Warehouse and Operations as a Career

Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career, I’m Marty, and today I thought we’d have another Ask Me Anything episode. I always like these because the questions don’t come from textbooks, supervisors, or managers, they come directly from real associates and warehouse workers with real concerns. Our industry welcomes so many first time job seekers, and those wanting to change career paths. Some of its rules and regulations just aren’t found in other industries and I hope talking about them helps us slow down a bit, and put in the time. Alright, we received three really good questions for today, and honestly, if these three people asked them, I’m confident a hundred others are thinking the same thing, so let’s jump in. First up, my boss wants me to work overtime several times a week, even on Saturdays getting ready for the holidays. I want work-life balance, but it feels like all we do is work. First, I want to say, yes, work-life balance is extremely important, and I encourage everyone in this industry to protect that balance. Our mental health, physical health, and family lives matter. But at the same time, we also need to understand the industry we chose to work in. Light industrial, warehousing, distribution, logistics, these sectors live and breathe on production and shipping. That’s not just a management saying. It’s literally the foundation of how the supply chain operates. Most companies don’t schedule overtime because they like spending more money on labor. Technically, overtime costs them more. Time-and-a-half adds up quick. So why do they do it? Because freight keeps moving. Product keeps arriving. Orders keep coming in. Your customers keep shopping. Especially around peak seasons. Here’s something I’ve shared with new associates many times. The supply chain doesn’t care what day of the week it is. Transportation doesn’t stop. Warehouses don’t stop. Retail stores don’t stop. People don’t stop buying things. Now we absolutely deserve balance, but balance doesn’t always mean every week looks the same. Sometimes balance looks like working a few heavier months out of the year, and lighter months later. Some of the best operators, selectors, receivers, I mean the real professionals, use peak season as an opportunity. I had one guy tell me how he plans for his peak season. More hours. more pay. more learning, and more exposure. And remember If you’re wanting advancement, leadership looks for who’s stepping up. Overtime shouldn’t be looked at as punishment, it’s opportunity. No, we shouldn’t work seven days a week every week of the year. But during heavy shipping periods, stepping up is part of being in this field. And honestly, it’s part of being valuable. Nobody likes mandatory overtime, but everybody likes having a job, and that job depends on productivity and meeting the needs of our customers. You’re not working more hours because someone likes it, you’re working more hours because our industry requires it from time to time. Use overtime as a career tool, not as a pain point. If you want promotions, forklift certification, lead roles, better assignments, full-time status or long-term job stability. Then be the person your boss can count on when the workload is highest. We all get worn out from time to time, keeping our eye on the long-term goal will help us stay focused, we’ll get through it. Question #2, why are corrective actions taken so seriously? It feels like you get 1 verbal, 1 written, and then you’re terminated. Why so strict? This is another great question. I hear this complaint a lot, especially from new associates. Here’s the truth. Yes, many companies use a progressive corrective action system. Verbal, written, and a final or termination. Some use a point system, some use write-ups, but the purpose is the same, behavior correction, not punishment. You’ve heard me talk about coaching. I prefer that word instead of correcting or warning. Sometimes those coaching’s are in regards to Safety. Warehouses are dangerous. Not maybe dangerous. They are dangerous. As we discussed last week, every rule you’ve ever been told exists because, someone got hurt or something went seriously wrong. Corrective Action can mean Prevention. Corrective action isn’t about protecting the company, it’s about protecting people. If you get coached on attendance, PPE, equipment rules, dock safety, stacking pallets etc, …it’s not because management is strict. It’s because it’s the right thing to do. OSHA standards are there to protect us. The insurance company has rules. Liability is real and Injuries are expensive for our company and us as individuals. We all know warehouse environment can go from safe to serious in seconds. And Productivity matters too. We are in a productivity-driven industry. Pieces per hour, pallets per hour, inbound receiving time, dock turnaround. Every minute counts. Every delay costs money. So rules are there for productivity and safety.  And please keep in mind, no matter what else you hear, safety is your priority one in any task. Period Ok, Let’s be honest. Many corrective actions start because our attendance is inconsistent, or we repeatedly ignore safety instructions. Most write-ups aren’t about big dramatic incidents, they’re about repeated small behaviors that impact safety or production. If you were running a business with forklift traffic, heavy freight, metrics and deadlines, you would expect consistency too. The good news? Stay safe, follow direction, communicate, and show up on time…and you’ll never get close to corrective action. Corrective actions exist to protect careers, not end them. Alright, and I picked this next question because it comes up at least once a month out in the field. Why don’t companies offer more training on forklifts and EPJs? I want to learn, but it seems like nobody wants to take the time to train me. This is one of my favorite questions because I’ve trained a lot of equipment operators and trainers, and I’ve been on both sides of that frustration. Here’s the big picture. There are no quick training courses. Forklifts and rider pallet jacks cause the majority of damages and injuries in warehouses. When a new operator climbs on equipment too early, bad things can happen fast. Certification is not a reward, it’s a responsibility. Experience matters. You’re not just learning how to drive. You’re learning, balance, center of gravity, safety, spotting, loading, rack structure, pallet weight, equipment limitations, battery versus propane rules and about a hundred other dangers. You’re learning how to see things before they happen. And that takes time, and experiences. And yes, the sad truth is that companies want trained equipment operators. They need more operators, they want productivity. And they have to have safety. They need people who show up consistently, are safe on the floor, have good work habits, follow rules, can communicate well and take direction. If you want to be trained on equipment, be that person. You earn it by being dependable. Think about it from management’s point of view. Who are they going to invest in and spend time training on a forklift? Someone who is absent twice a week, or someone who is early every day? Someone who argues, or someone who listens? Someone who complains or someone who volunteers? PIT or powered industrial trucks are not like video games. Forklifts don’t forgive mistakes. Electric rider pallet jacks can be very unforgiving. One accident or incident can change a life. So yes, training takes time. Yes, it’s slow. But slow means safe. My advice. And it’s a time proven opinion. Be patient. Be present. And be consistent. Ask for learning opportunities, but also show that you’re ready for them. If you want to be a forklift operator, start by being a great warehouse employee first. That is what opens doors. Everyone catch how all three of these questions have something in common? The warehouse environment is demanding, it’s productivity driven, safety is paramount, expectations are real and experience matters. And I think most of us know that deep down, even when we don’t like the answers. But here’s the good news! If you, show up, listen, learn, work safely, and treat others professionally. Our industry will reward you. Every single time. You’ll grow. The opportunities and pay will come. Because the supply chain doesn’t stop, distribution doesn’t stop, and operations never stop. So wrapping it up I guess the question is, are you going to be the employee that helps keep it moving? I hope these answers helped someone today. And please keep the questions coming, I love doing these Ask Me Anything episodes, and every time you ask a question, someone else learns as well. Until next time, stay safe, work smart, keep learning, and remember, you are building careers out there.

I feel Looking for Work Is Hard Work. One of the biggest misunderstandings about unemployment or career change is the idea that looking for work is something you do casually, or in between other things. A few clicks here, a few applications there, maybe scrolling on some job boards late at night from the couch. And then the frustration sets in when the phone doesn’t start ringing.  The truth is simple, and sometimes uncomfortable to hear but looking for work is hard work. And I think if we don’t treat it like a job, it rarely is going to produce job level results.  We need to remember that finding work requires structure, discipline, preparation, and accountability, just like any role on the warehouse floor, in operations, or in leadership. The people who land jobs consistently aren’t lucky. They’re intentional. They are working a plan.  I’m Marty and today on Warehouse and Operations as a Career I wanted to expand on how hard looking for a job is. We spoke on a few of the topics back in week 37, what was that title, oh, week 37 & Jobs, and I mentioned the phrase on last weeks show. I received a couple of questions on it so I thought we’d spend a few minutes on it today.    I always say treat the job search like our present job. If you were scheduled to work a shift, you wouldn’t roll out of bed whenever you felt like it. You wouldn’t decide halfway through the day whether you felt motivated enough to show up. You’d get up, get ready, and get started. Our job search deserves the same respect! We still need set our alarm. Start our day with purpose and block out time or schedule what hours we’re going to spend specifically for job searching.  That means planning for things like reviewing the online job boards, checking local classified ads, monitoring all your local Facebook job groups, following company career pages, and planning time to make phone calls, sending out follow-ups, and networking.  This isn’t something you squeeze in when you have time. This is our work. I mentioned job boards, I see too many people rely on a single job board and assume that’s enough, and its not! We need to check those things multiple times a day or throughout our scheduled hours for the day. Oh, and it’s proven that our friends are an excellent resource. They have jobs and they can share the good and the bad about them. Maybe we can even get a referral from them. We’ll want to be careful there though, in our industry, sometimes hiring relatives or friends are frowned on. But I’ve always found them to be a great resource.   Ok, where was I, I think I skipped a few bullet points there, oh, and I wanted to say you’d be surprised how many job openings never make it to the job boards and are hired through word of mouth.  I think we have to network like our career depends on it.  Just let people know what kind of work you’re looking for and what experience we bring to the table.  We need to mention what shift or role we’re open to and when we’re available. I’ve found a short, honest conversation can open doors faster than 100 online applications.  Next is our resume, your resume must match the job you want. And please remember a resume isn’t a life story. It’s more of sales document. Its sole job is to clearly show what you can do, where you’ve done it, and how that experience matches the job you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a forklift position, your resume should highlight equipment types, years of experience, and the different environments you’ve worked in, things like narrow aisle, the outside yards, ramps, coolers or freezers, those types of things. And keywords like safety training and any certifications we’ve had and productivity expectations we’ve worked with. If you’re applying for leadership role, it should mention your team oversight and training responsibilities, any metrics you managed and the accountability you were held to. One generic resume for every job rarely works. Tailor it to the position you’re applying for.   And please only apply for jobs you can actually succeed at. This is one of the most important, and most ignored points. One-click apply buttons have created bad habits. Clicking apply on dozens of jobs you aren’t qualified for doesn’t increase your chances. It actually hurts them. It wastes your time, and the recruiter or the hiring manager’s time.  Remember recruiters are reviewing hundreds of resumes. When they see applicants who clearly don’t meet basic requirements, it creates frustration, and it lowers the quality of the process for everyone. Our resume may end up in a discard pile just because we have no experiences for that position. Even if we’d be a great fit for something else they have open.   Apply for jobs where you meet the basic core qualifications, where you have experience in the position and you can realistically perform the work. In our light industrial world quality beats quantity every time.  Another biggie, be honest with recruiters. Recruiters aren’t the enemy. Think of them as the gatekeepers. We should be honest about our experience, our availability, our  transportation, our work history, and very important, what you want, and what you don’t want. Overselling yourself may get you a phone call, but it rarely gets you called in for the face to face or hired long-term. Worse, it can damage our reputation with a company or an agency.  