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Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty T Hawkins. Today we’re doing something I always enjoy, another Ask Me Anything episode! Let’s see, we’re at episode 383, and I’ve got three questions that have come in recently that I think deserve a little conversation. And I’ve got to tell you, these are good ones. All three have came up before, and I feel there worth covering again. We’re going to talk about social media and job hunting, personal appearance requirements in manufacturing, and whether employers can legally require applicants to speak Spanish or be bilingual. Now, all three questions have something in common. Each person feels that an employer is doing something unfair, or maybe even illegal. And I understand where they’re coming from. But there’s an important difference between something we don’t like, something we believe is unfair, and something that’s actually against the law.  So let’s get into it! Our first question comes from someone who writes “I’m qualified for a picker position, but I keep getting skipped over or nobody calls me back. A recruiter mentioned that I should clean up or delete my Facebook page while I’m hunting for a job. That’s illegal, isn’t it? Employers can’t look at my personal profiles.” Well, I’ve got some news for you. Yes, they generally can! And not only can employers look at information you’ve made publicly available on social media, but some actually do. Now, that doesn’t mean every recruiter is spending their evening scrolling through Facebook profiles. Most have plenty of other things to do. But social media can certainly become part of the hiring process. And it’s generally not illegal for an employer to review publicly available information about an applicant. There are limits, of course. Employers cannot use what they discover to unlawfully discriminate against someone. There are also privacy laws, background-check requirements, and protections for certain employee discussions about workplace conditions. But your publicly available Facebook posts? Those aren’t automatically off-limits just because you’re applying for a job.  Let’s think about this from an employer’s perspective. You’ve applied for an order selector position. You’ve got the experience. You know how to operate the equipment. You understand production expectations, case counts, accuracy, and safety. On paper, you look like a pretty good candidate. But suppose your public Facebook page contains repeated posts about how much you hate working, how stupid your former supervisors were, how you don’t believe in following company rules, or how every employer you’ve ever worked for has treated you terribly. What kind of impression might that leave?  Now, I’m not saying a single complaint or an occasional bad day should cost someone an opportunity. And employees have legal rights to discuss wages, safety, and working conditions. But there’s a difference between raising legitimate workplace concerns and creating a public impression that you might be difficult to work with. Employers are looking for more than someone who can pick 180 cases an hour. They’re looking for dependability, teamwork, professionalism, good judgment, and someone who understands the importance of safety. And your online presence may give them an impression of those things, whether that impression is accurate or not.  Here’s another thought. We spend all this time putting together a professional resume, choosing the right words, listing our experience, and preparing for interviews. Then we turn around and post something on Facebook that makes us look like the last person anyone would want on their team! Come on now. Let’s give ourselves a fighting chance!  My suggestion isn’t necessarily to delete Facebook. It’s to review your public presence. Look at your posts, pictures, comments, and privacy settings. Ask yourself what impression a stranger might get. And don’t forget, that recruiter who suggested you clean up your Facebook page might have been trying to help you. They may have been giving you a valuable piece of career advice.  One more thing. Just because you’re not getting a callback doesn’t mean Facebook is the reason. There could be dozens of explanations, including competition, scheduling requirements, your resume, or the position being filled. But why give an employer another reason to hesitate?  Here’s our second question, “I applied at a plastics manufacturing plant and was being hired. Then they told me I had to remove my fake nails and eyelashes before I could start. How can they make me do that? What does that have to do with my ability to do the job?”  Well, this is another interesting one. First, I understand that personal appearance is important to people. We all have our preferences and ways of expressing ourselves. But when we enter a manufacturing environment, we’re entering a workplace with equipment, machinery, moving parts, production standards, and safety requirements. And employers generally have the authority to establish reasonable appearance and grooming policies that are consistent with applicable law. Let’s talk about those fingernails. Depending on the operation, long or artificial nails can create concerns with properly fitting gloves, handling small components, working around machinery, or maintaining product quality. Artificial nails can break, become damaged, or potentially end up in a finished product. Imagine you’re manufacturing plastic components for another company’s assembly process. A piece of an artificial nail ends up in a finished product or package. Now we’ve potentially got a product quality issue, a customer complaint, or maybe even an investigation. And remember, in manufacturing, quality matters just as much as productivity. What about the eyelashes? Well, depending on their length, attachment, and the particular job, artificial eyelashes could create concerns involving product contamination or interference with properly fitted protective eyewear. Does that mean fake eyelashes are dangerous in every manufacturing plant? Absolutely not. And does OSHA have some universal regulation that says nobody in plastics manufacturing can wear artificial nails or eyelashes? No. The actual hazards and the employer’s specific policies matter. But an employer doesn’t necessarily have to wait until something causes an injury or a quality problem before establishing reasonable preventive standards.   Now, think about the other appearance and safety requirements we’re already familiar with. We require certain footwear. We restrict loose clothing around machinery. We may prohibit dangling jewelry. We require hair restraints in some operations. And we expect associates to wear the personal protective equipment required for their jobs. Why? Because the workplace has requirements that may be different from what we’re comfortable with outside of work. There are legal limits. Policies cannot be unlawfully discriminatory, and some religious or disability related needs may require reasonable accommodations. But if the company has a legitimate, consistently applied safety or quality requirement, you may have to comply with it to work in that position.  Here’s what I’d suggest. Instead of immediately asking, “How can they make me do that?” ask, “Can you explain the safety or quality reason behind the policy, and whether there are acceptable alternatives?” That’s a perfectly reasonable question. You might learn something about the manufacturing process you hadn’t considered. And if the requirement simply doesn’t work for you, then perhaps that particular position isn’t the best fit. Remember, accepting a job means accepting certain workplace responsibilities. We don’t get to pick and choose every rule based on personal preference.   Now, here’s our third question. “I keep seeing job advertisements that say you must speak Spanish or be bilingual. Isn’t that illegal? How can an employer require someone to speak Spanish to get a warehouse job?” The short answer? No, requiring bilingual skills is not automatically illegal. And this question is particularly interesting in our light industrial, manufacturing, and distribution industries. Let’s look at a few examples. Suppose a warehouse has associates who speak primarily English and others who speak primarily Spanish. The company is hiring a frontline supervisor responsible for communicating safety expectations, assigning work, explaining procedures, conducting start-up meetings, and addressing employee concerns. Wouldn’t the ability to communicate effectively with both groups be valuable? Of course it would! And if speaking both languages is genuinely necessary to perform that particular position effectively, an employer may lawfully require bilingual proficiency.   Now, here’s the career-development side of this conversation. Instead of automatically looking at a bilingual requirement as something that’s keeping us from an opportunity, maybe we should consider what that requirement tells us about the industry. Our workforce is diverse. Our customers are diverse. And the ability to communicate effectively with different groups of people is an increasingly valuable skill. I’ve talked many times about the importance of learning something new, expanding our abilities, and making ourselves more valuable to an organization. Well, here’s another example. Maybe learning Spanish isn’t something you want to do. That’s entirely your choice. But for someone who wants to move from associate to lead, from lead to supervisor, or from supervisor into management, being able to communicate in more than one language may open doors.  Not every position requires it. But when the skill is genuinely needed, it can make a difference. And I’ll add something else. Communication isn’t just abou

Today, let’s talk about a piece of equipment that, depending on how long you’ve been in the light industrial world, you may remember being a pretty significant part of the daily operation. The order picker. Or, as most of us have called it for years, the cherry picker.  Now, if you’re picturing the kind of cherry picker the electric company uses to work on power lines, we’re not talking about that one.  I’m talking about the powered industrial truck designed to elevate an operator alongside warehouse racking, allowing that individual to physically select merchandise from elevated storage locations. And I’ve got to say, in my opinion, the cherry picker has an interesting place in the history of modern warehousing.   Let’s go back a few years. Back when building up made a lot more sense than building out. If you worked in distribution during the late 1990s or early 2000s, you probably remember how important warehouse space was becoming. Real estate wasn’t cheap. Leasing additional square footage wasn’t always an option, and relocating an entire operation could be an expensive undertaking. Companies needed additional storage capacity, but they didn’t necessarily have additional floor space. So, what did we do? We started looking up. Instead of spreading thousands of individual SKUs across additional floor locations, we began utilizing more of the vertical space already available inside our buildings. High-rise shelving and narrow-aisle configurations allowed operations to store merchandise at several levels above the warehouse floor. And the cherry picker became an important part of accessing those locations. You might walk into a distribution center and see entire departments dedicated to high-rise picking. Long, narrow aisles with bin locations reaching well above your head. Automotive parts, hardware, replacement components, retail merchandise, and in my personal experience Food distribution, where these industries allowed for thousands of smaller items to be organized vertically.  The operator would enter the aisle, identify the pick location, raise the platform to the appropriate level, select the required quantity, and place the merchandise onto a pallet or designated load platform traveling with the machine. Then, on to the next location.  It was a pretty ingenious use of available space. Instead of paying for additional square footage, we were making better use of the cubic footage we already had. And that distinction is important. Warehouse space isn’t just what’s available from wall to wall. It’s also what’s available from the floor to the ceiling. Of course, whoever came up with the idea of putting that one little replacement part or that dozen pack of silverware on the very top shelf probably wasn’t the person operating the cherry picker!  For those entering the industry today, let’s spend a minute discussing the equipment itself. A cherry picker, or high-level order picker, is a powered industrial truck designed to raise the operator along with the picking platform. Think about a traditional counterbalance or sit-down forklift. Generally speaking, the operator remains seated while the forks and the load are raised or lowered. With the cherry picker, the operator actually travels upward with the platform to access the merchandise. Depending on the model and application, these trucks can operate at some pretty impressive heights.  The equipment may incorporate narrow-aisle capabilities, wire guidance, rail guidance, specialized controls, and different load-handling configurations. And remember, the purpose of this equipment is generally to allow an operator to retrieve individual items or cases, rather than simply move an entire pallet from one storage location to another. The cherry picker was designed around the person making the selection. And a good operator needed more than the ability to move or operate a machine. They needed location accuracy, inventory awareness, equipment knowledge, excellent depth perception, and the ability to work productively while elevated. And not everybody is comfortable with that last part!  Something interesting happened as distribution continued to evolve. We weren’t just asking ourselves how much merchandise we could fit inside the building anymore. We began asking how quickly we could get that merchandise out of the building. Productivity, travel time, touches per case, replenishment, order accuracy, and labor utilization became increasingly important considerations when designing a picking operation.  Think about a traditional high-rise cherry-picker aisle. An operator might need to raise the platform fifteen or twenty feet for one selection, move to another location, reposition, retrieve another item, and continue repeating the process. Now multiply that activity by hundreds of selections throughout a shift. All those movements take time. The equipment was doing exactly what it was designed to do, but depending on the volume and velocity or movement of the merchandise, there might be a more efficient method. That’s where some other storage and selection systems really began finding their place.  Let’s talk about a few of those real quick now that I’ve thought about them. Carton flow came to mind so we’ll start there.  With carton-flow racking, merchandise can be replenished from the rear while gravity advances the cartons toward the selection face. The selector doesn’t have to travel twenty feet into the air to retrieve every case. The merchandise is presented at an established picking location. You can have many pick faces per bay. An aisle like that can hold several hundred items.  Then we have pallet flow, which can help organize and present palletized inventory, supporting different replenishment and case-selection applications. Oh, and how about mezzanines? Rather than elevating an individual operator repeatedly throughout a shift, a mezzanine or multilevel pick module establishes additional working levels within the existing warehouse footprint. Employees can work from designated walking surfaces, often alongside shelving, carton flow, conveyors, and other material-handling systems. We’ve also seen carousel systems, vertical lift modules, and more recently, automated goods-to-person technology become part of the equation. Instead of sending the employee to every storage location, some of these systems bring the required merchandise to the employee. Imagine explaining that to somebody who spent an entire shift going up and down a cherry-picker aisle back in 1998! They’d probably ask where they could sign up.  