacturing, there’s an increasing need for creative efficiency solutions. DJ Products has got you covered with machines like the CartCaddyLite and many others to help you and your crew successfully maneuver through the winding aisles of eCommerce. When quality products are used to solve quantity issues, profit-making is soon to follow.

Infrastructure Priorities for Supply Chain Logistics Help the Economy to Grow

End users may sometimes take supply chain functions for granted. The truth is that shippers and logistics management face congestion, bad weather and other challenges to deliver goods on time and in good condition.

Supply chain professionals invest in high-tech software and high-quality equipment such as yard trucks, but they can’t do it all by themselves. Here are five infrastructure-related priorities that should be addressed by public funding.

Congestion

Highways, rail hubs and ports in the United States are at such a high level of congestion that it’s putting our country’s shippers at a serious disadvantage with global competitors. This problem needs to be corrected so it aligns with economic growth goals.

Parking

Lack of sufficient truck parking was apparent during the stormy weather that battered the East Coast earlier this year and restricted travel on major highways. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act includes helpful provisions for building new parking areas and using existing facilities such as weigh stations.

Freight Advisory Committees

Under the FAST Act, the Department of Transportation is charged with promoting the establishment of freight advisory committees in each state. These committees would include stakeholders from the public and private sectors, enabling better communication regarding freight-related projects.

National Hiring Standards

Creating national hiring standards would eliminate confusion surrounding FMCSA credentials and help small carriers be more competitive.

Infrastructure Funding Methods

While there’s a definite need to create funding mechanisms, care should be taken to institute methods that allow collection of funds without hampering the interests of the freight companies they’re meant to help.

Boost Safety and Productivity with Yard Trucks from DJ Products

Looking for a cost-effective way to increase efficiency while reducing injury risk? Call 800.686.2651 to learn more about our Electric Yard Dog.

What Is Changing the Face of Logistics in 2018?

Thanks to improved efficiency and safety, battery-powered semi trailer movers from DJ Products are raising the bar on logistics productivity. What are some other major innovations and trends that have been changing the face of the logistics industry in 2018?

Blockchain Technology

Originally developed for use with digital currency Bitcoin, blockchain technology allows for open distribution of digital data without alteration or copying. Experts predict that by 2021, approximately one-quarter of major global companies will incorporate blockchain for transactional data.

Choice of Logistics Providers

In the continuing competition to offer a superior customer experience, the latest element gives buyers a choice of logistics providers to handle their shipments. While the option began last year with only a few e-commerce companies, the trend has picked up steam in 2018.

Elastic Logistics

As the term implies, elastic logistics is a means of expanding and contracting services to align more precisely with supply chain requirements at any given time. Many companies are outsourcing fleets through third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to take advantage of increased flexibility without increased costs.

Perfect Order Deliveries

Can it get any better than perfection? The numerous challenges involved in the delivery process create a daunting barrier to perfect orders, but when the goal is attained, it provides the ultimate in customer satisfaction.

Integration of Sustainability and Profitability

Carbon footprint reduction has become an essential part of operations for all businesses. Logistics companies that offer green features such as intelligent auto-routing are attractive partners for shippers looking to reduce both carbon emissions and costs.

DJ Products: Your Source for State-of-the-Art Semi Trailer Movers

Our Electric Yard Dog is an eco-friendly solution to save time and money while reducing injury risk. Visit our website to learn more from our sales engineers.

Collaboration Across the Supply Chain May Combat Amazon’s Growing Dominance

As the “Amazon effect” continues to send ripples throughout today’s business landscape, manufacturers are responding by making major shifts in philosophy. In addition to state-of-the-art warehouse equipment, technology investments are also being directed toward supporting a direct-to-consumer model.

Planning and Execution: Two Sides of a Single Solution

Supply chain is a key driver in the new retail-like role of manufacturers. In JDA Software’s Intelligent Manufacturing Survey, 51 percent of respondents indicated that they are putting an emphasis on internal and external collaboration across the supply chain to accommodate consumer tastes and behaviors.

More specifically, companies need to integrate sales and operations planning (S&OP), both mid- and long-term, with sales and operations execution (S&OE) via use of a single connected technology that spans all supply chain lines. Approximately one-third of survey respondents stated their commitment to this process.

Where Does Your Company Rank on the Digital Maturity Scale?

Unfortunately, that leaves two-thirds of manufacturers who are behind the curve. According to Fred Baumann, group vice president of industry strategy at JDA, their group sees many companies that concentrate on either short-term execution or long-range planning to the exclusion of the other, thereby limiting their chances of success.

Baumann goes on to explain that supply chain digitalization has become a necessity, not a luxury. Among survey respondents, predigital and digitally mature camps each equaled 18 percent, while 35 percent expect to reach digital maturity within the next two to three years.

Meet the Future with Top Warehouse Equipment from DJ Products

Successful execution includes providing employees with quality warehouse equipment. Our battery-powered tugs, movers and pushers are eco-friendly, ergonomically designed and cost-effective.

Visit our website and use the convenient online chat feature to learn more from our knowledgeable sales engineers.