And if you schedule an appointment, show up. Nothing ends a job opportunity faster than a no-show interview. If something comes up, communicate. Life happens. But our silence looks like irresponsibility.  I won’t harp too much on this one, I get several emails every time I bring it up, but clean up your social media, they can and will look. This part surprises people, but it shouldn’t. Social media is public, and right or wrong, opinions can be formed from it. Recruiters and hiring managers often check social media. Not to judge your personal life, but to look for red flags. At least ask yourself. Is my profile public? And by the way locked profile may be considered a red flag. What would an employer see in 10 seconds? Do my posts reflect maturity and professionalism? Offensive language, threats, constant negativity, or posts bragging about skipping work don’t help your case. You don’t need to erase who you are, just be smart about what you display publicly. Ok, enough on that!  Moving on, lets be ready for the phone interview. And this is important. The phone interview is not casual. It’s often the most important 5 minutes of the entire process. You may have only 30 seconds to make an impression. By the time the recruiter calls they’ve reviewed dozens, maybe hundreds of resumes. They’re deciding quickly who moves forward.  Now this is going to be a cold call. If we are busy, watching the children, or outside, or maybe driving, we can share that, and ask if we could give them a call back at so and so time. They do not mind that. They want us focused, and ready to speak with them. We need to be ready when they call or we call them back. That means have your resume in front of you, be in a quiet place, be focused, answer clearly and confidently. Be ready know how to explain our experience, why we’re a good fit, and what we’re looking for or why we answered this ad. Preparation matters. This is our one shot at getting that face to face interview.  When you walk into that interview, you’re already being evaluated, before you say a word. Remember to dress for the role. If the position requires steel-toe footwear wear them, dress in warehouse attire, look ready, and talk about PPE awareness, show and state what you know. You don’t need to overdress, but you do need to show you understand the environment and are prepared to work in it. It sends a clear message, I’m ready to go to work today.  Now if we like the job and are offered it, when we say yes or accept it, show up. There is nothing wrong with saying this position isn’t going to be for me. We shouldn’t shake our head yes if inside we know we’re saying no. Of course, things may come up, and all we have to do is communicate that. Don’t burn bridges. If another place has called us and we’re accepting that job, just call and let the hiring agent know.   Like I mentioned earlier, discipline wins the job search. Looking for work can be exhausting. It’s easy to get discouraged, especially after rejections or silence. But the people who succeed are the ones who stay the course, and stay disciplined.  They treat the search like a job, stay organized, follow up, show up, prepare, and are confident.  All that makes it sound easy, it’s not, but it will happen. I’ve always felt that a job search isn’t about luck, It’s about effort and consistency.  If you’re serious about finding work, treat the process with the same seriousness you would expect from an employer. Show up for it, prepare for it, and respect it. Because looking for work is hard work, and when you do it right, it leads to something even harder, and much more rewarding.  A career.  Well, there’s a bit on the subject. If you know of anyone seeking employment, please recommend the episode to them, and as always please feel free to send us a message with any thoughts or comments. We love getting questions and topics from the group. On top of all that, please be safe out there, our loved ones need us happy and well this time of year and always. 

Ghosting has become a two-way street in today’s hiring world. Job seekers feel like recruiters disappear after they send in their application or even after a face-to-face interview. Recruiters, on the other hand, feel that applicants vanish just as often, not showing up for interviews, not returning calls, or even skipping their first day after completing the entire onboarding process. And at the same time, recruiters are overwhelmed with applicants who apply for jobs they’re not qualified for or who have no experience in the industry at all.  In our light industrial, warehousing, and logistics sectors, I feel this problem is amplified. These environments move fast. Productivity, shipping schedules, and labor shortages collide with the reality of high turnover, long shifts, and job seekers searching for stability. Somewhere in the middle of all that, communication breaks down, and both sides are feeling frustrated.  I’m Marty with Warehouse and Operations as a Career and today I want to take a look at these frustrations and talk about what’s going on and what both sides could do a little differently.  I hear from applicants that Recruiters don’t care about me. When an applicant submits a resume or fills out an online application, they often attach hope to it. They picture the job, the schedule, the pay, and what it would mean for their family. When they don’t hear back quickly, or at all, it can feel personal. One person shared with me that there are too many automated systems, and not enough real interaction.  I’d have to agree that most companies now rely on automated applicant tracking systems. These systems filter applications, sort resumes, and may even generate a generic we’ve received your application email. The problem is that applicants crave human feedback. When all they get is an automated message and no follow-up, they assume they’ve been ignored. And when they do talk to someone, only to never hear back again, it feels like being dismissed all over again.  It’s important to remember the fast pace of the industry though. Warehousing and manufacturing don’t slow down. Recruiters are juggling open orders, client requests, resignations, no-shows, and internal deadlines, all at the same time. When 100 people apply for a forklift job, and only 12 actually meet the minimum requirements, it’s simply not feasible to call each of the remaining 88 applicants personally to explain why they are not qualified.  Applicants interpret this as ghosting, but, or I feel, in most cases it’s not intentional. It’s more of a bandwidth issue.  I recently had a hiring agent tell me that applicants don’t always realize they don’t meet the requirements. And I think this is an uncomfortable truth, but an important one.  Many applicants may believe, If I apply, maybe they’ll call and train me. Or I’ve been in a warehouse before, so I can drive a forklift or pick it up really quick, I’m a fast learner. Or maybe they could be thinking, I’m sure they’ll make an exception.  I’m certain recruiters wish they could take more chances, but safety regulations, productivity metrics, and client expectations don’t allow it. Some jobs simply require knowledge, certifications, or experience that the applicant doesn’t have yet.  When an applicant assumes they’re qualified and the recruiter sees clearly that they are not, the communication gap widens, and silence can feel like disrespect.  Looking for work is stressful. You may have seen our webinar Looking for work is hard work. When a candidate feels rejected, especially without explanation, it hits hard. They may assume they weren’t good enough. Their experience isn’t valuable. And that recruiters don’t care. And with that mindset, even small delays can feel like we’re being ghosted.  And the recruiter’s perspective is that applicants disappear just as much, sometimes more! Recruiters feel the ghosting too, and in many cases, the impact is heavier on them because it affects production, client expectations, and the entire shift lineup. Even their pay, or commission.   Let’s see, I had a list of what a recruiter friend called her pain points. Here it is. Ok, number 1, The No-Call, No-Show Interview. This is one of the biggest frustrations recruiters faces. They schedule interviews, send reminders, follow up with calls and texts and then the applicant simply doesn’t show up. No message, no explanation. Sometimes the recruiter learns the applicant accepted a competing offer. Sometimes they don’t find out anything at all.  Number 2. is dropping out after the job offer. Even after a successful interview and onboarding, applicants stop answering calls. They disappear after receiving the offer. They accept the job but then take a different offer with a higher pay rate. Recruiters understand, people need to do what’s best for themselves and their families. But when deadlines are tight and clients are waiting, this ghosting creates real operational challenges. A phone call could go a long way. I always think about not burning bridges. Of course I’m going to take the better job, but who knows. I may need to reach back out to this recruiter someday!  Alright, number 3. The most painful ghosting, not showing up on the first day. Remember or recent episode titled NCNS? Anyway, this one is devastating for clients and recruiters. After investing time, energy, paperwork, background checks, and orientation, the applicant simply does not show. And many never call to explain why.  In the light industrial field, where schedules are built tightly around shift needs, one missing person can throw off picking rates, loading times, assembly line speeds, shipping windows, and overall productivity.  Recruiters and hiring agents understand that emergencies happen. Cars break down. Kids get sick. People change their minds. But the absence of communication leaves recruiters scrambling, often long after the applicant has already moved on.  In my opinion, or the way I look at it, by the way, that and a dollar will get you a donut, but I feel Ghosting isn’t really about disrespect. It’s more about fear, stress, assumptions, and misaligned expectations.  Here are my thoughts towards the root causes of driving the cycle. Theres too much automation, not enough human contact. Technology sped up the hiring process but it also removed the personal element both sides need. And job seekers apply to dozens of positions at once. One-click applications mean applicants may not even remember all the jobs they applied for. Recruiters then spend hours calling candidates who barely recall applying. And a big one, many applicants apply for jobs they aren’t qualified for. Not out of laziness, but out of hope. Here’s one I experienced this week. Recruiters are managing heavy workloads. When you’re trying to fill 20 positions by tomorrow, one on one follow-up becomes impossible.  It’s easy for all of us to assume the worst. Applicants think, They didn’t call, so I must not matter. Recruiters think, If they’re not answering now, they won’t show up on the job. These assumptions kill communication before it even begins. And quite frankly I think their cop outs and ridiculous!   So, now that we know all that, how can, us as applicants, reduce the chance of being ghosted. While nothing eliminates ghosting entirely, here are ways we can dramatically increase our chances of hearing back and staying in the running. First, lets apply only to jobs we meet the minimum qualifications for. This shows the recruiter you’re serious and saves you both time. Next, answer our phone and check voicemail. I know, we’re all getting 10 spam calls a day so we screen them. But remember, a recruiter may be making 50 calls for our position. Recruiters move fast. Missing a call by two hours can mean the position is already filled. Here is one few of us do. We shouldn’t have to but it helps. Follow up professionally. A simple message, voice mail or email, goes a long way, Hi, just checking on the status of my application. I’m still very interested. And lets be honest about our schedule and abilities. Recruiters will respect transparency. And lastly, if you change your mind, tell someone. Closing the loop builds a good reputation, especially with agencies you may want to work with later.  OK, so how can recruiters do more to reduce ghosting from us applicants? I know that recruiters can’t fix every no-show, but they can improve engagement. They can communicate early and clearly. Us applicants respond better when we know timelines and expectations upfront. Maybe send short, personal texts. A text feels more human than an automated email. Or an email with our name in it! And her is a big one. Explain the job requirements before the interview. List details in your ad. This prevents surprises and encourages honesty from us. As recruiters, you are busy, very busy, but try and treat applicants with respect, even when declining them. Don’t make us feel bad and leave us with no hope!  Candidates remember how they were treated. Remember we still have to search for a position.  Oh yeah, and please avoid overselling the job. Honesty builds that long-term trust.  Everybody wants the same thing right? Applicants want stability, fair pay, communication, and a chance. Recruiters want reliable workers, honest communication, safety, and productivity. Neither side wakes up intending to ghost anyone most of the time, the silence isn’t personal, it’s situational.  When both sides understand the pressures the other is under, communication gets better, expectations align, and opportunities become clearer. Ghosting might not disappear entirely, but it loses a bit of its sting. And more importantly, it opens the door to better hiring relationships where respect runs in both directions.  Now that one of the larger opportunities in our industry is solved, we’ll call it a wrap. Seriously though, we’re all people, our needs and agendas are different, but we can and should help each other when it come