Now, none of these technologies automatically makes the others unnecessary. Every system has its advantages, limitations, equipment costs, and application requirements. But collectively, they’ve given warehouse operators more options when deciding how merchandise should be stored and selected. And I think that’s one of the most interesting things about our industry. We’re constantly finding different ways to accomplish the same fundamental responsibility. Getting the correct merchandise to the correct customer, safely, accurately, and on time.  So does the cherry picker still have a place in the industry? Absolutely. The cherry picker hasn’t disappeared, and I certainly wouldn’t suggest that high-rise order picking is a thing of the past. Plenty of operations still utilize high-level picking as a primary fulfillment method. However, depending on the operation, the equipment may now serve a more specialized purpose. Think about slower-moving inventory. Not every SKU justifies a dedicated, easily accessible ground-level picking location. A distribution center may carry thousands of replacement parts or specialty products that are ordered only occasionally. Utilizing elevated storage for those items can free up valuable floor-level space for faster-moving merchandise.   The important question isn’t whether the equipment is old-fashioned. It’s whether we’re utilizing the correct piece of equipment for the application. Sometimes a pallet jack is the answer. Sometimes it’s a reach truck, a dockstocker, an order picker, or an automated picking system. And sometimes it’s simply reorganizing the inventory, so we’re not traveling halfway across the building to select three items that probably should have been sitting next to each other! That’s warehouse management, folks.  Now, I don’t think we can have an episode about cherry pickers without spending some time discussing safety. One of the most important considerations with this particular piece of equipment is that the operator is working from an elevated platform. Fall protection is critical. Operators must utilize the appropriate manufacturer-designated fall-protection system, which generally includes a properly fitted full-body harness connected to an approved anchorage using the specified lanyard or self-retracting device. And let me emphasize something. Having a harness hanging on the back of the machine doesn’t count as wearing it! Operators should be trained in its correct use, inspect their equipment, and understand the facility’s rescue procedures before operating at height. Platform gates and other safety devices must also be properly secured. Never climb the racking, reach excessively outside the platform, bypass a safety device, or step onto a pallet unless the equipment and application have been specifically designed and approved for that activity.  Another concern is travel. Some order pickers are designed to travel while elevated under specific operating conditions. Others have different restrictions. Know the equipment. Follow the manufacturer’s operating instructions and your facility’s established procedures. And, of course, don’t forget the daily pre-operation inspection. Controls, steering, brakes, hydraulic components, warning devices, platform conditions, and the applic

Showing up. Now, when I say showing up, I’m not just talking about clocking in on time or about making it to the interview. I’m not just talking about being at the startup meeting, standing on the production floor, sitting behind a desk, or walking into the warehouse every morning. I’m talking about really showing up. Showing up for your career, for your family, for your responsibilities, and your own growth. Showing up when things are going great. And maybe more importantly, showing up when things aren’t going so great.  There is a big difference between being somewhere and showing up. You can be standing right there on the floor and mentally be a hundred miles away on a beach somewhere. You can attend every meeting and never contribute to it or participate in it. We’ve mentioned before how some people have ten years of experience and stop learning after year two. And how you can hold the title of lead, supervisor, manager, director, or vice president and still fail to show up as a leader. Or how about going to work every single day while never really showing up for your career.  So today, here on Warehouse and Operations as a Career, I want us to think about those two words a little differently.  I think showing up starts with being present. We’ll start with the obvious one. Work. We accepted the job. We agreed to the schedule. The operation is counting on us. Our coworkers are counting on us. Production expectations, shipping schedules, receiving appointments, staffing plans, and customer commitments may all depend on people being where they said they would be when they said they would be there.  Of course, attendance matters. But showing up is more than attendance. You can have perfect attendance and still bring very little to the operation. Showing up means arriving ready. Ready mentally. Ready physically. Ready to participate, to contribute, to learn. Ready to solve problems instead of just pointing them out.  When I was coming up through operations, there were always people you knew you could count on. Not necessarily because they were the fastest, or because they had the most experience. You could count on them because they showed up. If something needed to get done, they were there. If another department needed help, they were willing to learn. When there was a challenge, they didn’t disappear. Those are the people managers remember. And those are often the people who eventually get another opportunity.  Here’s another Marty opinion. One of the biggest career mistakes we can make is believing that somebody else is responsible for our development. Yes, companies should train us. And I want good, strong, supervisors to coach me and communicate expectations clearly for me. Organizations should absolutely provide opportunities to us whenever possible.  But somewhere along the way, we have to show up for our own growth. Nobody can learn for us. Nobody can ask questions for us. And nobody can make us be curious. And with all that being said, nobody can force us to care about where our career goes next.  Maybe you operate a pallet jack today. Great. Have you asked how the forklift works? Maybe you’re selecting orders. Have you asked about learning receiving? Maybe you work in sanitation. You’re around production all shift, do you understand it? And if you’re a lead. Are you learning how labor is scheduled? How productivity is measured? How safety investigations work? How your WMS works? Or how inventory moves through the building? The person who keeps showing up to learn knows more than the person who only shows up to work. That difference can become huge over five, ten, or twenty years. We’ve talked about it many times over the last 8 years here on WAOC.  Learn the operation. Not just your job. Our job may be where we are today. The operation can teach us where we might go tomorrow. But we have to show up for the lesson.  Ok, here’s another part of showing up that we don’t talk about enough. Who are you showing up with? Look at the people around you. What are they talking about? What are they encouraging, and where are they headed?  Now, I’m not saying we abandon friends because somebody hasn’t reached a certain level professionally. That’s not the point. I’m talking about influence. If everybody around you complains about work, eventually complaining starts sounding normal. If everybody around you says management is against them, every coaching conversation can begin to feel like an attack. If the group spends every break talking about how little they can do without getting in trouble, eventually the goal becomes doing the minimum. However, spend time around people who talk about learning something new. Getting certified, moving into leadership, saving money, improving their health, becoming better parents, being better spouses, reading, learning, growing. And something happens. Our conversations begin to change and then our thoughts start changing. And eventually our actions can change. There’s an old idea that we tend to become like the people we spend the most time around. Whether we want to take that literally or not, I think we can all agree on this. Energy is contagious. And negativity can spread across a warehouse floor quicker than almost anything. But so can enthusiasm, pride, professionalism, and a desire to improve. Ask yourself occasionally, are the people around me helping me show up as the person I’m trying to become? And just as importantly, am I helping them show up too?  Ok, Now, nobody walks into work fired up every single morning. I certainly try.  Some mornings the coffee has to show up before I do. But energy doesn’t always mean bouncing off the walls shouting motivational quotes. Energy can simply mean engagement. Things like eye contact, participating in the startup meeting, greeting my coworkers. And a big one, listening when someone is speaking. Taking an interest in the work. Helping somebody without being asked. And Walking into a problem thinking, how can we fix this? Instead of immediately saying, that’s not my job.  I’ve always felt that your energy announces you. People, leaders, our coworkers, and customers notice it. And, unfortunately, the opposite is true too. The person who constantly walks in angry, complaining, rolling their eyes, arguing about every assignment, finding something wrong with every change. That person is showing up too. Just maybe not in the way they realize or want to be.  I like to think, every day you show people who you are becoming. You know growth isn’t only learning another piece of equipment or earning another certification. Some of the most important growth is maturity. Things like how we respond when corrected, and how we react when someone disagrees with us? Can you say, “I was wrong” or apologize, and can you listen? Can you watch somebody else get the promotion you wanted and still congratulate them? When we get to that point, well, in my humble opinion, that’s growth.  Early in our careers, we often think advancement is mainly about learning to do more. And yes, skills absolutely matter. But as responsibilities increase, how we handle ourselves becomes increasingly important. A supervisor cannot spend the entire shift reacting emotionally. A manager cannot make every disagreement personal. A leader has to be able to hear things they don’t want to hear. Maturity is learning that correction isn’t always criticism, and a different opinion isn’t always disrespect. Sometimes showing up means showing up as the adult in the room.   Alright, now on to showing up when no one is watching. This one matters. What kind of employee are you when the manager leaves the floor? What happens to your production when nobody is standing nearby? Do you follow the safety rule because it’s a rule, or because you understand why the rule exists? Do you wear your PPE because management is walking through, or because protecting yourself matters? I guess I’m saying that character shows up when supervision walks away. Showing up means maintaining your standards when nobody is there.   And I want to throw in that this idea, or concept, isn’t just meant for our professional side. We have to show up in life. Put the phone down occasionally. Listen. Attend the event. Make the call. Keep the promise. Check on somebody. Say thank you. And say congratulations. Tell somebody you appreciate them. Our careers matter. But someday every one of us will clock out for the last time. And when that happens, our title won’t matter nearly as much as the relationships we built while we were earning it.  I’ve talked a lot over the years about careers. Growth. Leadership. Operations. Productivity and Safety. Careers are part of life. They aren’t supposed to replace it though. But success at work doesn’t mean much if we continually fail to show up everywhere else.  Let’s see, what else did I note here. Showing up after failure.  This here may be the hardest one. Show up again. You didn’t get the promotion? The interview didn’t go well? You made a mistake? Own it, learn from it, and show up. You were coached on something? Somebody underestimated you? Show up. Life didn’t follow the plan you had written in your head? Show up anyway!  One bad day doesn’t define our career. One mistake doesn’t erase years of good work. One rejection doesn’t determine your value. Just show up and come back tomorrow.  One last thought. Stop waiting until you feel completely ready. You probably won’t. Sometimes an opportunity appears before confidence does. Take the class. Apply for the position. Ask the question. Volunteer for the assignment. Or learn the equipment. You don’t have to know everything before you start. You just have to be willing to show up and learn.  So this week, I want you to think about two simple words. Showing up. Show up physically, mental

Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty and today, I thought we’d talk about three things that we see in just about every warehouse, manufacturing facility, distribution center, and production environment at one time or another.  Horseplay. Drama. And standing around. Now, individually, they may not sound like the biggest workplace problems in the world. Somebody jokes around a little too much. Two people are talking about what somebody else said. A couple of associates are standing at the end of the aisle talking when there isn’t anything happening for a moment. No big deal,  right? Well, maybe it is. Today I don’t want to look at these three things only from the perspective of safety or productivity. I want to talk about what they can do to our reputation, opportunities, and ultimately our career.  Let’s start with horseplay. I’ve spent a lot of years around warehouses and operations, and one thing I’ve learned is that people like to have fun at work. And I believe we should. There’s nothing wrong with laughing and enjoying the people you work with. There’s nothing wrong with having a little personality. We’re going to spend a lot of hours with the people around us, and nobody wants to work someplace where everybody walks around looking miserable. But there’s a difference between having fun and horseplay. Horseplay in a warehouse can turn serious very quickly.  Think about our environment. Forklifts, pallet jacks, conveyors, dock plates, trailers, pallets, racking, knifes, strapping, machinery, heavy products, blind spots. We’re surrounded by things that don’t care whether you were just joking. Push somebody jokingly and they can fall into a piece of equipment. If we throw something across an aisle and someone may instinctively step into traffic. Or sneak up behind somebody and startle them while they’re using a knife or operating equipment. Suddenly, the joke isn’t funny anymore. And the important thing is. When leadership sees you participating in horseplay, they’re not just thinking those guys are having fun. They may be thinking, can I trust this person?   We know that safety and responsibility go together. If you want to become a trainer, lead, supervisor, or manager someday, people need to trust your judgment. And every day we’re building that reputation.  Now let’s talk about something that can spread through a warehouse faster than almost anything else. Workplace drama. Who said what? Who doesn’t like who? Who moved to another department? Who got written up? Who got promoted? Who didn’t get promoted? Why did the supervisor talk to them? Why does she always get that assignment? Why does he get to leave early? Before you know it, five people are involved in something that originally concerned two people. And nobody is talking about today’s production numbers anymore.  Drama is distracting. And distraction in an industrial environment can become a safety problem quick.  But drama also damages teamwork. I’ve watched small misunderstandings become department wide problems simply because everybody wanted to participate in the conversation. Sometimes the smartest thing we can say when somebody brings us workplace gossip is I don’t know anything about that. And then get back to work. We don’t have to attend every argument we’re invited to. That little piece of advice can save you a lot of headaches in your career.  