Industry needs to recognize the value of transportation
By Brooke Baldwin
Even if a manufacturing company has the finest, most technologically advanced production facilities and the sharpest marketing programs, there’s more needed to complete a successful picture, says Kim Whitlock, vice-president of logistics for Ladd Furniture, headquartered in Greensboro, N.C. "Manufacturers today must concern themselves with getting their product from the manufacturing facility to retailers in good shape and in a rapid period of time, because that is what ‘Generation X’ is insisting on," he says. "Our whole industry needs to recognize that this integral piece - the actual transportation of its product - is very shaky right now."
Ask any furniture specialty carrier what the biggest issue he faces today is, and he will most likely respond, "I can’t get any drivers," points out Whitlock. "The driver/labor force is a huge, huge concern in our business because of the industry’s rapid growth and the fact that being a furniture specialty carrier driver is very hard work and work that is away from home.
"Our drivers are somewhat ‘aging out,’" he says. "A typical furniture specialty carrier driver is over 40 and there are very few young people coming in. Drivers typically will have 15 - 20 deliveries spread out over a couple hundred miles. They are gone all week and young people are not really interested in doing this type of work anymore - they don’t need to. They can make significantly more money just driving terminal to terminal where they never have to touch anything."
Specialty furniture carriers are reporting four to five day backups due to this driver shortage, according to Whitlock. He proposes a more "driver friendly" atmosphere throughout the industry - particularly at the retail level, and a decrease in the number of each driver’s deliveries as solutions. "In addition to the problems of the non-dock situation (see Modern Woodworking, November, 1999.), manufacturers and their sales reps are going to have to make retailers realize that if they want to continue to have low-cost furniture delivery, they’ve got to be more friendly to the drivers and in some cases, actually not be abusive," says Whitlock. "If they don’t, it’s going to catch them in the pocketbook.
"There are some retailers that are closed for delivery on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so deliveries only can be made on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. What we’re doing is pricing our rates accordingly. If we’ve got places that are extremely difficult to deliver to and they want a lower rate, they aren’t going to get it. We just explain to them that when their unloading hours are from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. only, for example, it’s just going to cost us more money to deliver to them. If they can give us more flexibility with appointments, then we can try to give them the lower cost."
Whitlock’s message is a simple one. The labor shortage is not just an issue for the factories. "Some recognition by manufacturers and retailers that these drivers are of value and that the transportation piece itself is of value to the industry must be realized," he says. "Very simply - things need to be more driver-friendly because these guys have other options."
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