In warehousing and operations, none of us begin our shifts planning to create risk or endanger someone. Most of us show up, jump on the forklift, our rider pallet jacks, or another piece of powered industrial equipment, to put away pallets, run freight across the dock, build loads, and try to hit our numbers. We hear the safety rules during orientation, we sign the training sheets, we watch the videos. And then we get comfortable. We convince ourselves that “just this once,” or “just for a few minutes” won’t hurt anything. Until it does. I’m Marty and today here at Warehouse and Operations as a Career I want to talk about a real scenario. A young forklift operator lost her job because she placed a stack of pallets in front of an egress doorway. She felt wronged. Her reasoning? It was only going to be there for a few minutes. I was going to move a few things around and would have come right back. She had been trained not to block doorways, exits, electrical panels, and fire extinguishers. She understood it in theory. But she didn’t understand why the rule was there. And that is the key difference between training and comprehension. Between compliance and belief. Between I heard you say it and I understand why doing it matters. In our industry, the difference between those two mindsets determines careers, safety, and sometimes even lives. Let’s begin with something easy to understand. Warehouse safety regulations exist because someone, somewhere, died or was severely injured before they were written. No safety standard, especially those around emergency exits, came from a textbook. They came from tragedy. Blocking egress routes, doorways, exit paths, hallways, or marked access points, has been a contributing factor in warehouse fatalities, factory fires, mass casualty incidents, and evacuation failures. In high-risk environments, you cannot predict when the emergency will come. You only know that if it does, people must be able to get out. When OSHA, the fire marshal, or an insurance company says Do not block exits, they aren’t being bureaucratic. They’re telling us history has proven that someone WILL eventually need that doorway in a moment they did not expect. Let’s take our forklift operator. She put those pallets there temporarily. In her mind, temporarily meant harmless. But here is the reality, Emergencies don’t wait until you’ve moved your pallets. Fires don’t pause. Workers don’t stop breathing because you need three more minutes to finish your task. Someone having a panic attack or a medical emergency doesn’t get to choose a different exit. And in the worst case, a forklift battery explosion, a flash fire, a pallet collapse, well, seconds are going to matter. Imagine this, A fire starts thirty feet away. A worker runs to the nearest exit, the same one blocked by her pallets, and they cannot push through. That delay, one or two seconds, might be the difference between smoke inhalation and survival. Suddenly just a few minutes isn’t a harmless mistake. It’s life-changing. One of the hardest lessons I’ve watched workers go through is the realization that danger never announces itself.  We forklift operators spend hundreds of hours moving pallets around. We get comfortable. We get to moving fast. We develop their rhythms and our shortcuts. And shortcuts are where careers end. I heard once that a shortcut is a decision built on the belief that risk is low, but made without proof. There is no risk assessment. There is no redundancy. There is only the operator’s personal confidence. But confidence is not the same as being right. Blocking an exit, stacking pallets where they shouldn’t be, driving faster because no one is looking, those aren’t skill-based decisions. They’re complacency-based decisions. And like we learned about 6 weeks ago with episode #337 titled The Cost of Comfort and Complacency is that complacency ends careers. Companies don’t train us because they are trying to check a box. Not in warehousing. Not in distribution. Not in our light industrial environments where 11,000-pound lift trucks are working around humans every minute. When you go through PIT training, when you sign the safety sheets, when the manager says Do not block emergency exits, that is a contract. The company is investing in our safety. The company is protecting the other employees. The company is following regulations. And by acknowledging that training, you are agreeing to follow those standards. One thing I remind new associates is, when you violate safety rules, you don’t just break the rule, you break the trust that permitted you to operate equipment in the first place. That forklift is a privilege, not a right. A license to operate PIT equipment was earned. It is maintained and kept through our behavior. You can be the fastest replenisher on the night shift. You can be the best put-away driver in the building. If you block an exit, you have demonstrated to leadership that you value speed over safety. And no company will tolerate that. It’s important for us to remember that warehouses are not just workplaces, they are regulated environments. OSHA standards are not guidelines. They are mandatory requirements. If a facility allows blocked exits, that facility can be fined, investigated, or shut down. If an employee is injured because an exit was blocked the company can be held liable, the manager, the supervisor, and we as the operator can be held liable. That’s the uncomfortable truth. Our few minutes of pallets could cost a company millions of dollars, or cost someone their job, their home, or their career. In cases involving fatalities, people can go to prison. Not because they were malicious. Not because they wanted to hurt someone. But because the law recognizes that preventing access to emergency exits is negligent, reckless, and dangerous. Some people hear a story like this and say, she should have gotten a warning. They didn’t have to fire her over that. But here’s what we have to remember. She was trained not to do it. She acknowledged the training. She violated a life-critical rule. Someone saw it before she corrected it. Had an emergency occurred, lives could have been at risk. Companies cannot wait for the second violation when the first one clearly shows that the person is willing to gamble with safety. Imagine hiring a truck driver who decides they don’t need to wear a seat belt because it slows them down getting in and out of the cab. Do you wait until they crash to discipline them? No, you remove the risk before the tragedy. Firing her wasn’t punishment. It was prevention. And I get it, some young warehouse associates and PIT operators look at rules through a personal lens. Is this slowing me down?, Is this inconvenient?, Is anyone watching? It’ll only be a minute. But supervisors, trainers, and safety managers think differently, and we need them thinking differently. Who will be harmed if this goes wrong? Will someone be able to escape? What risk does this create? What message does allowing this send to others? Safety is not about the present moment, it is about that worst-case moment. A forklift operator who blocks an exit is telling leadership, I understand the rule, but my time, my pallet, and my shortcut matter more than everyone’s safety. That is not a person you can trust with equipment. I’ve seen many young operators get blindsided when decisions like this end their employment. They’ll say, they didn’t even give me a chance. I was just trying to work fast. I wasn’t hurting anyone. I didn’t think it was a big deal. But that last statement I didn’t think it was a big deal is the reason they’re let go. Safety programs are built on the assumption that associates understand the seriousness of the rules. Not that they can be persuaded to obey them. Companies cannot risk people who don’t think blocking exits is a big deal. And they cannot gamble that a worst-case scenario won’t happen. That forklift operator may feel wronged, but she was fired for the same reason someone would be fired for driving a forklift while lifting someone on a pallet, operating equipment without a harness at height, Removing the guard on a machine, smoking near propane tanks or ignoring lockout/tagout procedures. Each one of those behaviors is a small decision with catastrophic potential. Companies must act before catastrophe, not after. You’ve heard me say it before and I’ll say it again. Warehouse and light industrial work isn’t about simply getting the doors opened and closed for our shift. It’s about doing it the right way. There are rules that are flexible, like whether a pallet is stowed in location A or location B. But safety rules are not up for negotiation. No horseplay. No racing forklifts. No blocking egress routes. No disabling horns or alarms. No driving with obstructed visibility. And no storing pallets against fire extinguishers. These aren’t annoyances. They’re the foundation of professionalism and a culture of safety. The best operators in the industry understand this. They know that anyone can make numbers. The people who build careers are the ones who make numbers and keep everyone safe while doing it. I’m sure we have all learned that rules exist because someone didn’t follow them once. Standards exist because someone paid the price. As an operator we see pallets and a doorway. Leaders see risk, liability, and potential tragedy. When we block an exit, even for two minutes, we are gambling with lives you will never meet, for reasons that will never matter in hindsight. Warehouse safety isn’t about intent. It’s about consequences. And when the consequence could be someone not getting out in time, there is no such thing as only for a few minutes. I know that sounds harsh but it’s factual. We’ve been trained, and accepted the position, and it’s on us to be accountable right? People losing their position is always a tough subject. I’ve been told by many that it’s a good thing sometimes. I hope that both parties lear

Welcome back to another episode of Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and today I want to talk about something a listener asked a few weeks ago. How does one choose a career, and more specifically, how do they end up in the light industrial, warehousing, and transportation fields.  One of the things I’ve learned over the decades is that very few people wake up at 18 years old and say, I’m going to be a forklift operator, or I’m going to build a career in a distribution center.  In my opinion most careers aren’t chosen, they’re found. They’re shaped by our experiences, opportunities, influences, and sometimes just plain necessity.  But once people get here, once they get that first real taste of what this work is like, the stability, the opportunity, the teamwork, a lot of them stay. And that’s what I’d like to talk about today.  Let’s start with a simple truth: most people don’t choose a career the way a high school guidance counselor might describe it. It’s not a straight line.   It’s often a mix of exposure, timing, skill, personality, and need.  Let me try and make that make sense. Many of us choose careers based on what we’ve seen growing up. If your parents, uncles, or neighbors worked in a warehouse or drove trucks, that’s what you were exposed to. If your first job was unloading trucks at a retail store or working seasonal shifts for a local DC, that experience sticks with you. My father was president of a regional catalogue distribution center. From a young age I was exposed to the warehouse, all the inbound and outbound chaos and seeing all the equipment in action. I was in DECA in high school, my junior and senior years I went to school half a day and then off to work after that. Distributive Education Clubs of America was an eye opener for me and helped point me towards a work ethic I still hold today. Anyway, I digress a bit there. What was I talking about. Ok, I don’t know where I was going, I think I wanted to mention my first jobs we’re in a warehouse because I had an in to those distribution centers! All that’s a story for another episode.    I think a lot of young people today enter this industry because a friend says, Hey, my place is hiring, or they hear that a local warehouse pays a few dollars more per hour than their retail job. That’s what I mean by exposure.  You can’t choose what you don’t know exists.  Now, in our world, once someone takes that first general labor position or that first shift at loading trailers, something happens. They either realize it’s not for them, or they say, You know what, I think I like this.  And that’s often the moment their career begins, sometimes without them even realizing it.   Another major factor I mentioned earlier is need. Jobs are often chosen because someone needs a paycheck this week, not a degree three years from now. And that’s one of the biggest advantages of the light industrial and warehousing world, it is accessible.  You don’t need an ivy league education. You don’t need months of training. A good staffing agency or warehouse can hire you, orient you, and get you earning a paycheck quickly in a week.  For someone supporting a family, or someone just starting out and needing to get on their feet, that’s huge. A lot of careers begin because the industry said, we’ll give you a chance right now.   People also lean into what they’re naturally good at. Some people are hands-on workers. Some learn best by doing. Some have great attention to detail. Others thrive in louder, busier environments.  Warehousing fits a wide range of capabilities. If you like movement, there’s selecting, loading, unloading. If you like operating equipment, there’s forklift, rider pallet jacks, and PIT operation. If you’re detail-oriented, there’s inventory control and quality assurance. If you’re a natural leader, there’s a path from lead to supervisor to manager.  