Here’s what leadership notices. They notice the people who calm situations down. And they notice the people who stir situations up. They see the person who says “Hey, let’s get back to what we’re doing.” And they also notice the person walking from department to department making sure everybody knows the newest piece of gossip. Which one do you think they’re considering when they’re looking for their next lead?  And then there’s just standing around. This one can be tricky, because sometimes there really isn’t something happening for a moment. The conveyor may be down, or you’re waiting on product, or a trailer hasn’t backed in yet, or our machine is being adjusted.  There’s a difference between waiting on the operation and developing a habit of standing around. I think, or hope, we’d all agree there’s always something to do in a warehouse. Housekeeping, straightening pallets, cleaning your area, maybe checking equipment or machine, restocking supplies. And of course a couple of my favorites, how about learning another position, helping another associate, or asking your lead what needs to be done next. And here’s a sentence I want everybody to remember. We are being observed even when we don’t realize we’re being observed. Your supervisor may walk by. The facility manager may be on the floor. The customer may be walking through. Even a visiting corporate manager may see us. And they don’t know that you’ve been working hard for the previous three hours. They only know what they see right now. You’re leaning against a pallet talking. Perception becomes reality very quickly.  And standing around doesn’t just affect your reputation. It affects the operation. If ten people waste ten minutes, that’s 100 minutes of labor. That’s more than an hour and a half of paid labor time. Those little periods add up.  Here’s one we’ve all heard or maybe even said. “But everybody else was doing it.” Maybe they were. That doesn’t change the conversation about you. Here’s one of those opinions of mine. One of the biggest lessons we can learn in our careers is to stop measuring our behavior against the lowest standard around us. Instead, ask yourself.  If your goal is simply to get through today’s shift, that’s one thing. But if you want more responsibility, better opportunities, higher pay, leadership positions, or a career, then your standard has to be different.  And this may be the most important part of today’s episode. Let’s say your supervisor walks over and says: “Guys, quit standing around and get back to work.” How do you respond?  Option one. “We weren’t doing anything!” “We’ve only been standing here for a minute!” “What about those guys over there?” “Why are you always saying something to me?” Now we’ve taken a simple coaching moment and turned it into a confrontation.  Option two. “Got it.” And you go back to work.  Which employee do you think is easier to coach? Which employee would you trust with additional responsibility? I understand that none of us enjoy being corrected. I don’t care if you’re 18 years old or 65 years old. Nobody wakes up in the morning hoping somebody points out something they did wrong. But being coachable is a career skill. Your supervisor shouldn’t have to debate with you every time they give you direction.  And here’s something I’ve seen happen throughout my career. Sometimes the original issue wasn’t that serious. Maybe somebody was standing around for a couple minutes. The supervisor says something. Instead of simply correcting the behavior, the employee becomes defensive, argumentative, or disrespectful. Now the problem isn’t standing around anymore. The problem is behavior. A ten-second coaching conversation has turned into something much bigger. Sometimes we’re responsible for escalating our own situation.  I’ve shared many times, I believe any way, that our reputation is being built every shift. Here’s something I wish every new associate was told or understood on their first day. Your reputation isn’t built when a promotion becomes available. It’s built months before the promotion exists. Every shift you’re answering questions people may never ask you directly. Are you dependable? Are you safe? Do you work without somebody constantly watching you? Can you handle correction? Do you bring solutions or problems? Do you stay out of unnecessary drama? Can you work with different personalities? Can you be trusted? That reputation follows us ladies and gentlemen.   Let’s look at this scenario. One day a lead position opens. The manager walks into the office and asks his or her supervisors. “We need another lead on second shift. Who do we have?” And names start being mentioned. That’s when your previous six months start talking for you. Someone might say, “He’s productive, but he’s always involved in drama.” Or, “she’s a good worker, but we’ve had to talk to her several times about horseplay.” Or, “He knows the job, but every time you walk through his area he’s standing around.” I feel we need to remember, Yes, those may sound like little things day to day. But, like in this scenario, they can become big things tomorrow.  So, with all that being said. The message I want to leave you with today is, don’t let little things cost you big opportunities. Horseplay, drama, and standing around. Three things that can seem small. But they can become habits. And they are three things that can keep you from becoming the person management looks at when opportunity knocks.  I’m not saying we have to be perfect. None of us are. You’re going to make mistakes, going to have conversations, and going to joke around. And every once in a while you’re probably going to get called out for something. The important part is what happens next. Can you accept the coaching? Can you correct the behavior? And can you move forward?  Because sometimes career growth isn’t about learning one more piece of equipment or increasing our cases per hour. Sometimes it’s about, lets see, what word am I looking for, lets use maturity. Knowing when to joke and when to work. When to walk away from drama, knowing when to find something productive to do, and knowing how to respond when someone tells us we’re falling short of the expectation.  So tomorrow when you walk through those warehouse doors, ask yourself. What reputation am I building

Today lets talk about probably one of the most recognized, most used, most abused, and quite possibly most underestimated pieces of material-handling equipment in our industry. The pallet jack. You know the one. Two forks. A handle. A couple of wheels. And maybe a battery. And depending on which version we are talking about, maybe an operator standing behind it, walking beside it, standing on it, or flying down the dock on it like they’re qualifying for the warehouse version of the Indianapolis 500. And that last one, of course, is exactly what we are not supposed to be doing.  Today we’re going to talk about where the pallet jack came from, why it became such an important part of warehousing and distribution, the manual pallet jack, the electric walkie, the platform rider, and the single, double and triple pallet trucks. And being Marty, with Warehouse and Operations as a Career I’m going to take another opportunity to sprinkle in a little of the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178 standard along the way! As we’ve learned, once we put a motor on our pallet jack, we haven’t just made our job easier, we’ve entered the world of powered industrial trucks.  Ok, before we talk safety, let’s give this little workhorse some history. Material handlers were experimenting with low-lift trucks and platforms more than a 100 years ago. By the early 1900s, the industry was looking for better ways to move heavier quantities of material without requiring workers to carry, drag or hand-truck everything individually.  The development of the pallet changed everything. We learned a lot about its introduction back in Feb of 2019, I think it was episode 124. Anyway I digress there a bit. Well, then came an innovation that seems simple today but transformed material handling. George Raymond Sr, founder of what became The Raymond Corporation, and employee William House developed the hydraulic hand pallet truck. On November 7, 1939, they were granted a patent for that design, along with the double-faced wooden pallet designed to work with it. Think about that combination. A standardized platform for freight and a small machine capable of slipping underneath it, raising it a few inches and moving the entire load. That changed material handling. Instead of moving fifty cases individually, we could move fifty cases as one unit. Instead of handling every carton five or six different times, we began handling palletized units. And that was our industry’s first efficiency lesson. The pallet jack isn’t really about lifting. It’s about eliminating touches. Every unnecessary touch costs time and requires labor. And creates another opportunity for damaged product or injury.  So let’s start with the one most of us meet first. The manual pallet jack. Sometimes called a hand jack, hand pallet truck or pump jack. We insert the forks beneath the pallet and pump the handle, which activates a hydraulic system. A few pumps later, the pallet rises just enough to clear the floor. A pallet jack isn’t designed to lift a load six feet into the air. Its job is to lift the load just enough to travel. You’ll see manual jacks in grocery stores, warehouses, manufacturing plants, trailers, production areas and back rooms in the retail world everywhere. But don’t confuse simple with harmless. A loaded manual pallet jack may be carrying thousands of pounds. Once those thousands of pounds start rolling, your arms and legs are not going to win the argument. I’ve seen people try to stop a rolling pallet jack with their foot. That’s a bad plan. I’ve seen people pull a load downhill toward themselves. Another bad plan. The equipment may be manual. But the consequences are still powered by gravity.  Then somebody said “Why are we pulling this thing ourselves?” And electricity entered the equation. Battery-powered low-lift trucks existed early in the development of modern material handling. Yale’s history, for example, traces battery-powered low-lift platform trucks back to 1919 and 1920. By 1951, Clark was introducing electric powered walkie-type pallet trucks. Now we had something capable of moving heavy palletized freight without the operator supplying the muscle. And productivity increased dramatically. But something else increased too. Risk. Because now the machine could accelerate, travel farther, and travel faster. And it could generate considerably more force when something, or somebody got in its way.  Then comes the walkie. The electric walkie is probably one of the most common powered pallet trucks. The operator walks with the unit while controlling it through the control handle. Forward. Reverse. Raise. Lower. A Horn. And usually some type of emergency reversing or belly button switch designed to help protect the operator if the control handle comes back toward them. The walkie can be incredibly efficient for moving pallets short to moderate distances.  One danger here is where operators can get comfortable. Way too comfortable. The most obvious danger is getting pinned. You have a machine behind you. A rack, wall, pallet, column or trailer wall in front of you. If you don’t maintain space, suddenly you’re the meat in a pallet-jack sandwich. Not today’s career goal. Another danger is our feet. The drive wheel and load wheels don’t care how expensive our shoes or boots are. We need to know where we’re standing. And its important  to remember that the forks themselves extend several feet beyond the body of the machine. I’ve watched operators clear a corner with themselves while forgetting they still had about four feet of forks following them.   Then we step up to the rider pallet truck. These units allow the operator to ride on a platform instead of walking alongside the equipment. If you’re working in a large distribution center and moving freight hundreds of feet at a time, you can immediately see the productivity advantage. Walk 300 feet. Walk back. Walk 300 feet. Do that all shift long. Now place the operator on a powered rider pallet jack. Completely different productivity equation! But rider units introduce their own hazards. Speed, cornering, and pedestrian interaction becomes much more important. And keeping our arms, legs and feet within the running lines of the truck becomes extremely important. The rack upright isn’t going to move because our feet are sticking off the end of the platform.  Alright, the traditional powered pallet jack usually moves one pallet at a time. And in many operations, that’s exactly what we need. But high volume distribution created another question. What if we could move two at a time? Now we start talking about double pallet trucks. These are designed to transport two pallet positions together, depending on the equipment and the application. Think beverage distribution, Foodservice, Grocery. High volume selecting and loading operations. Moving two pallets instead of one can reduce travel dramatically. And travel is often one of the biggest components of warehouse labor. If an operator or selector spends 50 percent of their time traveling, then every opportunity to safely reduce unnecessary travel can create tremendous productivity gains. I always stress to operators that there’s a tradeoff for that productivity. More freight means more weight. More length and turning radius. More stopping distance needed and more opportunity for load instability. Your empty double pallet jack and your fully loaded double pallet jack are two very different animals, and you have to be treating them as such. That’s where experience and training come in.  Next up are the triples. Yes, there are operations using triple length pallet trucks capable of handling three pallet positions. Potentially thousands upon thousands of pounds of product. That isn’t just a bigger pallet jack. It is a long, heavy moving piece of industrial equipment. You need room and visibility. You need to understand your turning radius. And you need to understand stopping distance. And you absolutely need to understand the equipment you’re authorized to operate. We all know, or should know, that certification on one powered industrial truck does not magically make us qualified on every powered industrial truck in the building. And this brings us to our friend. OSHA 1910.178  29 CFR 1910.178 covers powered industrial trucks. This specifically includes fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks, motorized hand trucks, and other specialized industrial trucks powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines. That means our powered pallet trucks belong in the conversation. The standard requires employers to make sure powered industrial-truck operators are competent to safely operate the type of truck they’re assigned to use. And training isn’t  “There’s the jack. Here’s the key. Don’t hit anything.” 1910.178 requires a combination of formal instruction, practical training and an evaluation of the operator’s workplace performance. Formal instruction might include classroom discussion, videos, written materials, or computer-based learning. Practical training means demonstration and hands-on exercises. Then comes the evaluation. Can the individual actually operate the equipment safely in the workplace? That’s an  important piece. Watching a thirty-minute video doesn’t make somebody an operator. And knowing where the throttle is doesn’t make somebody an operator. Oh, and having driven one at your last job doesn’t automatically qualify you at this job. Training must address the truck and the workplace. That includes things l

