Dock Congestion: How do you spell RELIEF?

Dock congestion happens. Shippers large and small can find themselves with backed-up orders waiting to be shipped out, trucks sitting in the yards, and stacks of pallets that do nothing more than get in everyone's way.

But it doesn't have to be like that. With a well thought-out, organized

Dock Space is Gold

If there's a single mantra to keep in mind when trying to alleviate dock congestion, it's this: Dock space is gold. Every compromised inch of dock space impacts efficiency, productivity, and costs, so keeping as much space as possible open and available should be one of your primary objectives.

That's why it's essential to know as precisely as possible what will be coming in to your receiving dock—having that information in advance will allow you to determine how much space you'll need to dedicate to each job.

"You need to know everything that's inbound to you, when it's going to arrive, and where it's going," says Will Taylor, senior engineer for LTL carrier Averitt Express in Cookeville, Tenn. "With that [information] you can make sure you've got a place to put the delivery so it doesn't land on the dock."

It's important to keep in mind that some types of shipments will require more dock space than others, says Geoff Sisko, senior vice president with warehousing consultants Gross & Associates in Woodbridge, N.J. A containerized load coming in from overseas, for example, may need two doors' worth of space to lay out and sort. "If you have to strip a container manually and palletize and sort it, you've got to be able to lay out enough pallets to do so down on the dock," he says. "If you've got two container loads coming in, you don't schedule them for adjacent doors because they're stealing space from each other."

Besides keeping dock space open, it's important to manage how goods move to or from your docks while they're inside the warehouse. For one thing, it's helpful to establish specific traffic lanes for inbound and outbound shipments. At the same time, you need to have clearly defined staging areas or bays for merchandise that's waiting to be shipped. "The docks that have the worst congestion don't have the discipline to organize their freight into bays and keep traffic lanes open," Taylor says.

Staging your outbound loads directly across from the dock doors that you'll be using to ship them out can do a lot to minimize dock congestion, says Sisko. "If you have stuff staged by Door 12 and the truck is assigned to Door 4 because it's the only one open, now you've got cross-traffic, and that causes congestion," he explains.

Sometimes a slight tweak in the way you move loads off a vehicle and onto the dock can go a long way toward clearing congestion. One example: When working inbound container loads, Sisko suggests, set up a small length of conveyor inside the container so workers can shoot cartons out to a sorting crew. That will move the load out faster and more efficiently compared to palletizing loads inside the container and then sorting them on the dock.

Manage Your Manpower

Properly allocating manpower offers another way to stave off dock congestion. Once again, getting that right depends on knowing exactly what's coming in.

"For instance, if it's containerized freight from overseas, it's probably floor-loaded and requires sorting and palletizing," Sisko say. "If it's domestic, it may be on pallets and you can unload it in 15 minutes. But you need to know that and be able to plan and schedule based on manpower and door availability. That way, you can spread the load evenly," he explains.

If you don't have enough labor assigned to incoming loads, it can put you so far behind that you'll have trouble keeping up with subsequent arrivals. "When you've got a plan, you need to be sure your manpower fits it," says Taylor. "If you've got eight hours of work coming in the next hour, you know you'll need eight people. But if the next shipment is 12 hours' worth of work and you've still got those eight people scheduled, you're now four hours behind."

To avoid that problem, Taylor suggests, you can average out the workload or allow more time for the load to be worked. That is, rather than putting eight workers on the eight-hour job, assign 10 people to it and have them continue on to the next, 12-hour load. That way you've averaged out your manpower needs across both jobs, and the time saved on the smaller job will figure into the time it takes to complete the next one.

Averitt Express sometimes uses a different approach to scheduling labor. The motor carrier allows three hours for processing a load, so workers have some leeway in how they accomplish that task. "They don't have to work the whole load in that first hour, but it does have to be worked by the third hour," Taylor explains.

Stick to the Schedule

More and more shippers are scheduling their incoming loads to prevent dock congestion. One company that's benefited from doing so is spice producer McCormick & Co. Inc. in Sparks, Md. Outbound Transportation Manager Dave Jordan has found that there's a lot more to it than simply setting a receiving schedule. Controlling inbound routing, he says, is also important to the success of a scheduling program.

"The point is that, instead of allowing a vendor to ship by whichever carrier they elect—which means my people get calls from a dozen different carriers all trying to negotiate an appointment—we now have four primary carriers who have standing appointments," he explains. "This way, I bring out fuller loads and my receiver deals with fewer carriers."

Dock scheduling success also depends on the other parties' willingness to accept the arrangement you choose. Jordan hasn't found that aspect to be much of a problem. "Most of the carriers are willing to do pre-set appointments, because that way they've got a defined time frame to work around," he says. Still, some measure of flexibility is necessary, he believes. "Clearly, there has to be some latitude. One carrier may want 7 o'clock in the morning and another may not want anything before noon. We're willing to work with a carrier in that context," he says.

No matter how much or how little flexibility you allow, says Jordan, the adoption of a schedule creates certain expectations. Simply, put, "If you live by the schedule, you die by the schedule," he says.

If a carrier is late, you'll have to decide whether or not it's too late to accommodate, because the next truck in line is coming in according to the schedule. McCormick's cut-off is one hour. "We try to squeeze them in when they get there," Jordan says. "If an LTL carrier is running late but not too late, we'll take him, though he may have to wait a while for a free slot." An LTL carrier that arrives after the cut-off usually is told to come back the next day. Late truckloads, on the other hand, have to sit it out and wait for an open door.

Sticking to your guns when it comes to scheduling can work in your favor. "Time is critical for drivers," says Sisko. "If they understand that you're going to stick to your schedule, they'll fall in line. Once they have to sit and wait, they get religion pretty fast."

Finding the Cure

Establishing an effective dock scheduling and management system doesn't necessarily require a high-tech approach, notes Al Sambar, a principal with Kurt Salmon Associates in Atlanta. "It doesn't need to be space-age," he says. "There are people out there who have great dock flow without sophisticated systems."

For many companies, a simple scheduling board or a spreadsheet is all they need to track delivery appointments while at larger companies, electronic communication may be most efficient. But that may not be feasible for every vendor you deal with, Sambar cautions. "Ideally, you'd like all your vendors and suppliers to be giving you information through electronic data interchange," he says. "But the reality is that smaller suppliers tend to not be as far forward on that."

Regardless of how simple or sophisticated their dock planning and scheduling systems are, the managers who enjoy the greatest success in keeping their docks clear and moving efficiently are those who put a lot of effort into good old-fashioned communication.

"They have great relationships with their key suppliers, who are helping them manage the flow through the receiving docks," Sambar says. "The operations people in their DC are talking to the operations people in the vendor's DC, and they're communicating about how to move the trailers that are bogging up the docks."

With that in mind, it's worth saying again: Dock space is gold. It has value. True, keeping it open and flowing smoothly is far from easy. But if you get accurate information, develop a plan or a schedule based on that information, and then stick to it, it will surely become easier. Top that off with effective communication, and you'll be well on your way to curing dock congestion headaches for good.

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