Many people choose this industry simply because they discover, sometimes accidentally  that the work fits who they are.  We sometimes forget that personality drives career choice as well. Some individuals do not want to sit at a desk. They don’t want to be in customer service all day. They want to move, think, act, sweat, accomplish, and see their results.  Warehousing and transportation offer that. Every shift has a measurable outcome. Pallets moved. Trailers loaded. Orders filled. Goals hit or exceeded. For the right personality, that environment feels rewarding, even energizing.   And this might be the most important factor of all. A single person can completely influence someone’s career path. Our mentors, even unknown mentors, have a lot more influence on us than we may realize. Maybe it was a supervisor who said, you’d be great on a forklift, let’s get you trained. Maybe it was a lead who showed you how to wrap a pallet right and said, you’re picking this up fast. Maybe it was a trainer who spent extra time showing you a safer way to work and said, I see potential in you, you’ll be able to take my place one day. That’s 3 true examples I experienced.  Those moments matter. They turn jobs into careers. They help people believe in themselves, sometimes for the first time.   And then let’s be honest, sometimes people end up in a job simply because it was the easiest open door. They applied. They got hired. They started. And they stayed. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Many long, successful careers begin by chance. But what matters is what happens after that first step.  So now, let’s talk about why so many workers who enter this field end up staying and building entire careers here. There are a lot of reasons. Not everyone is meant for college. And not everyone wants it. Warehousing levels the playing field. You can start with a high school diploma, a GED, or just the willingness to learn. You don’t need prior experience. You don’t need certifications. You don’t need years of training. If you show up consistently and work safely, the industry will teach you everything else. That opens doors for thousands of workers who want a real career but don’t have access to college or technical schools or the time those commitments take to start earning.    One of the biggest advantages of our field is that advancement is based on performance, not the politics. A general laborer who works hard, shows up every day, and follows safety rules and procedures can move from position to position quickly. I see it all the time. General labor to Forklift operator, Forklift operator to Lead, Lead to Supervisor, Supervisor to Manager, and Manager to Operations leadership like Director or Vice president.   If you want to climb the ladder, the ladder is there, and it’s real. I’ve seen people go from sweeping floors to running departments. I’ve even seen people go on to run entire facilities.  That’s the beauty of this career path, you can grow as fast as your attitude and effort will carry you.  People sometimes think warehousing is just moving boxes. But as we’ve learned this last couple of quarters, this industry is incredibly diverse. There are roles in Equipment operation, Inventory control, Quality assurance, I should have made some notes here, what else, oh, Replenishment, Receiving, Shipping, Dispatch, Transportation, building Maintenance, and two of my favorites Safety, Training, many different Management positions, and even HR and recruiting.  The variety gives us workers options. We can grow sideways, upward, or into completely new areas, all within the same building. What other industry can give us all that!    And many entry-level associates discover quickly that general labor in a warehouse pays several dollars more per hour than retail or food service. Then they see the overtime opportunities. The shift premiums. And the potential bonuses. Suddenly, they’re not just earning a paycheck, they’re earning a living. I think this is one of the top reasons people stay. Warehousing and transportation reward productivity and effort. And that motivates workers to commit to the industry long-term. One of my opinions for free!   Some people need to feel accomplished. They want to look back at the end of the shift and say, everything is all wrapped up.  Warehousing gives them that. You see progress. You see results. You see the work you put in. You don’t have to wonder if you made an impact, you can see it in the cases picked, pallets stacked, trailers loaded, and shift goals achieved. That sense of accomplishment always kept me coming back for the next shift.  And It’s a Stable, Growing Industry Let’s face it, the supply chain isn’t going anywhere. Even during recessions, warehouses keep running. Even during pandemics, trucks keep moving. People always need, Food, home Products, Medications, and Supplies. And as e-commerce continues to grow, so does the demand for distribution centers, fulfillment centers, cross-docks, last-mile delivery, and transportation. Workers like stability. They like knowing their job will still be here tomorrow. Warehousing and the supply chain offers that.  And this industry teaches skills we can take anywhere, equipment operation, Safety practices, systems and RF scanners, Inventory processes, Quality checks, Time management, the importance of accuracy and Leadership and communication. These aren’t just job skills, there our they’re career skills. And once you have them, you’re employable in almost any warehouse or distribution environment across the country.  Another thing I’ve always loved about the industry is how Warehouses are often 24/7 operations. That means people can choose shifts that work best for them and the family, mornings, afternoons, nights, weekends, or rotating even schedules. For young parents, students, or workers with second jobs, that flexibility can be a major advantage.  I feel, when you look at the big picture, people choose warehousing, light industrial, and transportation careers because they see opportunity. These industries offer that chance to start i

When we think about goals and planning, most of us picture big dreams, buying a house, raising a family, finding stability, choosing a career, or one day reaching retirement. But for today’s young light industrial workforce, many of those ideas feel far away, maybe even impossible. And honestly, it’s not their fault. The world changed fast, faster than the rulebook was updated.  But here’s the truth, or my belief anyway, is that goals and planning matter more now than ever. Especially in the warehouse environment, where opportunities are everywhere, pathways are wide open, and advancement is 100% achievable for anyone willing to invest in themselves.  Today, I want to talk about why planning matters, why so many young workers struggle with goal-setting, and how building a personal roadmap, both in career and finances, can set someone up for long-term success. We’ll also talk about one of my favorite and the simplest ways to start building savings, the 52-Week Savings Chart. It’s easy, and honestly kind of fun! In warehousing, distribution, manufacturing, and production, we often focus on the daily tasks, get the product in, put it away, pick or select the orders, load the trucks, do it accurately, and above all do it safely.  It’s fast-paced. It’s physical. It’s repetitive. And because of that, it’s incredibly easy for young workers to fall into the mindset of I’m just here for today. But here’s the reality, warehouse jobs lead to careers. Careers lead to stability. Stability leads to retirement. You can’t get to retirement if you don’t know where you’re going though.  A 19-year-old forklift operator isn’t necessarily thinking about retirement. But imagine if they did? Imagine if they knew that by choosing the right industry, sticking with the right employer, and building the right habits, they could retire comfortably at 55 or 60 with a strong 401k, or enough savings to enjoy life.  I sometimes feel too many young people think of work as what I am doing today, instead of what I am building for tomorrow. And I get it, it’s hard. And I think it’s harder than it was just 15 years ago. Let’s be honest, today’s workforce is dealing with challenges older generations didn’t face at the same time in life. Definitely a higher cost of living, more job instability, and I don’t want to talk about the gig work out there. And there’s much less long-term planning in schools, faster moving workplaces, and a cultural shift toward right now instead of long-term. Add to that the fact that so many associates weren’t taught how to budget, how to plan, and especially how to set career goals. I was so fortunate to have family and mentors in the industry that taught me to work for the future, not just the present. But retirement can feel so far away it doesn’t even feel real. Promotions feel random. And saving feels impossible.  This is where employers, supervisors, and experienced warehousemen should step in and teach the why and the how, and we as associates should listen and self educate a bit on those finances.  You may have heard me say so many times that a job pays the bills. A career builds a life.  In the warehouse world, workers can start as general laborers, lumpers, pallet builders, sanitation, pickers, unloaders, roles that don’t require experience, just effort. From there, they can move into Forklift operation, Order selection, Inventory control, Quality Control, Dispatch, Lead roles, Supervisory roles, Management roles, Operations, Transportation, Safety, Training, and global logistics like ocean shipping, Import Export. And those are just a few of my favorites! The industry is full of opportunity and movement. But you only move when you know what direction you want to go.  Each one of us should ask ourselves questions like these at least every quarter. Where do I want to be in 3 years? What skills do I need to get there? What industry do I want to grow in, e-commerce, retail distribution, cold storage, manufacturing, production, and my personal favorite, an industry that worked out great for me and my family, food service distribution! Let’s list one more, I jotted down like 20 questions! I’m going with this one. What certifications or equipment experience can I add to my résumé this year? Those are career questions, not job questions.  And when a young worker understands that advancement is planned, not accidental, they start to see their daily tasks differently. They start to realize that every pallet they pick, every shift they complete, and every decision they make is building toward something.  Career growth isn’t just about promotions, it’s also about stability. Stability, an odd but important word. Meriam Webster tells us that stability is the quality, state, or degree of being stable, such as, the strength to stand or endure. I’ve always felt savings and planning could help with stability.   A worker who saves even a little, handles emergencies better, can take a risk on a better job, can move into a higher-paying industry, can invest in certifications or training and can build towards buying a car, a home, or building for that retirement. Saving isn’t about being rich, it’s about being ready.  I think a lot of us struggle with saving because we think it requires big numbers. We think savings has to start at $100 a week, or $50 a week. But saving can actually start small. Consistency beats amount.  I’ve always loved 52-Week Savings Challenge.  This method is simple. You save the same amount of dollars as the week number. Week 1 save $1, Week 2 save $2, Week 3 $3 and so on to week 52 where we’ll stash $52. There’s no stress. No budgeting skills needed. No complicated rules. By the end of the year, we’ve saved $1,378. And that’s before any interest or other investments. That’s the power of consistency. It teaches us that money can add up fast, small steps matter, and that habits matter, planning matters. Anyone can save, no matter their wage.  Imagine a young 18-year-old doing this each year. By age 25? They’ve saved nearly $10,000, not including interest. By age 30? Almost $17,000. And by age 35? They’re in a completely different financial world than their peers.    When we as young warehouse persons learn this concept the entire world opens up. We begin to see that the difference between struggle and stability isn’t luck… it’s planning. We learn that goals matter. That careers don’t happen by accident. That saving isn’t really optional. That retirement isn’t a fantasy, it’s the destination. And most importantly, we learn that we’re in control. Our future isn’t determined by a starting point. It’s determined by our direction.  You’ve heard me say so many times that warehouse work can take you anywhere. But it can’t take you there if you don’t know where you want to go. Career success is built on two pillars. A plan, and the discipline to follow it. Saving money builds discipline. Career planning builds direction. And together, they build a life.  I don’t think today’s young workers are lost. I feel they’re just uninformed. They’re capable, hardworking, loyal, and smart, they just haven’t been taught and helped with the long-term lesson that your goal isn’t today. Your goal is retirement. Every shift, every dollar saved, every skill learned, every certification earned, every good decision, even every safety moment, moves us closer to that future.  Of course we have many more financial obligations, I don’t want to make any of this sound easy because it’s not. But Planning will help us with our day to day bills, raising our family, and making all those major purchases, and help us accomplish all our life goals.  So! With us approaching or wrapping up the 4th quarter of 2025, I’ve started thinking of my 2026 goals whereas from there I can develop my plan for the year.  Thanks for checking in today. During break today, speak to a friend about your plans. And get them started on there’s. It’s great to have an accountability partner! Y’all be safe out there this week.