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and today let’s talk about something that sounds incredibly simple. So simple, in fact, that we probably hear it growing up from our parents, teachers and coaches. And once we enter the workforce, we hear it from supervisors, managers, customers, and coworkers.  Do what you say you’re going to do. That’s it. Sounds easy, right? But think about how many problems inside a warehouse, distribution center, manufacturing facility, transportation operation, or production environment start because somebody said they were going to do something and then they didn’t. An associate says, I’ll be here tomorrow, then they don’t show up. A lead says, I’ll get someone over there to help you and nobody comes. And a supervisor says, “I’ll look into that but nothing happens. And here’s a good one, a manager says, we’ll get that repaired yet three weeks later, the same equipment is still tagged out. And a great example, an executive says, safety is our number-one priority. But when production gets tight, unsafe shortcuts suddenly become acceptable. See where I’m going? Today’s subject is not really about keeping promises. I feel it’s about, 3 of my favorite words. Credibility, trust, and accountability. And, most importantly for us, it’s about building a reputation that helps us move our career forward. We want people to remember that we do what we say.  Let’s start with the newest associate walking into the warehouse. Maybe we are an order selector, a pallet runner, loader, receiver, a forklift operator, or maybe this is our first warehouse job. Our reputation begins almost immediately. During orientation, we may say I understand. I’ll be here at 7:00. I’ll wear my PPE. I’ll call if I’m going to be late. I’ll complete my pre-trip. And I’ll follow the procedures. Those may sound like little statements, But every one of them matters. If we tell our supervisor we will be there at 7:00, and we consistently arrive at 6:50 ready to work, he or she will notice. And if we say we are willing to learn receiving, and when the opportunity comes we step over there and learn it, it gets noticed. If we tell someone we’ll finish wrapping a pallet before break and we do it, people notice. And guess what? When we don’t do those things, thats noticed too. Our reputation in the workplace is often nothing more than a collection of experiences other people have had with us. Can I count on Marty? Does Marty show up? Does Marty finish what he starts? Does Marty tell me when there’s a problem? If Marty says he’s going to do something, will it get done? Those questions, or answers I guess, become our reputation. And I’ve said it before, in our industry, in many instances, your reputation walks into a building before you do. Warehousing and transportation is a surprisingly small world. Supervisors become managers. Managers change companies. Associates become leads. Vendors become customers. Customers become employers. And years later, somebody may hear your name and say, oh yeah. I remember him.  Now here’s something else we need to talk about. Doing what we say does not mean saying yes to everything. A subject I struggle with myself!  Sometimes one of the most professional responses we can give is I can’t promise that, or, I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out. There is a big difference between being helpful and overpromising.  Imagine a lead telling three different people “I’ll take care of it. “I’ll get somebody over there. “I’ll have maintenance look at it.” “I’ll get your schedule fixed.” “I’ll talk to the supervisor.” All that sounds helpful. But what if none of it happens? Pretty soon, those words don’t mean anything. Wouldn’t you rather hear I don’t have the answer right now, but I’ll check and get back to you before lunch. Then actually get back to me before lunch. To me, or with me, that builds credibility.  We don’t have to know everything. We don’t have to fix everything ourselves. But if we give somebody our word, we need to follow through. And if circumstances change and we cannot follow through, we have to communicate that.  Let’s say I tell my supervisor “I’ll have that trailer unloaded by 10:00.” Then we find damaged product. There’s an OS&D issue. The paperwork doesn’t match. Or a pallet collapsed. Now 10:00 isn’t going to happen. That does not automatically mean I failed. But what happens next matters. If 10:00 comes and goes and nobody knows what happened, I’ve created another problem. But, If I communicate at 9:15 and say “We found damaged freight on pallets six and seven. I’ve stopped the unload and I’m waiting on direction from claims. We probably won’t make the 10:00 completion.” That’s professionalism. Doing what we say includes letting people know when something prevents us from doing it. Remember a couple of weeks ago how we learned that communication protects trust. Well, silence destroys it.    Now let’s move up to the lead position. This is where the subject becomes even more important. Because once we become a lead, people begin watching whether our actions match our words. We tell the team, “Safety comes first.” Then an associate says a pallet is leaning badly. What do we do? Do we stop and correct it? Or do we say “Just move it. We’re behind.” We tell everyone “Pre-trip your equipment before using it.” Then we jump on a pallet jack ourselves without inspecting it. What did we just teach the team? Leadership is not what we say during the startup meeting. Leadership is what people watch us do after the startup meeting. Associates are very good at spotting inconsistencies. Here’s a couple of great examples. If I say “Everybody needs to be on time, but I walk in late three days a week, I’ve lost credibility. And If I say “Communication is important,” but associates cannot get an answer from me, well, you see where I’m going. For supervisors and managers, our words carry even more weight.    What else did I note here, oh, I want to throw in a word on safety, all this becomes especially important around safety. If we tell associates to report hazards, we have to respond when they do. If someone reports a broken pallet jack and nothing happens, eventually people stop reporting broken equipment. If somebody identifies a near miss and management ignores it, eventually near misses stop getting reported.  If someone tells us a dock plate isn’t operating correctly and our answer is, “We know. Just be careful.” What message are we sending? We cannot build a safety culture through posters, or slogans, and we cannot build it through once-a-year training. Safety culture is built when employees see the company do what it says it will do. If we say “Report hazards.” Then hazards need to be investigated. If we say “Never operate defective equipment.” Then defective equipment needs to stay out of service. If we say “No load is more important than someone going home safely.” Then our operational decisions have to reflect that. That’s credibility.  Now let’s look outside the four walls of our building for a second. Our customers are paying attention to us as well. In transportation, we tell a customer: “The truck will be there at 8:00.” Maybe it arrives at 8:00. Maybe it doesn’t. But if we know at 6:30 that the driver has been delayed and we wait until 8:15 to communicate it, we’ve damaged our trust. Again, customers understand that problems happen. Trucks break down. People call out. Systems go down. Freight gets damaged, and weather happens. What customers struggle with is surprise. Don’t surprise people with bad news they should have heard earlier.  Sometimes doing what we say means saying “We’re not going to hit the original commitment, and here’s what we’re doing about it.” That kind of honesty can actually strengthen a relationship.  Now let’s talk about executives. Vice presidents. Directors. Presidents. Owners. CEOs. At that level, words can influence entire organizations. We tell employees “Our people are our greatest asset.” Okay. Do our actions show that? We say “We believe in training.” But are we investing in training? We say “We promote from within.” Are we actually developing internal candidates? We say “Safety is priority one.” Are safety expenses approved? And are damaged tools replaced? Are supervisors held accountable for unsafe behavior? Culture travels downhill. And so does inconsistency.    I think the little promises matter the most. Here’s where I think we sometimes get this wrong. We think trust is built with big speeches and big promises. Usually it’s built through all the little things like  “I’ll call you back.” And you call. “I’ll send that report.” And you send it. Those small moments stack up. Eventually people stop wondering whether you’re dependable. They just know you are.  We can spend a lot of time complaining that other people don’t follow through. Our coworker didn’t do what they said. Our supervisor forgot. Management never responded. The company promised something. Some of those complaints may be completely legitimate. But let’s to turn the mirror around for a moment. What about us? Do people have to remind us? Do we commit to things and then forget them? Do we blame circumstances rather than communicate issues? Do we exp

Today let’s talk about something I’ve been asked many times over the years. “Why warehousing?” Or “Why transportation?” Or “Why the supply chain?”  After unloading trailers, pulling orders, operating forklifts, supervising teams, managing operations, and on to the executive team, I’ve been asked that question hundreds of times. People usually expect me to answer with one of the obvious reasons. That there’s good money, great benefits, opportunities for overtime, or the Job security and Promotion opportunities, and how the works stable, sometimes even considered essential. And those are all true, and they’re all important. But if I had to narrow everything down to just one reason? Just one thing that makes this industry different than almost every other career?  Well, I’d have to go with how this industry rewards the person you’re willing to become. Not who you are today or where you came from. Not what grades you made or where you went to school or who your parents were. This industry has always rewarded effort. It rewards people that keep showing up and that continue learning. It rewards people that become more valuable every year. And to me anyway, that’s something incredibly special.  When someone asks me what they should do with their career, I often tell them that warehousing isn’t just about moving boxes and transportation isn’t just about trucks and how the supply chain isn’t just about inventory. It’s about solving problems. It’s about making businesses successful and it’s about making sure families receive what they need. Every package is delivered. Every grocery shelf is stocked. Every hospital was supplied. Every manufacturing plant receives their raw materials. Every online order arrives on someone’s porch. All of that happens because thousands of us workers choose to become professionals. One of the things I love about this industry is that there are very few ceilings. As I’ve said many times, you can literally start today sweeping floors and next year you might be operating equipment. A year later you’re training others and soon you’re a lead. Then a supervisor. Maybe an inventory analyst. Perhaps a dispatcher or transportation coordinator or a safety professional. Even an operations manager, director, or Vice President. I’ve watched people make that journey. I’ve had the pleasure of hiring several of them and the honor of promoting many of them. Not because they had the fanciest résumé. But because they earned the opportunity.  First off, our industry notices consistency. I know I sound like a broken record sometimes. I keep repeating these things because they are that important and just that simple. Showing up everyday matters. Being dependable and taking ownership matters. If your supervisor never has to wonder whether you’ll be at work, if they know you’ll do quality work and they know you’ll help solve problems instead of creating them, you’ve already separated yourself from many others. Consistency becomes your resume.  Then comes learning. Every new skill increases your value. Learn a second department. Learn receiving, Shipping, Inventory Control, Quality Assurance, Cycle counting, Forklift operation, the Reach truck. What else, here’s a few of my go too’s, the order picker. Yard management. Transportation planning. Warehouse Management Systems. Excel. Everyone should feel comfortable working with Microsoft word and excel. And Leadership. Communication, and of course Safety. Every skill is another tool in your toolbox. And no bad manager or company can take those skills away from you. Even if you change employers, those skills travel with you.  One lesson I’ve learned throughout my own career, and try to share with every new boot I meet, is that companies don’t simply promote experience. They promote confidence and our confidence comes from preparation. I think being prepared comes from learning everything we can. The more you understand the operation, the more valuable you become. Eventually people begin asking for your opinion and that’s when your career really starts to grow.  Another reason I love this industry is because every day is different. No two days are exactly alike. One morning you may have weather delays, all your trucks and loads are running late. On another day we’ll have equipment issues. A customer changes an order. A shipment arrives early. A truck breaks down. The inventory doesn’t match. The team is short-handed. Problems appear every single day!  Some people see stress. I’ve always tried to see opportunities.  Seriously, every problem solved teaches you something. Every challenge develops another leadership skill, and every difficult day prepares you for greater responsibility. Young people often ask me how to become successful, and my answer seems to surprise them. Just Become the person people trust. Trust opens doors. Trust gets assignments and earns promotions. Trust creates opportunities. Trust is built one decision at a time. A decision from us. Being on time. Following through. Owning mistakes. Helping our teammates. Doing the right thing when nobody’s watching. Those habits are noticed.  I also appreciate something else about our profession. You don’t have to wait for someone to allow you to grow. Growth is largely in your control. Read books. Watch training videos, there’s thousands on YouTube. Volunteer for projects. Crosstrain. Ask questions. Observe great leaders. Practice communication. Improve your safety knowledge. Become certified. Nobody can stop you from investing in yourself. The people who grow the fastest are usually the ones who never stop learning.  I’ve met warehouse associates making six figures. transportation professionals earning incredible incomes. Supply chain analysts traveling the country. Operations leaders running million-square-foot distribution centers. Safety professionals influencing thousands of employees. Corporate trainers teaching nationwide. None of them started there. Most started exactly where someone listening today may be standing. The difference wasn’t luck. It was growth.  You know, one of my favorite moments is watching someone realize they have more potential than they ever imagined. Maybe it’s the forklift operator who becomes a trainer. The selector who becomes a supervisor. The receptionist who becomes a recruiter. The dispatcher who becomes a transportation manager. And I could go on and on.  I’ve watched those transformations happen over and over again.  The warehouse is an incredible classroom. It teaches discipline, Communication, Teamwork, Safety, Accountability, Time management, Customer service, Leadership, Conflict resolution, Problem solving. And These aren’t just warehouse skills. They’re life skills. Skills that help in every profession and every stage of life.  People sometimes say they don’t want to work in a warehouse forever. I understand that. But don’t overlook what the warehouse can do for you. It can build confidence. Teach responsibility. Develop leadership. Provide financial stability. Introduce lifelong mentors. Open doors you never knew existed. The warehouse may not be your final destination. But it can absolutely become the foundation of an incredible career.  As I look back over my own career, I don’t remember every shipment. I don’t remember every inventory count. I don’t remember every dock schedule. What I remember are the people. The mentors who challenged me. The associates who inspired me. The supervisors who believed in me. The teams that accomplished incredible things together. That’s another gift this industry gives us. Relationships. And those relationships often last an entire lifetime.  So, if someone asked me today, Marty, what’s the one thing that makes this industry so great? My answer would be simple. Because this industry rewards the person you’re willing to become. It rewards effort. It rewards learning. It rewards reliability. It rewards character. It rewards ownership. It rewards growth. And the beautiful part is, every one of us gets to decide who we’re becoming tomorrow.  Ok, I’ve got to get back to work myself now. But I wanted to add that if you’re just beginning your career in warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, or supply chain, don’t focus only on the next paycheck. Focus on becoming the person everyone wants on their team. The promotions will come. The opportunities will come. The raises will come. The career will come. It’s my opinion or my belief, in this industry, your greatest value isn’t the equipment you operate or the building or department you work in. It’s the person you choose to become.    I’m Marty T Hawkins and I want to thank you for checking in on Warehouse and Operations as a Career today. Until next time, be safe, keep learning, help someone else grow, and never stop investing in yourself.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and as always, I appreciate you spending a little of your day with me.  Today I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for quite a while. Over the past several months, I’ve spoken with warehouse associates, forklift operators, order selectors, recruiters, supervisors, and hiring managers from all over the country. I’ve listened to the concerns of people just entering our industry, and I’ve listened to leaders trying to build strong teams. You know what’s interesting? Both groups are asking almost the same question. The associate is asking, “How do I get ahead?” The employer is asking, “How do I keep good people?” I think those questions are really two sides of the same conversation.   Let’s start with a simple question. What do you think is the biggest concern for today’s warehouse associate? Most people immediately answer, “Money.” Yes, pay is important. We all work to provide for ourselves and our families. Inflation, groceries, rent, and fuel aren’t getting any cheaper. But after forty years in this industry, I’ve learned that money is rarely the real problem. I feel that people want to know if they’re building a future, or just collecting another paycheck. That’s an entirely different question.  When someone walks into a warehouse for the very first time, they’re usually thinking about today’s shift. Can I do the work? Will I like the people? Can I make it through orientation? Will I get enough hours? Those are all fair questions. But somewhere along the way, another question should replace those. In my humble opinion, we should be asking ourselves, “What does my career look like three years from now?” And unfortunately, many people never ask it. Instead, they work, they clock in, they clock out, and before they know it, three years have become ten. Nothing changed except the date on the calendar.  Here’s something I tell every young associate I meet. Your employer hired you to fill a position. Only you can build the career. The company can provide the opportunity. It can’t provide ambition. It can offer training but it can’t force someone to learn. It can post an opening for a Lead, Trainer, Dispatcher, Inventory Control, Safety Coordinator, Supervisor, or Manager but someone has to decide they’re ready to take those steps.  I hear people say all the time “They never give me a chance.” Of course sometimes that’s true. But sometimes we haven’t given ourselves one either. Have we volunteered to learn another department duties? Have we asked to operate another piece of equipment or a different production machine? Have we asked to learned what those inventory people actually do? Do we understand receiving, Shipping, Quality Control, Cycle counts, Warehouse Management Systems, Transportation, Planning, Customer Service? Every one of those skills makes you more valuable. And as we’ve learned, valuable employees don’t stay in the same position forever.  One of the biggest mistakes I see is confusing experience with growth. Someone says “I’ve been here five years.” Well that’s wonderful. But have you had five years of experience, or one year of experience repeated five times? Those aren’t the same thing. Growth happens when we’re learning something new. When we’re uncomfortable and challenged. When we’re solving problems instead of waiting for someone else to solve them.  Here’s a big one, let’s talk about automation for just a minute. I hear it all the time. “Robots are taking our jobs.” Here’s my perspective. Automation doesn’t replace great employees. It can replace repetitive tasks. Someone still has to maintain the equipment. Program the systems. Analyze the inventory. Manage the workflow. Lead the team and interpret the data. Solve the problems technology can’t solve. The more skilled you become, the more valuable you become in an automated world. Technology should motivate us to learn more. Not scare us into standing still. Another thing I hear all the time is, I don’t have time to learn things and online classes take so many hours, or my company wants us to stay over to learn something new. I always ask what are you doing that keeps you from having that time to invest in yourself? What did you watch on tv last Tuesday night and what was the plot of the program? lol. Just a thought. Now where was I. Ok, now let’s talk about something every supervisor notices. Dependability. If I asked ten warehouse managers who their most valuable employee is, almost every one of them would describe someone who shows up every day, on time, and ready to work. Not necessarily the fastest or the strongest. But dependable. And what have we said before? Dependability creates opportunity. Opportunity creates trust. And trust creates promotions. It really is that simple.  Here’s another lesson I learned years ago. Don’t wait for the title before acting like the leader. Lead from wherever you’re standing. Help the new employee. Pick up the trash nobody else noticed. Volunteer for the difficult assignment. Stay positive when everyone else is complaining. Ask questions. Share ideas respectfully. Those things, ladies and gentlemen, are leadership behaviors. And people notice them.  One thing I absolutely love about our industry is that careers are still earned. Think about that. There are very few industries where someone can begin unloading trucks, become a forklift operator, learn inventory, move into training, become a lead, a supervisor, a manager, a director, or a Vice President. I know that’s possible. Because I lived it. Nobody handed me those opportunities. Each one required another step up the ladder. And yes, sometimes those steps were uncomfortable. Sometimes they were exhausting. And many times I wondered if I was ready. But I climbed anyway.  Here’s something else to think about. Every certification you earn is another rung on that ladder. Your Powered Industrial Truck certification. First Aid, CPR, and AED. CRASE. STOP THE BLEED. OSHA training. Leadership classes. The Microsoft Excel and Word programs. Warehouse Management Systems. Inventory Control. Public speaking. Communication. Every one of those skills separates you from the crowd. Because when opportunity comes, preparation wins.  You know what rarely earns promotions? Complaining. Excuses. Drama. Blaming everyone else. Those things might get attention. But they don’t build careers. Solutions build careers. And Managers remember people who solve problems. They remember people who volunteer and there going to remember people who make everyone’s job easier.  Ok, we’ve been closing with a challenge for the week so here’s this weeks. When you walk into work tomorrow don’t ask yourself “What do I have to do today?” Ask yourself “What can I learn today?” One question changes your schedule. The other changes your future. Anything counts. Maybe you ask to learn shipping paperwork, or you spend fifteen minutes talking with inventory control, or maybe you ask your supervisor why something is done a certain way. I think curiosity builds careers.  And here’s another challenge for us. Write down the job you want three years from now. Not tomorrow, but three years from now. Then ask yourself “What skills does that person have that I don’t have yet?” Now you have a roadmap. Our careers aren’t built by accident. They’re built intentionally. By us.  One skill. One lesson. One opportunity. One day at a time.  I’ll leave you with this. The career ladder in warehousing, Production, Transportation, Manufacturing and Distribution. It hasn’t disappeared. In fact, I’d argue it’s stronger than it’s ever been. Companies need leaders and trainers. They need technicians, safety professionals, dispatchers, machine operators, inventory specialists, and operations managers.  The opportunities are there. The ladder is standing exactly where it’s always been. The question is, are you still climbing, or did you stop on the first rung?  If today’s episode encouraged you, challenged you, or reminded you that your future is still being written, I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with a coworker, a friend, or someone who’s just getting started in our industry. Until next time, keep learning and improving, keep showing up every day. And remember. Your job may get you through today, but your commitment to learning is what builds tomorrow.  Everyone have a safe shift and I hope to see you back here in two weeks!

Today we’re talking about something that can literally save lives, protect equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, prevent product damage, eliminate downtime, and even set you up for success outside the warehouse. It’s called the pre-trip. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, Yeah, yeah check the forklift and move on. But today I want to challenge that thought. A pre-trip isn’t just paperwork, and it’s not something regulatory agencies dreamed up to slow us down. It’s one of the greatest habits successful people ever develop. I’m Marty with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. And I thought we’d look at the pretrip a little differently today.   Aviation, railroads, trucking and manufacturing all adopted inspection checklists because investigations repeatedly showed that many accidents weren’t caused by equipment failures, they were caused by failures to discover problems before using the equipment.  Our pre-trip really answers only four questions. Is it safe? Is it operational? Is it legal? And am I ready? That simple framework works for every machine in the building. And as we’ll learn in a few minutes several other positions!   Think about one of the most talked about pieces of equipment. The counterbalance forklift. We’ll check out the forks, mast, chains, and look for any hydraulic leaks. We’ll inspect the tires, the steering and brakes, seat belt, horn, backup alarm, lights, the capacity plate, LP tank or battery and our overhead guard.   Another biggie is the Reach Truck. We’ll have a few more things to check here like the load wheels and outriggers, the reach mechanism, joy stick or lever controls, more hydraulic hoses, the battery connection and stability.   Let’s see, we don’t have to hit them all but I did want to talk about a few or our more common ones. I’ll skip these, let’s see, oh here, the Rider Pallet Jack. Many people underestimate the pallet jacks. First up, the belly button reverse switch, its brake operation and plugging, the fork tips, the drive wheel, its battery, steering arm, and horn. How many foot injuries have you seen here because operators become too comfortable? I hope we’d all agree that even one is too many right?   And the Floor Scrubber. People laugh until it floods an aisle. We’ll need to Inspect things like the squeegee, pads, brushes, the water tanks, and the recovery tank. And its battery, warning lights and dashboard.  A bad scrubber creates slip hazards instead of removing them.  Oh, and I wanted to mention the cardboard and shrink wrap Baler. We need to check the emergency stop, safety gate, interlocks, and look for any hydraulic leaks, and inspect the chains and door latches. The most dangerous baler isn’t the broken one. It’s the one someone bypassed something on.  And of course, any type of Manufacturing Equipment will need a pre-trip, checking the guards, emergency stops, sensors, air pressure, lubrication points, tooling, and the product path. The first product shouldn’t be the test piece. The inspection should be.  And there’s dozens and dozens of other pieces of equipment or machines. Like our conveyor systems, the yard jockey, another important piece is the clamp attachment and slip sheet attachment. Pretrips are a must for all of them.   So, what if you don’t operate equipment? Guess what? I think you still need a pre-trip.  What if you’re an Office Employee? I feel you should be asking yourself. Do I have today’s priorities? Laptop? Chargers? Calendar? Checking for my Meetings? Deadlines? Did I answer yesterday’s emails?  Or if I’m a Recruiter? Have I prepared Today’s interviews? Applicants confirmed? Backgrounds complete? Job descriptions ready? Do I know the Hiring managers expectations?  And I think there’s a few questions every associate can pretrip themselves with.  Our minds deserve a pre-trip too. Am I distracted or tired? Am I frustrated or am I bringing yesterday’s problems into today’s shift? Those questions may be more important than checking tire pressure.  The pre-trip isn’t about checking things off on a sheet of paper or program. It’s about respecting what could happen if you don’t. Professionals don’t inspect their stuff because they expect something to be wrong. They inspect because they refuse to be surprised.   We all know that most accidents don’t begin with the accident itself. They begin with a decision. I’m in a hurry, I’ll check it later, It worked fine yesterday, or It’ll probably be okay.  Every incident investigation, insurance claim, equipment failure, damaged product, or near miss has a starting point. Many times, that starting point was someone choosing not to spend five minutes looking over their equipment.  A pre-trip isn’t just looking for what’s broken. It’s looking for what’s changing. That tire that’s lost a little air. The hydraulic hose beginning to rub against the roller. A chain that’s becoming loose. A battery cable that’s starting to fray. Problems rarely appear all at once. They grow little by little. The pre-trip is our opportunity to catch them while they’re still small.  And we need to remember that finding a problem isn’t the end of the pre-trip. It’s actually the beginning. We may need to Lock it  Out and Tag it Out. Or remove our favorite piece of equipment from service, and notify supervision, calling maintenance and using another truck if available. Professionals understand production never comes before safety.  A pre-trip protects People, Product, Customers, our Buildings, the Company’s reputation, our Production schedules, Inventory accuracy, Budgets, and well, our Careers.   Ok, I need to get back to work myself but tomorrow morning, No matter what your job is, let’s Perform a pre-trip. Not because someone tells you to. But because professionals prepare before they perform. Inspect your equipment or machine. Inspect your workspace. And look over your schedule. Let’s check our attitude and our priorities. Inspect your day. Success rarely depends on what happens after productivity starts. It depends on what you did 5 minutes before that time.   So, I won’t go on and on here. We hear about the pretrip every day, I hope we put a different spin on it today and gave you a little different way to look at it. Yall be safe out there, in both your personal and professional lives.