Few things disrupt operations more quickly than a No Call, No Show (NCNS). Whether it’s a missed interview, a new-hire training, an equipment certification, or the first day on the job, a single NCNS can derail productivity, frustrate clients or supervisors, and ripple through the schedule of an entire shift. It’s not a new problem, it’s just becoming more visible, more costly, and more accepted than it used to be. In the light industrial and warehouse world, we’ve learned to expect some drop-off after maybe week one, and a few disappearances around the day 30 or the 60 day mark. But lately, the trend has moved to earlier, before the first paycheck is even cut. I’m Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career and today let’s talk about why this may be happening and what companies and staffing agencies can do to reduce it. It’s not just on us as applicants!  Traditionally, a no call no show meant someone who failed to report to work without notifying their supervisor. In the staffing and HR generalist world today, the definition has expanded to interviews, applicants who confirm a time but never arrive. NCNS to orientation, training, or PIT certifications, candidates who complete onboarding paperwork but skip the class. And NCNS on their BOG or start day, new hires who accept an assignment, get confirmed with the client, and never show up. And then you have the NCNS after week one or month two, associates who vanish after that first full check or after the honeymoon period of the new job. Each version comes with its own cost, and unfortunately, many staffing agencies and employers are experiencing all four.  So why Is This Happening More Often? I don’t think there is a single answer, but several cultural, economic, and communication shifts may be at play. Here’s a few of my opinions.  I think the market has changed in many regions, job seekers have options. A motivated worker can apply to multiple openings online and be scheduled for interviews within hours. For entry-level light industrial roles, the barriers to applying are low, but the commitment required from the applicant is often equally low. Some candidates see accepting an interview or training slot as just holding a place, not a firm commitment. If another offer appears first, they may never circle back to cancel.  And I think digital communication has replaced accountability. A generation ago, a candidate would have to call a recruiter or manager directly. That conversation required a degree of respect and responsibility. Today, with texts, emails, and online scheduling portals, communication feels transactional. People can disappear silently.  Recruiters tell stories of applicants who will text on my way and never show up or ghost them entirely after being offered the job. It’s not always malicious, often it’s discomfort, anxiety, or simple avoidance. That human nature thing I’m always talking about.  Many NCNS events trace back to practical issues, unreliable transportation, last-minute childcare cancellations, or fear of missing other financial opportunities. Warehouse work often starts early, could require travel across town in some of our larger commercial complexes, and can be physically demanding. If a new associate isn’t fully prepared for that reality, or doesn’t have stable support, it’s easier to just not show up than to face embarrassment or confrontation.  For that first-time warehouse associate, the fear of failure can trigger avoidance. The thought of walking into a huge facility, operating equipment, or being surrounded by seasoned workers can intimidate some. Without encouragement or connection, what I call pre orientation by the recruiter or hiring agent before day one, anxiety often will win.  Oh and we can’t ignore the gig economy stuff either. Many modern workers grew up in an environment where flexibility is prized, take the job that feels right today, and move on tomorrow if it doesn’t. That attitude is at odds with the warehouse culture, where consistency, reliability, and teamwork are going to define success. Recruiters and supervisors sometimes assume everyone knows that, but in reality, the expectation has shifted for many, maybe most.  Where was I, oh here. And for employers, the cost is both direct and indirect. Wasted recruiting and onboarding time, every NCNS represents hours of effort spent sourcing, scheduling, and preparing, and all that ad spend. Then we have all the lost production, when one associate doesn’t show up, others must cover and make up those hours. That may mean slower lines or overtime. And Disrupted morale, consistent NCNS patterns create resentment among reliable workers. And the big one for the agencies are the damaged client relationships, each missed start can erode trust with the customer. When no-shows are expected and accepted as part of the game, accountability slowly erodes across the workforce.  I don’t think there’s a perfect fix, but there are strategies that can help us reduce the early ghosting. I think that human connection will always beat automation. Technology is efficient, but relationships create commitment. Like a personal phone call, not just a text or auto generated reminder can help establish a sense of accountability. Before orientation, have a recruiter or coordinator reconfirm details personally, something like We’re excited to see you tomorrow at 9 AM, do you still have that time free? Ask open-ended questions How’s your transportation looking? or Do you have everything you need for tomorrow? Can help. And Express confidence We’re counting on you, this is going to be a great fit. That short conversation can turn a scary transaction into a relationship.  And another quick opinion, I think many candidates drop off because the process feels complicated. If the interview or onboarding system requires multiple logins, confusing links, or long wait times, motivation is going to fade quickly. I think we have to streamline everywhere we can. Combine paperwork steps, offer text based confirmations, and reduce the time gap between application and start date when possible. Every extra day between Yes, I’ll take it and Show up at this time increases the chance of a no show.  And I think our light industrial work can sometimes be undervalued by the very people who rely on it most. A good recruiter should sell the value of the job, stability, benefits, skill growth, and a path to permanent placement. Instead of saying, it’s an entry level position, say this is a get your foot in the door at one of the best distribution centers in town, many of their full timers started exactly where you’re starting. When people feel the opportunity has meaning, they treat it seriously. Or so I believe!  What else did I jot down, I made so many side notes here. Oh yeah. Text reminders the night before and morning of orientation or start date are simple but can be powerful. Include a name and personal touch, not just a generic Reminder: Your shift starts at 6 AM. Maybe like, Hi Michele, this is Chris from Belmar, just checking that you’re ready for your 6 AM start at ABC Distribution. There looking forward to meeting you. It sounds human, not robotic, and that makes all the difference.  Now even when associates make it through orientation and their first week, retention remains a challenge! That’s when the next round of no shows can appear, often right after payday or around the end of the first month, or a Monday or Friday. One of my mentors felt that the first seven days are going to define the relationship. Supervisors should meet every new associate personally, learn their name, and make sure they know where to go and who to talk to. A simple how’s it going so far check in can uncover issues before they grow into a problem. An associate will share if given a chance. Maybe things like transportation struggles, unclear expectations, equipment challenges, or confusion about pay or hours. People are far less likely to disappear when they feel someone notices their presence.  Oh, and speaking of pay. One of the biggest frustrations new hires face and report on is misunderstanding pay schedules or deductions. If a worker expects to be paid Friday and learns mid-week it’s next Friday, frustration can turn into ghosting. It’s important to review pay cycles during onboarding, confirm when direct deposits hit, and explain how to check hours. Clarity builds trust. And don’t wait for 90 days to recognize success. If a new associate shows up every day for the first week, mention it, tell them I appreciate you being here every day this week, that’s how great careers start. After week one, week four, and week eight, schedule short check-ins. These don’t have to be formal reviews, just conversations. You’re doing well. Anything you’d like to learn next? Do you feel like the job fits your expectations? When workers know their performance is noticed, they may be less likely to vanish.  And here’s another opinion that some my disagree with. Reducing NCNS isn’t just the recruiter’s job or the employer’s job, it’s a shared responsibility. Recruiters or facility managers should stay in touch with supervisors, not just during placement but throughout the first 30 days. A two-minute update can catch red flags. He’s been late twice. She mentioned childcare issues. They seem overwhelmed. I feel that agencies and clients that communicate closely can intervene early and prevent some walk offs.  Now of course all that only works if expectations are transparent. We must explain to candidates that showing up and performing reliably is what leads to full-time placement. And we should explain to clients that constructive feedback and inclusion help that associate feel part of the team. When both sides honor the spirit of the agreement, conversion rates rise, and NCNS events fall.  I think agencies should measure things like interview-to-show ratio, Orientation, training or PIT certification attendance rate and our day-one NCN

Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. Today we’re talking about staffing agencies, what they are, why they exist, and the benefits they bring from both a client’s perspective and the applicant’s perspective. In our light industrial environment, warehousing, distribution, production, and manufacturing, staffing agencies play a massive role. They help keep product flowing, equipment running, freight moving, and departments staffed. But they also help workers build careers, explore opportunities, and prove themselves in real-world environments before committing long-term. So today, let’s talk about the advantages that staffing agencies bring to both sides of the employment coin, and why the try-before-you-buy approach is not only smart, but strategic for both parties. Now why do staffing agencies exist, you may ask. If you’re newer to this industry, you might wonder why wouldn’t a company just hire people directly? And that’s a very good question. The answer is tied to cost, responsibility, speed, and risk. Companies can face fluctuating labor demands, seasonal spikes, turnover challenges, hiring backlogs, training expenses, and safety responsibilities. Meanwhile, agencies specialize in finding, screening, onboarding, payroll, insurance, and coaching. They’re built to do it, efficiently and consistently. Think of it like this, you wouldn’t hire a plumber full-time just in case a pipe leaks once a month. You use the right tool when the situation demands it. I read that somewhere, kind of corny but it does make the point. If you’re a business, partnering with an agency provides several major benefits: The first one, and maybe the biggest one is the Try-It-Before-You-Buy-It hiring In a direct hire situation, once that associate is on your payroll, you’ve taken on unemployment liability, workers’ comp exposure, benefits administration, HR documentation, corrective action processes. And if that hire doesn’t work out? Now you’re dealing with attendance issues, disengagement, a poor fit, or even safety concerns. With a staffing partner, you get to evaluate attendance habits, cultural fit, productivity levels, work ethic, and