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and as always, thank you for spending a little time with us today. You know, it’s funny how some of the most important jobs in our industry happen in the smallest places. Think about the size of a distribution center. Maybe it’s 300,000 square feet or maybe it’s a million square feet. Hundreds of employees. Thousands of pallets. Forklifts buzzing around in all directions. Trucks backing into dock doors all day long. Now picture the smallest building on that property. It’s probably no bigger than a backyard storage shed. Maybe a desk, a computer, a couple of monitors, a radio, and a coffee pot that has seen better days. That’s the guard shack. Most of us have driven past one. Every truck driver has stopped at one. Most employees wave as they drive through the gate each morning. Yet very few people realize just how much responsibility sits inside that little building. Today, I want to talk about the guard shack, not the building itself, but the people inside it. Because in many ways, that’s where every shipment, every visitor, and every workday truly begins. When someone says they work in a guard shack, people often picture someone raising and lowering a gate all day. They imagine a quiet job where you’re simply checking people in and out. Nothing could be further from the truth. A guard shack attendant wears several hats. They’re part security officer, part customer service representative, part traffic coordinator, part documentation specialist, and often the communication link between transportation, receiving, shipping, and operations. Every truck that enters the property starts with a conversation. Good morning. Company name? Load number please?” Appointment time?” Driver’s license, please.” “Bill of Lading?” “Trailer number?” “Seal number?” Those questions may sound routine, but every answer matters. One incorrect trailer number could send the wrong freight to the wrong dock. One incorrect seal number could indicate a security issue. One missed appointment could throw off an entire day’s receiving schedule. The guard isn’t just asking questions, they’re protecting the operation. One responsibility that has become incredibly important over the last twenty-five years is trailer seal verification. If you’ve never paid attention to that little plastic or steel seal hanging on the back of a trailer, you may not realize how important it really is. That seal represents accountability. When a trailer is loaded, a numbered seal is placed on the doors. That unique number is documented on the shipping paperwork. When the trailer arrives at the distribution center, the very first person to compare that number with the paperwork is often the guard shack attendant. If the numbers don’t match, everything stops. Not because anyone is trying to make life difficult for the driver, but because the integrity of that shipment has been compromised. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a paperwork mistake or the wrong trailer showed up, or maybe someone accidentally recorded the wrong seal number. But it could indicate unauthorized access to that trailer. Finding that discrepancy before the trailer ever enters the yard protects the customer, the carrier, and our facility. That’s a tremendous responsibility for someone sitting in a small building at the front gate. The guard shack is also the first impression your company makes. Think about the truck driver arriving after driving six or seven hundred miles. They’ve fought traffic, weather, road construction, and tight delivery schedules. Maybe they’ve been away from home for several days. The very first employee they meet is usually the guard. A smile. A professional greeting. Clear directions. Respect. Those few moments set the tone for the entire visit. And Drivers remember facilities that treat them well. They also remember facilities where they were ignored, treated rudely, or left wondering what to do next. The guard isn’t simply controlling traffic, they’re representing the company’s culture. I like to think of the guard shack as communication central or the command center! A busy distribution center might have fifty, seventy-five, or even a hundred trailers arriving throughout the day. The guard isn’t making those trucks disappear. They’re communicating constantly. They may be speaking with inbound dispatch. “Hey, the Driver for ABC Trucking has arrived. And the Inbound dispatcher or Receiving might respond, “Send him to Door 18.” The guard relays the information and the driver moves safely to the assigned dock. Simple enough, right? But now multiply that by one hundred trucks. And add in the yard jockeys moving those transfer and local trailers or our backhauls around. Maybe Fuel deliveries. Contractors. Visitors. Maintenance vendors. Employee deliveries. Food service vendors. Emergency responders. Suddenly that little guard shack becomes one of the busiest communication centers on the property. It’s almost like being an air traffic controller, except instead of airplanes, you’re directing trucks, trailers, and people safely around a busy warehouse yard. Remember 2001. For many people, September 11 changed air travel forever. For our industry, it changed supply chain security. Distribution centers across North America began strengthening gate procedures. Visitor logs became more detailed. Identification requirements increased. Trailer seals became more important. Photography restrictions became common place. Access to warehouse property became much more controlled. Many government programs encouraged companies to secure every step of the supply chain, beginning at the front gate. Almost overnight, the guard shack evolved from a simple check-in station into the first line of defense protecting products, customers, and employees. Today, millions of dollars in inventory pass through those gates every single day. The guard shack helps ensure those products arrive safely, leave correctly, and remain secure while they’re on the property. One thing I’ve always admired is how experienced guards develop some amazing long term relationships. They begin recognizing drivers by name. Remember how we mentioned their the first contact? Things like “Morning, Nelson. Back with another produce load?” or “Good to see you again, Cindy.” And “Hey John, Door 22 is ready for you.” Those conversations may only last thirty seconds, but they build trust. The driver knows they’re welcome. And the guard knows who belongs on the property. And when something doesn’t seem right, experienced guards notice it immediately. That’s professionalism developed through experience. If you’re looking for a career in warehousing or transportation, don’t overlook the guard shack. You’ll learn shipping paperwork. Transportation terminology. Appointment scheduling. Trailer identification and develop some great communication skills. And we’ll learn a lot about customer service, problem solving, computer systems, and radio communication. You’ll work with dispatchers, warehouse supervisors, transportation managers, and security personnel every day. I know many transportation coordinators, dispatchers, and operations supervisors that began their careers in positions just like this. I’ve learned to never let the size of the building fool you. Some of the biggest careers begin in the smallest offices. As we wrap up today’s episode, I’d like you to think about something. Tomorrow morning, when you drive into work, take a second look at that guard shack. Think about every truck that will arrive today. Every visitor, contractor, and vendor that will sign in. And how many trailer seals that’ll be verified and the number of loads that’s documented and how many questions there are to be answered and how many potential problem that’s caught before they reach the dock. Smile at your guard as you drive through, maybe even bring him or her a donut and thank them for what they do. Our forklifts may move the freight. The warehouse may process the orders. The transportation department may deliver the products. But before any of that happens, someone in that little guard shack quietly makes sure the day starts the right way. It may be the smallest building on the property, but it protects one of the biggest operations. Until next time, remember that every position in warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation has value. Learn something new every day, respect every role you encounter, and never stop building your career one opportunity at a time. Y’all be safe out there, someone is waiting on, and depending on us after our shift.

Hi All, Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I started off this week hearing a peer’s name I hadn’t heard in probably 12 to 15 years. A colleague was on his way to a meeting with a a prospective client and shared who he was meeting with. It was a gentlemen we’d both worked with in the past. I was reminded how many times this happens every year. It’s something we all, no matter the industry, need to keep in mind! You start at one warehouse in your teens and twenties. A few years later you move across town. Five years after that you accept another opportunity. Then one day you walk into a customer’s warehouse and there’s your old supervisor. Or how about the forklift driver unloading your trailer? You worked beside him fifteen years ago. Or the operations manager? She used to be a shift lead when you were loading trucks together. And this is always an interesting one, the recruiter interviewing you? You remember when she worked in receiving. And the truck driver making your delivery? He used to work maintenance at your last facility. It’s funny how that happens. But it does. Our industry feels huge. Millions of square feet. Thousands of warehouses. Hundreds of trucking companies and countless manufacturers. But once you’ve been around a while, well, it’s actually a very small neighborhood. People don’t disappear, they simply change addresses.  One of the greatest pieces of career advice I can give anyone entering warehousing, manufacturing, production, or transportation is to never burn a bridge. And not because it’s the “nice” thing to do. But because it’s one of the smartest career decisions you’ll ever make.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked in this industry for a long while. I’ve unloaded trucks, selected orders, operated every forklift and attachment, and worked all the utility positions. I’ve supervised some awesome crews and managed a few outstanding operations. I’ve worked beside some incredible people. And today I still run into people from every stage of my career. Former supervisors. Former employees. Customers. Drivers. Safety managers. HR managers. Recruiters. Forklift operators. Maintenance technicians. General managers and Vice presidents. Some I haven’t seen in twenty years. Yet somehow our paths cross again. And when they do they remember. They remember your attitude. They remember your work ethic. And they remember whether you helped people or hurt people. They remember whether you were dependable and whether you accepted responsibility. Most importantly, they remember how you left. And that’s the part I see many young professionals overlook. People remember endings.  We’ve all had or watched an employee having a bad day. They got frustrated. Started yelling. Cursed their supervisor. Threw down their badge and stormed out the door, maybe even slamming doors. Almost like they wanted to make sure everyone watched. In that moment they probably felt powerful. Maybe even justified. But what they didn’t realize is how that three minute emotional decision could follow them for years.  And here’s just a few reasons why I believe we should reconsider that pathway. Your supervisor may leave six months later. The HR manager might accept another position. The operations manager is promoted. The plant manager or GM moves across town. The recruiter joins another staffing company. Suddenly, the people who watched that exit are interviewing candidates somewhere else. Want to guess whose name they recognize? Here’s a quick scenario.  Hey “We interviewed someone today.” “Oh really? What’s his name?” “Johnny so and so.” “I remember Johnny.” Sometimes that’s followed by, he’s a “Great worker.” “Always dependable.” “He’d be an asset.” Other times. Woah, “be careful there.” He can have a bit of a “bad attitude.” “he walked off the job once.” “Couldn’t control his temper.” That one conversation. Just thirty seconds can influence your next opportunity.  Now of course, leaving a company is certainly okay. People leave their jobs every day. Sometimes it’s for better pay, better hours, more opportunity, family reasons, health, education, or maybe career growth. There is absolutely nothing wrong with moving on. But there is a huge difference between leaving professionally and leaving emotionally. Professional employees give notice when possible. They thank people and finish strong. Even train someone else if needed. Shake hands and wish everyone well. They leave the same way they hope to be remembered.  Here’s something many of us don’t consider. Your reputation isn’t built only by your performance. It’s built by your character. Anyone can have a good week and can perform well when everything is going right. Character stands out when things aren’t. When you’re disappointed. Passed over for a promotion. Corrected by your supervisor. Upset over your schedule, and frustrated with overtime. That’s when people discover who you really are.  I’ve had employees come into my office completely upset. And sometimes they deserved to be upset and I’ve agreed with them. But after talking they left respectfully. And months later they received promotions. How you may ask.  Because they handled difficult conversations like professionals. On the other hand, I’ve also watched employees lose tremendous opportunities because they couldn’t manage one emotional moment. One outburst, social media post or text message or one argument. A bridge burned.  Wither right or wrong, today’s world makes all that even more dangerous. People stay connected. You have LinkedIn. Facebook. Instagram. Industry and management groups. People know people. Your reputation can travel across an entire city before you even submit your next application!  Oh, and I want to say this too. Every person deserves respect. Not because of their title but because you never know where life will take them. That warehouse clerk? Could be tomorrow’s operations manager. The young recruiter? My be a future regional vice president. Our friend the forklift trainer? Down the road we may find them as our future safety director. I’m just saying we should treat everyone with respect. Always.  One of my more recent favorite sayings is, today’s coworker may become tomorrow’s boss, or tomorrow’s customer. I’ve lived that more times than I can count. I’ve purchased services from former employees. I’ve hired my former supervisors, and I’ve partnered with people I once trained. I’ve worked for people who once worked beside me. That’s our industry ladies and gentlemen. Careers and opportunities intertwine.  So what do you do if you’re unhappy? Yep, here I go again with that word communication. Have the conversation. Ask questions. Seek solutions and be honest and be respectful. If it’s time to move on, move on with dignity and grace. Give your best effort until the very last shift. Thank those who invested in you. Leave the facility better than you found it. Return all your equipment. Shake hands and wish everyone success. Because someday you may walk back through those same doors, or someone from those doors may walk through yours.  Here’s my thought, or yes, my opinion on the subject. Don’t just avoid burning bridges. Lets always be building them. Stay connected with mentors. Congratulate former coworkers on promotions. Celebrate their accomplishments. Send a quick message once in a while. Thank someone who helped your career. Give a shout out to or recommend good people when opportunities arise.  At the end of the day your résumé gets you noticed. Your skills get you hired and your attitude helps you succeed. But your reputation, well, your reputation follows you everywhere. In warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and production, people remember.  So work hard and lets treat people well. Leave every job with them wanting you to stay. Because you never know when today’s goodbye will become tomorrow’s opportunity.  Ok, its time to say thank you for spending a few minutes with me today! If you’re just starting your journey, remember that this industry is much smaller than it appears. Protect your name and your reputation at all times. And never burn the bridge you may someday need to cross again. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing and above all, work safe at all times!

Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. WAOC is on the road again this week, hitting up Nevada and Arizonia. It’s always nice to get out and walk a few operations and meet new team members. I’m Marty and today I’d like to talk about something every employee wants but not everyone necessarily understands. And that would be a raise. Whether you’re unloading trailers, operating a forklift, selecting orders, dispatching trucks, running production equipment, or managing a team, most of us have asked ourselves the same question at some point, how do I make more money? And maybe an even tougher question, how do I ask for a raise? Now before we get started, let’s true a few things up. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting more money. Life gets expensive. Rent, gas, insurance, and groceries go up. The challenge is that employers don’t typically give raises because our bills increased. They give raises because our value has increased. And that’s what I’d like to talk about today. A lot of us think a raise starts when we walk into our supervisor’s office to discuss our performance review and or our raise. Well It doesn’t. The truth is that a thought of our raise starts months before that meeting. A raise starts with our habits. Every day we’re building a reputation. People notice things. Maybe not immediately or every day. But over time, they notice. Who shows up on time and stays productive? Who complains and who volunteers? Who learns new tasks? Who can be trusted and depended on? Who needs constant supervision and who solves problems instead of creating them? Our raise often starts with answers to those questions. I’ve got to say it again. I know I keep bringing it up. But being THAT employee just pays off. Every workplace has one. You know exactly who I’m talking about. That employee. The one everyone wants on their shift. The one the supervisor calls first and the one coworkers trust. The man or woman who can handle difficult assignments and gets opportunities. The one who gets promoted. The one who gets raises. What makes them different? Usually, it’s not because they’re the smartest person. Usually, it’s not because they’ve been there the longest. It’s because they’re dependable. They’re accountable and consistent. When they say they’ll do something, it gets done. When they make a mistake, they own it. When something needs attention, they step up. Those traits are incredibly valuable in our worlds. Reliability is really a superpower. Let’s talk about attendance. I know. Not the most exciting topic. But well worth mentioning again. Imagine you’re a supervisor with twenty employees. Five call in regularly. Three are late every week. Two disappear during breaks. Several perform differently every day. Then there’s one person. They’re always there. Always prepared and ready to work. Who do you think gets the first opportunity? Who is going to get cross-trained and promoted? Which one gets the bigger raise? I think reliability is one of the most underrated skills in the workplace. You don’t need special training or need a certification or a degree. You simply show up and do what you said you would do. Consistently. And believe me, consistency gets noticed. Here’s one of the fastest ways to increase your value. Again, I know I harp on it at least once a month but learn another task. Then another and another. Cross-training is like adding tools to your toolbox. Maybe you’re a forklift operator. Learn receiving and learn shipping. Learn a little about inventory control, quality inspection, and cycle counting. Learn the WMS. Learn the paperwork and the computer side. Even how transportation functions. Why? Because the more problems you can solve, the more valuable you become. And companies pay for value. The employee who can perform three jobs often becomes more valuable than the employee who only performs one. Another thing I bring up probably too often is attitude. And before somebody says, here we go with the motivational stuff. Hear me out. A positive attitude isn’t pretending everything is perfect. A positive attitude means being part of the solution. Every workplace has challenges. Every warehouse and transportation department has bad days. Every production line has setbacks. Our leaders notice who responds constructively. They notice who keeps moving forward and who encourages others. Of course attitude doesn’t replace skill. But attitude often determines who gets the opportunity to develop those skills. And heres a biggie, one word that can separate average employees from future leaders. Accountability. Accountability means owning your results. When things go well, great. When things don’t go well, own that too. No excuses or finger-pointing or blaming everyone else. The employee who says that was my mistake. Here’s what happened. Here’s how I’ll prevent it next time. Is far more valuable than the employee who spends ten minutes explaining why nothing was their fault. Our managers trust accountable people. Trust creates opportunity. Opportunity creates advancement and advancement creates raises. Ok, now it’s time to ask for a raise. Let’s say you’ve been doing everything we’ve discussed. You’ve improved, cross-trained and learned other tasks, you’ve become reliable, you’ve added value. Now it’s time to discuss our compensation. I think here’s where many of us make a mistake. We walk into the office and say I need more money. Unfortunately, that’s not a strong business case. Instead, let’s think like a professional or even an owner. Let’s approach it like a leader. Build your case. Show your accomplishments. We need to write them down and create a list. For example, perfect attendance for 12 months, trained on three additional positions, helped reduce picking errors, assisted with onboarding new employees, improved productivity by 30 pallets per hour, reduced damage claims and maintained safety compliance, and learned the new equipment, as well as receiving positive feedback from my management team and customers. Specific examples, data, and facts matter. When you can demonstrate your value, the conversation changes. Don’t bring problems, bring solutions. This is one of the biggest career secrets I’ve learned over forty years. Anybody can identify problems. Leaders identify solutions. Imagine walking into your manager’s office and saying I’ve noticed we’re losing time during shift startup. I have three ideas that may improve productivity. That’s different. Or I think we could reduce loading errors if we adjusted the staging process. Or I’d like to help train new associates because I think we can improve retention. Now you’re thinking beyond your job. You’re showing you’re thinking about the operation. And that’s valuable. Here’s another secret, or opinion I guess! Raises become easier when your goals align with the company’s goals. What does your company care about? Safety? Quality? Productivity? Attendance? Customer service? Retention? Cost reduction? If you can demonstrate how your efforts helped support those goals, you’re speaking the language leadership understands. You’re not saying I want more money. You’re saying I helped move the organization forward. See the big difference there? So how do we ask for a raise? Keep it professional and simple. Something like thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I’ve really enjoyed my role and the opportunities I’ve had here. Over the past year I’ve expanded my skills, improved my performance, and taken on additional responsibilities. I’d like to discuss my future with the company and whether my compensation reflects the value I’m currently providing. Notice what’s missing? No demands. No ultimatums. No threats. Just facts. Professional facts. And then what if the answer is no? First, don’t get emotional. Get information. Ask what skills or accomplishments would you like to see from me before we revisit this conversation? Now you’ve created a roadmap. Maybe they want more leadership or more productivity. Maybe they want additional certifications, or they want more time in the role. Whatever the answer, now you know what target you’re aiming for. And that’s valuable information. Let’s wrap up with this thought. Raises aren’t earned in a fifteen minute meeting. They’re earned in hundreds of small decisions over time. Showing up. Being on time. Learning another task. Helping a teammate. Theres’s hundreds of little important things, oh, here’s a big one, we’ve talked about owning our mistakes. And maintaining a positive attitude. Taking safety seriously. Thinking like a leader. Bringing solutions. Supporting company goals. Those things build value. And like we learned a couple of weeks ago, value builds trust and trust builds opportunity. And not sounding all motivational on you but I’ll add that opportunity builds careers and careers build income. If you’re listening today and wondering how to earn more money in warehousing, transportation, manufacturing, or production, start by asking yourself, am I becoming more valuable than I was six months ago? Because the employees who continually increase their value rarely have to chase opportunities. Opportunities start chasing them. Until next time, work smart, keep learning, and above all work safe out there!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. Over the last several years we’ve discussed dozens and dozens of opportunities in warehousing, transportation, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics. We’ve talked about forklift operators, order selectors, recruiters, dispatchers, transportation managers, supervisors, safety professionals, operations leaders, and many of the global supply chain positions. Today I thought we’d talk about one of the positions or career paths that, well, isn’t thought about much but without it, simply put, things would grind to a halt! And that’s Building Maintenance. The people who keep the facility running. The men and women who make sure the lights come on, the dock doors open, the HVAC systems cool and heat the buildings and keep our coolers and freezers cold, the plumbing works, and the equipment keeps operating. Without them, nothing else happens. And the amazing thing is many of these careers begin with the simplest tasks imaginable. Changing a light bulb. I’m Marty and let’s talk about it today. When most people start in a warehouse environment, they may enter as a General Labor associate. Maybe we’re unloading trailers, stacking pallets, cleaning work areas or even assisting with counting inventory or any of the 50 other tasks that need help every shift. We’re learning about attendance, safety rules and procedures, and expectations. We’re learning what it means to be part of a team. Managers start noticing people who like fixing things. The employee who notices a broken door handle or a slow roll up door.  That associate who reports a leaking pipe. The team member who volunteers to help move equipment. The person who wants to know how things work. Those individuals often find themselves helping the maintenance departments. And that’s where a completely different career journey can begin. Many facilities have what is commonly called a Utility Associate. Sometimes they’re called facility assistants. Maintenance helpers, maintenance utility technicians. The title doesn’t matter much. And the responsibilities are usually very similar. Tasks might include things like replacing light bulbs, painting walls, cleaning dock plates, changing air filters, maybe even minor repairs on equipment, or organizing maintenance supplies, even assisting contractors, and helping the company technicians perform preventive maintenance. These aren’t glamorous jobs. But they’re valuable jobs. And more importantly, they’re learning opportunities. Every task teaches something, every repair becomes a lesson, with every day becoming a classroom. One of the first skills many maintenance associates begin learning is basic electrical work. I’m not talking about becoming an electrician overnight. Of course, electrical work requires training, certifications, and safety knowledge. But maintenance associates often start learning how lighting systems operate, how to replace ballast and LED conversions.  Circuit identification, Lockout/Tagout procedures, and electrical safety principles. They begin understanding why power flows the way it does, they learn troubleshooting and how to diagnosis problems. They learn how to identify problems instead of simply reporting them. That’s a valuable skill in any profession. The same thing happens with plumbing. Many maintenance technicians start by helping experienced professionals. They learn how water systems operate, how valves function and how drains are maintained, things like leak identification, and fixture replacement. Then comes one of the most in-demand skill sets in many nations today. HVAC. Or Heating. Ventilation. Air Conditioning.  As maintenance associates gain experience, many employers will sponsor training opportunities. Some associates pursue certifications on their own. Before long, they’re troubleshooting rooftop units. Maintaining industrial climate systems. Diagnosing airflow issues. And with those skills comes increased earning potential. What I find fascinating about maintenance careers is how they combine multiple trades into one profession. Electrical. Mechanical. Plumbing. HVAC. Carpentry. Safety. Even project management, vendor relations, and budgeting. It’s one of the most diverse skill sets in the entire facility. And I’ve found that many maintenance professionals continue developing themselves through formal training. Things like OSHA certifications, Lockout/Tagout training, HVAC certifications, EPA refrigerant certifications, electrical safety training, welding certifications, boiler certifications, preventive maintenance programs, and facility management certifications. Each certification adds another tool to the toolbox. And employers notice. One thing I’ve observed throughout my career is that maintenance professionals become incredibly valuable because they save organizations money. Imagine a conveyor system goes down. Production stops. Orders stop. Shipping grinds to a halt. A skilled maintenance technician can diagnose the issue, repair it, and get operations moving again. That’s value. The ability to solve problems creates opportunities. And, as we’ve learned, organizations reward problem solvers. As technicians gain experience, I’ve seen many advance into leadership roles. Maintenance Lead and on to Maintenance Supervisor or Facilities Supervisor. Even Maintenance Manager and Facilities Manager or Regional Maintenance Manager and Director of Facilities positions. These leaders may oversee multiple facilities, maintenance budgets, preventive maintenance programs, and manage vendor relationships, compliance initiatives, construction projects, and safety programs. They’re no longer changing light bulbs, there making strategic decisions and planning future improvements, helping organizations operate efficiently. Now the path isn’t always direct or happening in a straight line. I’ve witnessed people begin as janitors, as forklift operators. Some come from manufacturing or even the fleet or transportation environments. What matters most is curiosity and the desire to learn. The willingness to ask questions and to volunteer for opportunities. As you know by now, I’ve always believed that careers are built one skill at a time. Very few people just wake up one morning and becomes a Director. Nobody starts as an expert. No one began their career knowing everything. Success is usually much less exciting than people imagine. I think it’s learning one thing today. Another thing tomorrow. And one more thing next week. Then repeating that process for years. If you’re listening today and currently working as a general labor associate, here’s a quick exercise. Look around your facility. Notice who repairs things and who troubleshoots equipment, who maintains dock doors, who works on HVAC systems, who keeps the building running. Then introduce yourself. Ask questions and Show interest. You may discover a career path you never knew was there. And if you’re already in maintenance, keep investing in yourself. Take the next class and earn the next certification and  the next skill. Because maintenance is one of those professions where learning never stops. technology changes, equipment changes, and our buildings change. The people who continue learning continue growing. Saying all that reminds me of a much earlier episode from back in 2016, episode 11, where we visited with a gentleman named Mike that pretty much lived the life we’ve discussed here today. I’d urgh you to go check out what he had to say way back then. Anyway, so this week, I challenge you to look beyond the obvious career paths. Sometimes opportunity isn’t driving a forklift. It isn’t sitting in an office or managing a department. Sometimes opportunity is standing on a ladder changing a light bulb and realizing you’ve just taken the first step toward becoming the person responsible for an entire facility. And that’s a pretty incredible journey. Until next time, remember that warehousing, transportation, manufacturing, and operations aren’t just jobs. They’re careers. And every career starts with a single opportunity. And we can make our own opportunities. Well, I’ve got to go move some freight myself now. Thanks for listening in today, and hey, y’all be safe out there, our friends and family are wanting to see us after our shift.