their safety mindset. If the fit isn’t right, you simply request a replacement. No conflict. No termination paperwork. No damage to morale. Just the right person for the right task. Secondly the agency carries the responsibility for loss. During the contracted period, the agency is the employer. That means the agency is responsible for workers’ compensation claims, unemployment claims, payroll taxes, reporting injuries, policy enforcement, training documentation and maybe a host of other responsibilities. That protection alone can save companies thousands, in risk exposure. And then lower administrative cost. Recruiting and hiring is expensive. Before a single associate clocks in, companies can spend hours screening resumes, hours interviewing candidates, money advertising positions, labor and cost performing background checks, time onboarding, time entering payroll data. An agency handles all of that. Companies stay focused on production and productivity, instead of paperwork. Let’s see, what’s next, oh, a quick response to labor fluctuations. Warehousing and manufacturing don’t operate at the same speed year-round. Anyone who has survived produce season or holiday time knows what I’m talking about! One week you’re short-handed. Next week you’re over-staffed. A staffing partner can scale it daily, weekly, seasonally, even shift-to-shift. That’s flexibility you simply cannot replicate with a direct hiring model. And another benefit is access to candidates you might not reach. Agencies recruit from online job boards, local networks, trade schools, neighborhoods where your company may not be visible, referrals, job fairs, social media. They cast a wider net. They fish deeper in the same pond and often find talent companies never see. And a good business development person will tell you you’ll experience a better hiring outcome. A good agency screens for reliability, attitude, past performance, safety awareness, shift availability, even equipment experience. That means better alignment once boots hit the ground. Now Let’s Look at the Applicant’s Perspective A lot of people miss this one, agencies aren’t just for companies. They offer tremendous value to us workers too. First up would be career exploration with zero risk. Some people think they want to be a pallet runner and operate an electric pallet jack,  until they try it. The pace and responsibility can be a bit more than expected. Others discover they love inventory control. Some didn’t know they’d enjoy production work until they tried it. Through an agency, you can explore you may be able to explore things like inbound receiving, order picking, packing, labeling, kitting, machine tending, eventually forklift operation, and about a hundred others. Yes, we may need to work our way into some of these positions, but they are all attainable. And you get paid while doing it. If you don’t enjoy a role? Talk to your recruiter about something else. Simple. And then, what I call, getting your foot in the door. Some companies don’t hire entry-level workers directly. They require previous experience, a clean work history, and equipment experience. Etc Agencies can get you into those facilities, where you can prove yourself from the inside. And once you’re in? Promotions, skill certifications, and full-time hiring opportunities are within reach. Next is the opportunity to build and expand our skills. Working through an agency can give us experience with WMS systems, exposure to production KPIs, OSHA safety practices, equipment operation skills, palletizing and material handling knowledge. Those skills make you far more employable, even if you never stay with that specific facility. Oh here’s a good one, weekly pay. Most agencies pay weekly. That can be incredibly helpful for budgeting, emergencies, and unexpected expenses. Another benefit to us may be some coaching and help. A good recruiter can helps you build a résumé, explains attendance expectations, reviews workplace professionalism, advocates for safety, prepares you for interviews, coaches through workplace conflict or their observations of the environment. Another words you’re not alone. And this one was brought up to me last month. The opportunity to prove yourself. Some people struggle in traditional interview environments. Maybe nerves get in the way. Maybe their résumé doesn’t reflect their true ability. With a staffing partner, you can prove your value through action like showing up early, working hard, communicating clearly, working safe, supporting your team. And your production numbers don’t lie. And then maybe you need Flexibility. Want nights? Weekends? Temporary work while deciding your next step? Agencies can align your schedule with your life. Theres several benefits from both perspectives for us to ponder over. So, moving on, lets see. Here’s a strong bullet point. Turnover is expensive. When companies hire too fast, they often find the wrong cultural fit. Likewise, when applicants accept jobs, they don’t understand, they burn out or quit. Agencies create a trial period, applicants get to make an informed decision, companies get to evaluate performance. That can help prevent early resignations, terminations, and wasted training hours. Retention can improve dramatically. And then there’s hidden cost of a rushed hire. When someone’s not the right fit trainers lose productive hours, supervisors burn time coaching, HR gets involved, equipment sits idle, orders fall behind. That’s expensive. Agencies can minimize that waste. Some associates think I don’t want to work for an agency. I want a real job. Well, here’s the truth. Agencies place thousands of workers into full-time roles every year. Many warehouse supervisors, leads, and managers started as agency workers. Agencies are how a huge portion of our industry staffs. It’s not just real, it’s strategic. If you put in the work, show up every day, follow instructions, commit to safety, communicate, and maintain a positive attitude, supervisors and managers will notice. And when conversion time comes? You’re at the top of the list. So, who should consider a staffing agency? Applicants who want to explore a new industry, need work fast, have gaps in their work history, want weekly pay, need schedule flexibility, are entering the workforce for the first time, are re-entering after time away. And a company experiencing seasonal spikes, struggling with turnover, requiring specialized recruiting, can’t carry full-time payroll, operate multiple shifts, and want to avoid unemployment costs. In short, just about everyone at some point. How can we maximize the experience, after all it must be a positive for us right? If you’re an associate you cannot over communicate, and we should always be on time, treat recruiters with respect, what else, ask for feedback, and be honest about our availability and experience, and we need to lean into and accept any learning opportunities. If you’re a client, partner closely with your agency, provide clear job descriptions, give feedback quickly, don’t ghost your recruiter, and treat agency workers with the same dignity as direct hires. That’s how you turn a vendor into a partner. In our industry, staffing partners are not a shortcut. They’re a strategic advantage. They help reduce turnover, improve safety, and connect great talent with great employers, often faster and more effectively than traditional hiring ever could. If you’re a business struggling with staffing challenges, consider partnering with an agency. If you’re an associate looking for opportunity, consider applying through one. Because sometimes the right door requires the right key. And an agency can be a win win! And now I’d like to thank you for joining me today. I hope this helped shine a little light on the benefits of staffing pa

Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career! I’m Marty, and today we’re diving into something that quietly runs the show in almost every modern warehouse, the Warehouse Management System, or WMS.  If you’ve ever scanned a label, followed a pick path, dropped a pallet in a location, or received directions from a handheld or voice system — you’ve been interacting with it. But how often do we stop and think about why it exists, how it works, and how critical it is to follow its directions exactly as given?  Today, we’ll explore, from our perspective, or from the floor, what a WMS is and how it came to be. The advantages it brings to operations and us as associates, the importance of accuracy and compliance in both inbound and outbound tasks, and finally, how something as simple as mis-placing a pallet can cost a company, and us, valuable, non-recoverable time.  Todays topic came to light through a message from Shannon. His facility runs a pretty tight ship and he was coached for misplacing a pallet of extremely valued product. He was counseled for manually entering or confirming he had placed a pallet vs scanning it to the location, and then the other shift could not locate it in a timely manner. He did not see it as a big deal, and asked me what I thought of all the WMS system blankety blank.  Well Sir, you may not like my answer, and I do understand your point of view, but let’s explore the subject for a bit and see if we can find some common ground!    I guess we should start with what a warehouse management system is?  A Warehouse Management System, or WMS, is essentially the digital backbone of the warehouse. I’d say digital brain but in today’s world we could confuse the word brain with AI, so I’m going to say backbone! It manages inventory, directs product flow, and keeps everything in sync from the moment goods arrive at the dock until they’re shipped out the door. The system touches every component and department.   Before WMS, warehouses operated on paper, clipboards, handwritten lists, and manual counts. You’d have receiving sheets, pick tickets, and paper bills of lading. Inventory accuracy depended on people’s handwriting, math, and memory. And as warehouses grew larger and customers demanded faster and more accurate deliveries, paper just couldn’t keep up.  That’s when WMS technology came into play, starting with simple barcode scanning in the 1980s and 90s, evolving into complex, real-time systems that talk directly with all our IT software, transportation systems, and even automated equipment today.  At its core or simply put, a WMS answers three questions every minute of every shift. Where is every product and case located? What needs to happen next? Who is best positioned to do it?  So why, beside just the fact that all that paperwork was getting over whelming, why did the WMS Come to be.  Well, as supply chains grew more complex, companies needed better control of a few things. One of them was Inventory accuracy, knowing exactly how much of every item is on hand. Next up was space utilization, making the most out of every square foot of warehouse space. Remember, real estate is expensive. We needed to make every inch count. Another huge factor was labor efficiency, ensuring that the right departments and the right people are doing the right jobs at the right time. And then speed and traceability, getting products to customers faster, and knowing where everything is at all times.  Paper and manual systems created too many opportunities for errors, double receipts, missed picks, unrecorded damages, and misplaced pallets.  The WMS was designed to eliminate those gaps by assigning every product, every location, and every movement a digital identity. It tells the operator what, where, and when, while recording who did it, all in real time.  That transparency is what keeps operations flowing smoothly.  What are the advantages of WMS?  A well-implemented and followed WMS provides advantages across every department. Accuracy being a big advantage. The system reduces human error by scanning every move. When every pallet and case is tracked by barcode, mistakes drop dramatically. And I mentioned efficiency earlier, it optimizes travel paths for selectors and for operators, no more backtracking or hunting for items. And a biggie for us on the floor is the inventory control aspect. The system knows where every item is stored and how much is available, reducing lost product, write-offs, and cycle-count discrepancies for the company but for us as order selectors and fork operators it helps keep those pick slots full!  And then the labor management side of things. WMS data ties directly to performance metrics like cases per hour, pallets per hour, and pick accuracy. It helps both associates and supervisors measure productivity fairly and objectively. And I want to say something about customer service or customer satisfaction. When orders are picked accurately and shipped on time, customers stay happy, and that’s what keeps our jobs secure.  I’ll try to break it down by departments.  Let’s talk about the inbound side first, the start of the product’s warehouse journey.  Inbound includes receivers, forklift operators, and inventory control personnel.  Our merchandising department orders the product and the logistics group schedules the order to arrive at the warehouse. That appointment is usually the first entry in our WMS.  Then, when a trailer backs up to the dock, the receiver’s job is to unload product and confirm that what’s arriving matches the purchase order. The WMS creates a digital record for every pallet, assigning each a temporary staging location and eventually a permanent “home” in the warehouse.  If that receiver doesn’t verify barcodes correctly or misses a damaged pallet, that error enters the system, and everything downstream or after that point is affected.  Once received, a forklift operator moves the product to its designated storage slot. Here’s where following WMS direction becomes critical. And this is what messed Shannon up. If the system says to place pallet “A123” in location “R-24-05,” and the operator accidentally sets it in “R-24-15,” the system will now believe it’s still in 05.  The next time an order calls for that product, the selector’s scanner will direct them to an empty slot, causing confusion, time loss, and frustration.  Inventory control teams rely on WMS data to audit counts and correct variances. When pallets are misplaced or scanned incorrectly, IC spends hours searching, recounting, or re-labeling, all of which is indirect time that produces no revenue or progress.   Ok, Now let’s move to the outbound side, order selectors, loaders, outbound forklift operators, and replenishment operators.  When the WMS assigns a selection path, it’s carefully optimized for travel efficiency and slot rotation. If an order selector decides to “freestyle” and pick out of sequence, maybe grabbing a nearby item early to save a few steps, it breaks that optimization. The system still expects that item to be there later, which can throw off the next picker’s route or the replenishment schedule.  For loaders, the WMS assigns which pallets belong to which trailer or route. Skipping a scan or loading the wrong pallet can mean a delivery truck leaves missing a customer’s product, and someone’s day just got a lot longer fixing it. And a lot more money may be spent.   Forklift drivers supporting outbound operations, especially replenishment operators, are the backbone of order flow. When the system says slot A needs replenishment, it’s based that on live data from order picks. Delaying a move, dropping product in the wrong location, or working ahead outside of the WMS instructions can cause product shortages or double replenishments.  It’s easy to think the WMS is just a guideline, but in reality, it’s a precision system built on logic, timing, and workflow.  When we follow it exactly, everything stays synchronized. When we don’t, we create ripples that affect everyone down the line.  Imagine this. You’re an inbound forklift operator. The system tells you to place a pallet of canned goods in location A-3-10. You’re in a hurry, the slot looks full, so you drop it in A-3-12 instead. I’ll fix it later, you think.  Two days later, an order selector goes to pick from A-3-10, and the product isn’t there. He calls for inventory control. They spend time searching for it, maybe call a supervisor. Ten minutes turns into thirty, then an hour.  That single pallet caused multiple associates to stop their direct work, all because one instruction wasn’t followed.  I’ve mentioned indirect and direct time, let’s break that down even further.  Direct time is the time we spend performing productive, billable, or goal-driven work, the tasks that move freight and generate value. Picking an order, loading a trailer, receiving product or moving a pallet to a directed slot, that’s direct time. It contributes to throughput, efficiency, and measurable results.  Indirect time, on the other hand, is time spent doing things that do not directly add value, often caused by inefficiencies, rework or down time. Searching for misplaced pallets, Re-counting inventory on the fly, fixing labeling errors, and waiting for product to be found or replenished. Indirect time eats into productivity and can never be recovered. Once that minute is gone, it’s gone forever.  If five associates spend 15 minutes looking for one misplaced pallet, that’s 75 minutes of indirect time, over an hour of lost productivity. Multiply that across a week or a month, and it can equal days of lost output.  In warehouse operations, small mistakes multiply quickly. A pallet misplaced in receiving leads to, Incorrect inventory counts, replenishment not triggering when needed, order selectors searching or shorting orders, delayed truck loading, customer dissatisfaction, and eventually, management having to justify labor cost overruns or that lost prod

I heard of three individuals, in 3 different states, losing their positions this week, and that bothered me a bit. Two of them I’d worked with on and off over the last year. All three were right at the year mark in their positions, and each believed they had found their long term if not their retire from organization. What struck me as odd was that as all 3 shared their thoughts with me, each used the word comfortable when explaining what had happened. Two of them stated they had messed up, quit paying attention to their tardiness, probably had gotten a little laxed in regard to the rules and procedures, one even mentioned he had quit thinking of or being focused on safety to the degree he should have. The third guy, although admitting he’d fallen into routines and probably fell into the drama the breakroom can expose us to, he felt like, him being a long-term employee, he’d been working there for 14 months, he felt that he should had been given another chance.  Now all three shared that they had been spoken with at least 2 times or had a couple of coaching’s in their file on attendance, tardiness, and I think 1 of them had been coached on gossiping or speaking about others personal lives in the workplace. Like I said earlier, all 3 had said something like I had gotten too comfortable at work, and one added the thought or word complacent to me.  So today, I want to talk about something every warehouse professional will experience at some point in their career, comfort. Now, don’t get me wrong, being comfortable in what we do isn’t necessarily bad. It can mean we’ve mastered our craft, we’ve gained confidence, and we can get through our tasks with efficiency and ease.  But here’s the catch, being too comfortable can be dangerous. It can slow us down, cloud our judgment, dull our attention to safety, and even limit our growth.  In the light industrial world, in warehousing, production, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation, we depend on routine. But routine, if not managed with purpose, can quietly become complacency. And complacency is what costs people their jobs, it can affect their safety, and sometimes even their careers. Being comfortable in your job means you know your equipment, your process, and your role. You’re confident in your ability to perform your duties safely and efficiently. You’re reliable. You’ve earned that comfort through experience, repetition, and effort.  But complacent, that’s when we may stop paying attention. We start cutting corners because “we’ve done it a thousand times.” We stop double-checking our surroundings. We stop asking questions or looking for ways to improve.  Complacency feels a lot like comfort, but the difference is small, and dangerous. One helps us grow; the other quietly holds us back.  When we first start a new job, we’re alert and focused. Everything is new, we’re learning procedures, meeting coworkers, and trying to make a strong impression. We check our pallet jack twice before using it. We double-check labels, counts, and load sheets. We want to get it right.  Then time passes. A few months in, we’ve learned the ropes. A year or two in, we can do it with our eyes closed. That’s when the risk can creep in.  It’s human nature, we settle into patterns. But in our world, that pattern can dull our edge. Productivity may hold steady, but initiative fades. We stop asking “why” and just focus on how. That’s when opportunity starts passing us by, those same people who started after us might start moving ahead, taking the lead or trainer positions, while we’ve quietly stayed in the same spot. Stuck in our routine.  It’s just a fact. In warehousing and operations, growth rewards attention. The person still learning, still questioning, still improving, that’s the person who gets noticed, especially by the frontline management team.   From an operational view, complacency costs companies more than most realize.  Take safety, for instance. A comfortable but inattentive operator is more likely to have a preventable accident. Maybe a forklift operator forgets to sound the horn at an intersection. Maybe a selector doesn’t double-check their pallet cube or height and ends up tipping a load. Or maybe a loader forgets to secure a pallet or bulkhead, load bar or e strap because I’ve done this a thousand times before.  All it takes is one overlooked detail to turn a good shift into an incident report.  Operationally, being complacent can cost in other ways too. Decreased productivity, we may stop pushing for efficiency. Quality issues, incorrect counts, wrong product being pulled or loaded, or labeling errors. Oh, and my biggie. Missed opportunities: we may stop volunteering for new tasks or training because of the old, it’s not my job mindset.  When a team becomes too comfortable, improvement stalls, and that affects the entire operation’s performance metrics, from CPH (cases per hour) to on-time percentages, and our thruput.   Here’s a truth that surprises people new to the warehouse, being comfortable should never be our goal. I feel our goal should be competence, growth, and professionalism.  Comfort feels good, but it’s temporary. The industry changes. Technology keeps coming. Slotting systems, scanners, dispatch software, powered equipment, and safety protocols evolve. If we’re standing still, we’re actually falling behind or backing up!  Every professional, from a general laborer to a supervisor, has to fight against that natural drift toward comfort. We could be comfortable in school, but this is work, our career.  Our light industrial environment rewards adaptability. The person who keeps learning, stays alert, and remains teachable, that’s the person management turns to when opportunities open up.  I jotted down a couple of examples to help us relate. We’ve all probably seen something like these before.   First up is Jake. Jake’s been running a stand-up forklift for seven years. He’s good, reliable, fast, and safe. But over time, he’s stopped inspecting his equipment thoroughly and turning in his pre-shift report. It’s always fine, he says. One morning, a hydraulic line finally gave out mid-shift. It could have been caught during a pre-shift inspection, but now there’s downtime, a spill, and an incident report.  Jake’s not a bad operator, he just got too comfortable.  