Yep, there is a gap between available jobs and job ready candidates. There are jobs available, but employers are becoming much more selective about who they hire. A few years ago, many facilities were simply trying to fill positions. Today, employers are looking for candidates who can bring reliability, flexibility, safety awareness, and productivity on their first day.  What many of us applicants don’t realize is that employers are often evaluating far more than just experience. I’m Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. So let’s talk about that.  I recently was enjoying lunch with a long time mentor and the subject of hiring came up. He made a point I had to ponder on for a moment.  He commented that although training was expensive, and of course experience is important, he had learned or felt like, in todays environment, things like attendance history, reliable transportation, the ability to be flexible with shift times, and a strong safety mindset along with a wiliness to cross train, and at least average communication skills were what he was placing more weight on these days. And he made it a point to comment on, what he’d look for first was a stable work history.    The challenge for us applicants becomes, I can do the job is no longer enough. Employers are asking, can I depend on you to do the job consistently?  And some other hurdles for us, or a few things I thought of start off with those pesky Applicant tracking systems or ATS. Many applicants never speak to a recruiter because their application gets filtered before a human ever sees it.  And wage expectations vs market rates. Applicants often see social media posts about higher wages, while many entry level positions are paying less than expected. And I’m seeing more skilled equipment requirements. Many facilities now want forklift, reach truck, electric pallet jack, clamp truck, or inventory experience, even for positions that were once considered entry-level. And communication challenges. I hear this every day, and I think both sides are probably quilty, but Recruiters frequently comment on the struggle to reach applicants who don’t answer calls. Have full voicemail boxes. And don’t respond to texts or emails. Then we have competition from better candidates. When ten applicants apply for a position, employers often choose the one with better attendance, longer tenure, and the better interviewing skills.   The good news is that the hurdle is also the opportunity. A candidate who shows up on time, returns calls, has a positive attitude, accepts coaching, prioritizes safety, is willing to learn additional equipment can often outperform applicants with years more experience.  As we’ve discussed many times on WAOC, the industry still offers tremendous career opportunities. The challenge isn’t necessarily finding a job, it’s demonstrating that you’re the person an employer can trust with the opportunity.  So, if there’s applicants looking for work, and employers looking for workers, why are they not connecting? Well, I think the hiring game has changed. Twenty years ago, many warehouses and production facilities hired almost entirely on experience. Could you drive a forklift, pull an order, load a trailer, or operate a machine? If the answer was yes, there was a pretty good chance you’d get hired on the spot. Today, things are just different. Most employers are still looking for skills, but they’re looking for something else first. They’re looking for dependability. They’re looking for consistency. And they’re looking for people they can count on.  I’ve sat across the table from hundreds, maybe thousands, of hiring managers throughout my career. And I can tell you something that might surprise applicants. Many managers would rather hire a dependable employee with less experience than an experienced employee there not sure can be counted on. Think about that for a moment. The employee who shows up every day, arrives on time, follows instructions, works safely, and wants to learn often becomes more valuable than the person with years of experience but poor attendance or a negative attitude.  Let’s talk about the first hurdle many applicants never even see. The Applicant Tracking System, or ATS. Years ago, an application landed directly on someone’s desk. Today, many applications are screened by software before a recruiter ever sees them. A computer may be reviewing your application before a human being does. Now, I’m not saying that’s good or bad. It’s just reality.  If your work history is incomplete, if your resume doesn’t match the position, or if key information is missing, you may never make it to the interview stage. Many applicants think nobody called me. The reality may be nobody ever saw the application. That’s why accuracy on our part matters. Taking an extra few minutes to complete an application correctly matters. And that’s why we should tailor our resumes to the position we’re applying for.   Now let’s talk about what employers are really seeking. Most people think employers hire labor. I don’t. I think employers hire reliability. Let’s say I have two candidates. Candidate A has five years of forklift experience. Candidate B has one year of forklift experience. Most people automatically assume Candidate A gets the job. What if Candidate A has changed jobs every three months and has attendance concerns and arrives late for the interview? But Candidate B has a solid work history, great references, and arrives fifteen minutes early? The decision suddenly becomes much harder. In fact, many employers will choose Candidate B. Because skills can be taught. Reliability is much harder to teach.  Here’s another challenge I see every day. Applicants submit applications. Recruiters call. Nobody answers. Recruiters text. No response. Recruiters email. No reply. A few days later, the applicant says nobody contacted me. Now, I’m not picking on anyone. But communication matters. If you’re actively looking for work, we need to answer our phone, check our voicemail and respond to texts. And watch our email. I’ve seen qualified candidates lose opportunities simply because another applicant responded first. Speed matters in recruiting. Especially in warehousing and manufacturing. Sometimes positions are filled within hours. Not days. Not weeks. Literally, just hours.  Transportation is often part of the interview before the interview. Can you reliably get to work? Can you make a 5:00 AM shift? Can you work overtime? Can you handle weekends when required? Employers understand that life happens. Cars break down. Traffic exists. Emergencies occur. But employers are also trying to determine whether attendance problems are likely to become a pattern. Remember attendance drives productivity. And productivity drives customer satisfaction. And customer satisfaction keeps facilities open and growing. Again, everything is connected.  Another thing I’m seeing is that Years ago, some facilities focused heavily on production. Today, safety and production must work together. Most employers are looking for candidates who understand safety expectations. They want associates who wear PPE correctly, follow procedures, report hazards, work safely around equipment, and take training seriously. The old mindset of I’ve been doing this for twenty years doesn’t impress many employers anymore. The new mindset is I’ve been doing this for twenty years and I’m still learning. That’s the employee organizations want. Safety conscious employees protect themselves, their coworkers, and the company.  And I think another hurdle for us is Technology. Today we have RF scanners, Warehouse Management Systems, voice picking systems, tablets, inventory software, electronic inspections and productivity tracking. Some applicants become nervous when they hear the word technology. And we can’t. All systems can be learned. The bigger issue is willingness I think. Employers aren’t necessarily looking for technology experts. Again, they’re looking for people willing to learn. A positive attitude toward technology often beats resistance every time.  I think competition is stronger than ever. You’re not competing against the job. You’re competing against other applicants. Imagine ten people apply for the same position. Who gets the interview and the offer? Often, it’s the candidate who demonstrates better attendance better communication better attitude better stability better preparation. Notice that experience isn’t the only factor. Sometimes it isn’t even the most important factor. The candidate who prepares wins. The candidate who follows up and demonstrates professionalism wins.  A recruiter told me last week. If I could sit every applicant down and share one message from employers, it would be this, we want to hire you. Think about that. Recruiters don’t wake up hoping positions stay open. Supervisors don’t want to work short staffed. Managers don’t enjoy running operations with vacancies. Everyone wants positions filled. But employers need confidence. Confidence that we’ll show up. Confidence that we plan on staying. Confidence that we’ll work safely and represent the organization well. That’s what they’re evaluating. Not just whether we can do the work. But whether they can trust us with the work.  So, what can us applicants do? I think it’s simple. If we own it. We need to show up early. An

Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty and today I want to talk about something a listener brought up recently. They asked me, “Why don’t you just stick to explaining warehouse positions instead of all the other stuff that doesn’t make us more money?” Well, I guess that is a fair question.  As We’ve discussed many times, and I believe this is more than just my opinion. Here’s the thing about warehousing, transportation, distribution, manufacturing, and the whole supply chain.  Nothing stands alone. Every movement touches another movement. Every position affects another position. Every delay or error cost somebody time. And in my experience, every shortcut creates a problem somewhere else. And, not only do I believe, but I think I can show that the people who grow the farthest in this industry are usually the people who understand more than just their own task. That’s why we talk about everything, and why I try and get as many questions answered as possible. We can all learn something from all the experiences shared.   On another note, kind of keeping with the theme of the day, I had a long time mentor, just this week say that the associate who learns the language of the operation becomes more valuable to the operation.  So today, I thought we’d have some fun with that idea by talking about something every warehouse, dispatcher, inventory clerk, transportation coordinator, recruiter, manager, and forklift operator and a couple of hundred other positions hear every day.  Acronyms. Being honest. The supply chain world LOVES acronyms. Sometimes it feels like people are speaking another language. A dispatcher says I Need POD on that LTL before DET hits, or customer’s asking for an ETA, and OS&D says there’s one QTR short. And the new employee standing there is thinking What in the world just happened? But once you understand the language, you start understanding the business. And understanding the business creates opportunity. So let’s break a few of them down today.  POD. This one’s huge. POD simply means Proof of Delivery. It’s the signature, paperwork, photo, or electronic confirmation showing freight arrived where it was supposed to arrive. Without a POD, customers may refuse payment. Billing can stop. Claims can happen. That little signature? That’s money. It’s like a check. One missing POD can turn into hours of emails, phone calls, and frustration.  The BOL or Bill of Laden. The BOL is basically the birth certificate of the shipment. It tells us what the freight is, where it’s going , who shipped it, who receives it , and how many pallets or cartons there are. Drivers carry it. Receivers check it. And dispatch tracks it. If the BOL is wrong, everything downstream can become wrong too. Again, everything touches everything.  On to the ETA or the estimated time of arrival.  Everybody wants the ETA. An inaccurate ETA affects staffing, dock schedules, unloaders, production planning, and customer satisfaction. One late truck can ripple through an entire building.  PU and DEL. PU means Pickup. DEL means Delivery. Simple terms, but they move the entire transportation world. You’ll hear the PU is at 1400.  And maybe read or hear DEL scheduled for tomorrow.  And you don’t want to read or hear Missed PU. Or Late DEL. Those two tiny acronyms control millions of dollars in freight every single day.  Oh, these are common ones. FTL, TL and LTL. Now we’re getting into freight classifications. FTL or TL means Full Truckload or Truckload. That means one shipment basically fills the trailer. LTL means Less Than Truckload. That means multiple customers share trailer space. Why does this matter? Because of the freight handling changes. LTL freight gets touched more. More touches means more chances for damages. More planning, terminals being crossed and more scheduling. Understanding freight flow helps associates understand WHY all those processes we have to follow exist.  STL or Spot Trailer Load. Now depending on the company, STL can mean different things, but many operations use it to describe a spotted trailer load or staged trailer movement. Spotters, yard dogs, dispatch, and shipping clerks all coordinate trailer movement to keep freight flowing. One missed trailer move can shut down a shipping lane.  Then OS&D. This acronym can ruin everybody’s day. OS&D means, over, short, and damaged. To a receiver that’ll mean too much product. Missing product. Or Broken product! This affects inventory, customer service, claims, transportation, receivers, selectors and loaders. One crushed pallet may not seem important on the dock floor until you realize it can cost thousands of dollars.  Lets see, TONU or Truck Ordered Not Used. Transportation people cringe hearing this one. TONU means a truck was scheduled, showed up, and wasn’t needed. But the carrier is still going to expect his or her payment. Why? Remember all we’ve learned about transportation. A truck sitting parked still costs money.  One we’re all getting used to is FSC, the fuel surcharge. Fuel affects everything. When diesel prices rise, FSC charges often rise too. That means transportation costs increase. And when transportation costs increase, product prices eventually increase. Again, everything touches everything.  Two more biggies, DET and D&H. DET means Detention. D&H means Detention and Handling. This happens when drivers sit too long waiting to load or unload. And let me tell you, drivers will charge you and they remember facilities that waste their time. A poorly managed dock damages relationships fast. And we as warehouse people probably know these next two. APPT and FCFS. APPT means Appointment. FCFS means First Come, First Serve. Many warehouses, especially the larger ones run by appointments. Others unload trailers in the order in which they arrive. Understanding which system a facility uses affects scheduling, staffing, and transportation planning.  And here are 3 system ones. TMS, WMS, and YMS. Now we’re talking technology. TMS is the Transportation Management System, and I’m sure us warehouse folks know WMS, the Warehouse Management System, and a little lesser known system is the YMS, Yard Management System. You’ll see these in high traffic operations. These three systems track freight, our inventory, trailer locations, our productivity, shipping schedules, receiving , even our labor hours and cost. Really pretty much what ever information we feed into them! Years ago, many warehouses used clipboards and paper. Today? Data drives our operations. And the associate willing to learn systems becomes extremely valuable. A forklift operator that understands WMS screens and RF scanners may eventually move into inventory control or leadership. Knowledge adds up.  ASN and EDI. ASN means Advanced Shipping Notice. That’s electronic information sent before freight arrives and EDI means Electronic Data Interchange. Computers talking to computers. Purchase orders, invoices, shipment notifications, receiving confirmations, all moving electronically behind the scenes. Most associates never see it. But it’s happening constantly.  OK, this one most of us know. A PO or Purchase Order. A PO is permission to buy product. Without a PO, many companies won’t even receive the freight or their order. That one document controls inventory flow, accounting, receiving, and purchasing.  Here’s another on us production people know. KPI or Key Performance Indicator. KPIs are measurements. Cases per hour. Pallets per hour. On-time shipping. Inventory accuracy. Dock turn times. You’ve heard me say What gets measured gets managed. Warehouses or operations survive on measurements. And associates that understand KPIs understand how and why businesses make decisions.  Next we have RDC, DC, and MC. These are facility types. RDC is for Regional Distribution Center. DC is Distribution Center. MC is Manufacturing Center. Different responsibilities. Different workflows. But all connected together in the supply chain.  Now here’s a few for the transportation folks. ELD, GPS, DOT, and HOS. As we know, transportation runs on compliance. The ELD is an Electronic Logging Device. Remember keeping our paper logs? GPS, Global Positioning System. DOT or Department of Transportation, and HOS stands for Hours of Service. These systems and regulations track Driver hours. Safety, Speed, Routes, and Compliance. Transportation isn’t just driving a truck anymore. It’s technology, planning, regulation, and accountability.  Keeping things on the road. We have NMFC and SCAC.  Now we’re getting deep into freight language. NMFC means National Motor Freight Classification. SCAC means Standard Carrier Alpha Code. These help identify carriers and classify freight for shipping and pricing purposes. Again, Stuff most people never think about. But somebody in the operation has to understand it.  And BCO, FOB, and CFR. BCO often means Beneficial Cargo Owner. FOB means Free On Board. CFR means Cost and Freight. These terms matter heavily in international and large-scale shipping. They determine responsibility. Who pays for freight. Who owns the risk and where liability transfers. And one misunderstanding here can become extremely expensive.  Now some people may hear all these acronyms and think “Well, I don’t need to know all that. I just drive a forklift.” Maybe today you do. But tomorrow? You might have an opportunity train new hires. Lead a shift. Help coordinate the outbound shif