Next up, and I’m sure we all know an order selector like this. Lisa started off strong, top in productivity, always hitting her targets. But after two years, she’s in the middle of the pack. She’s not unsafe; she’s just on autopilot. She’s stopped looking for faster ways, or asking for feedback. When a new voice-pick system is introduced, she struggles to adjust, her comfort zone didn’t prepare her for change.  Let’s do one more, let’s see, oh here’s a supervisor thought. Mike’s been leading his crew for years. He’s respected, dependable, but he’s stopped holding pre-shift safety talks. They already know the routine, he figures. But the team’s focus starts slipping, more mis-picks, more near misses. His leadership didn’t fail overnight; it faded quietly with comfort.  Each of these examples shows how comfort quietly steals excellence, and excellence is what keeps us employable, promotable, and respected by our peers and management team.  In our industry, safety and comfort often conflict. The safer we feel, the less cautious we can become.  Ever notice that most injuries don’t happen on someone’s first week? They happen after six months to a year, when they’ve stopped worrying and started feeling at home.  That’s why the best companies emphasize retraining, refresher courses, and daily safety talks. They’re not reminders for the new boots, they’re reminders for the veterans. It’s easy to forget that even our daily tasks and equipment can surprise us.  When we get too comfortable, we may skip our PPE because it’s just a quick task. We may not report a small near miss. We don’t question a shortcut we see someone else take.  Each of those moments’ chips away at our safety culture. A strong safety record doesn’t come from fear, it comes from respect of that culture. Respect for the job, the process, and the risks that never go away no matter how long we’ve been there.  Let’s look at it from a career point of view.  If we’ve been in the same position for years, doing good work but never stepping forward, that’s a warning sign. Our world offers tons of opportunities for us, if we want them. Like trainer, equipment or machine operator, a lead, or quality auditor, dispatcher, supervisor, safety coordinator, or any of the hundred other positions we’ve talked about! But those opportunities go to the people who show hunger, who ask to learn new systems, shadow other departments, or volunteer for cross-training.  Getting too comfortable means we stop standing out.  Managers notice engagement. They notice effort. When they’re deciding who to promote, they look for the person still growing, not the one who’s just coasting or comfortable. In today’s operations, especially with technology driving change, being static is the fastest way to become replaceable. Comfort resists change; growth embraces it.  So how do we balance the two? Because let’s be honest, we should feel confident and comfortable enough to perform our jobs efficiently and safely. The key is to stay sharp, focused, and professional. We need to keep learning. Ask to cross-train. Remember how I’m always pushing to learn the task before and after our own. Learn how another department works. Understand the bigger picture of the operation. And stay engaged. Don’t just complete your checklist for each shift, look for ways to improve it. Seek feedback. Even when you think you’ve mastered your job, ask your supervisor what you can do better. And I put a star by this bullet point. Challenge yourself. Try to improve your personal metrics, maybe shave a few seconds off a task while keeping it safe and accurate. And be involved in Safety. Speak up during too

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and today we’re talking about something that reaches far beyond the warehouse floor, beyond any title, and beyond the company walls, we’re talking about leadership.  Now, when you hear the word leader, most people instantly think of a boss, a supervisor, or someone in charge. But I’d like to challenge that a bit today. Because, in my opinion, leadership is not a title. It’s not assigned. It’s something we live, something we show, and something that earns respect, not demands it.  I feel every one of us, no matter what position we hold, is responsible for something. We’re responsible for our own lives, our families, our goals, and yes, our jobs. But leadership takes that personal responsibility one step further. It’s about influencing others through what we do, not what we say.  Leadership isn’t about the clipboard, the badge, a different colored vest, or the fancy office. It’s about how we act when no one’s watching. It’s how we respond when things go wrong. And it’s about how we treat people, not just when it’s easy, but especially when it’s hard.  A title identifies a position, not a person, leadership defines and identifies a person.  I’ve seen great leaders wearing steel-toed boots and safety vests, working shoulder-to-shoulder on the warehouse floor. And I’ve seen people with impressive titles who couldn’t lead a team out of the breakroom.  Leadership starts when you take ownership, when you decide that safety, productivity, and teamwork matter to you personally. You don’t have to wait for a promotion to lead. In fact, some of the strongest leaders I’ve ever met were associates who just quietly got things done, helped others, and took pride in their work every single day. You may remember me talking about a dear friend, a forklift operator for over 30 years, he was the strongest leader I’d ever met as an order selector. He’d keep all us selectors motivated in the aisles every night, and helped challenge us with cases per hour and aging us all along each night.  You see, leadership begins the moment you stop saying, “That’s not my job,” and start saying, “That’s my responsibility.” Getting those doors open or closed is my job.   One of the biggest misconceptions in the workplace is that leadership means being in charge. But real leadership is actually about serving others. Taking care of others.   I like saying the best leaders don’t command, they support. They remove obstacles, provide tools, and help others succeed. They understand that their job isn’t to be the smartest person in the room, it’s to bring out the best in the people around them.  I think of it like this: a boss says, “Go do this,” but a leader says, “Let’s go do this or let’s do this together.” That one word , let’s, changes everything.  True leaders ask themselves every morning, “What can I do to make my team’s job easier today? How can I help someone succeed?” That attitude builds trust, and trust is the foundation of every great team. Remember that first night I was taken back to the high-rise department and passed on to a teammate as an operator? He could have threw me to the wolves, I’d have never got my numbers, but he was a leader, wanted me to succeed, and helped turn me into and ace in the department.   Now, let’s talk about one of the most important parts of leadership, setting the example.  You can’t talk your team into greatness. You have to show them what it looks like. That means being the first to follow the safety rules. It means showing up on time, keeping a positive attitude, and treating everyone with respect, even when you’re having a bad day.  People may hear what you say, but they’ll remember what you do. Your example is what teaches others what’s expected. It’s not the HR’s handbook or the poster on the wall, it’s you.  If you show that you care, your team will care. If you cut corners, they’ll think that’s acceptable. If you treat people fairly, they’ll do the same for others.  A leader’s greatest tool isn’t authority, I feel it’s consistency.  Processes, policies, and procedures are all important. But let’s be honest, people make them work. A process can’t motivate itself. A machine can’t fix morale. That’s where leadership comes in.  Leaders know that their success depends on the success of others. They listen. They communicate. They check in with their people, not just about numbers or goals, but about how things are going. They know when someone’s struggling, and they step in before it becomes a bigger issue.  Leadership is about connection. It’s about empathy. It’s understanding that every associate, every teammate, is a human being with a life outside those warehouse doors or that tractor.  When you lead people well, they’ll take care of the process all on their own. When you ignore people, even the best process is going to fall apart.  Now leadership isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it means standing alone.  It’s easy to make the popular decisions. It’s much harder to make the right ones.  I’ve had to make tough calls over the years, about safety violations, attendance, fairness, productivity and accountability. And I’ll be honest, those conversations aren’t fun. But leadership means having the courage to protect both your people and your company, because one can’t survive without the other.  Doing what’s right, even when it’s not easy, earns trust. It shows integrity. And integrity, once earned, gives your leadership meaning to the team and to our peers.  Here’s another quick truth: leadership isn’t a destination, its a path, no path is the wrong word, it’s a journey. You don’t wake up one morning and say, “I’m a leader now.” It’s something you build every single day.  And Leaders are learners. They read. They ask questions. They take feedback, even when it stings. They don’t think they have it all figured out. And most importantly, they help others grow.  One of the best feelings in the world is watching someone you’ve trained or mentored step into their own leadership role. That’s how you know you’re doing it right, when the people around you are growing too.  As I’ve said before, leadership is measured not by how far you go, but by how many people you bring with you. One of my early mentors told me to always be training another to fill my role. He taught me I couldn’t advance if he had no one to do my job.  For me leadership doesn’t end when you clock out. It’s who you are, at work, at home, in your community. A culture of one if you will! It’s how you treat people at the grocery store, or how you respond when someone cuts you off in traffic. It’s the choices you make when no one’s keeping score. Handling myself outside of work has always been harder for me than on the floor.  In our industry, warehousing, manufacturing, distribution and even transportation, leadership shows up in small moments every day. It’s the associate who stays late to help finish a load. It’s the forklift operator who stops to pick up debris instead of driving past it. It’s the supervisor who takes time to explain, not just correct. It’s the recruiter who listens to an applicant’s story instead of rushing them through an interview.  For me, those moments and things like that, are real leadership.  Now, let’s circle back to where we started, the idea that leadership isn’t about a title.  Titles come and go. They change with promotions, reorganizations, and even new companies. But leadership? That’s something you carry with you everywhere you go.  When you take responsibility, real, personal responsibility, for your work, your attitude, and your influence, you become a leader. Not because someone gave you permission, but because you chose to be one.  The warehouse, the office, the road, they all need leaders. Not more bosses, not more rule enforcers, but leaders who care, who listen, and who show up with integrity every single day.  So, what is leadership?  I don’t think its power. I’ve never thought of it as authority. It’s not the corner office or the parking space by the door. Leadership is responsibility. It’s service. It’s consistency. It’s the courage to do what’s right, the example that others can follow, and the growth you inspire in the people around you.  Whether you’re on your first day in the warehouse or your 40th year in operations, leadership starts with you. Be the person others look to for guidance, not because you have to lead, but because you choose to. It will be noticed, and you may just develop instill that culture throughout your whole facility.  I’ll leave you with this thought:  “A boss has a title, but a leader has the respect of their team.”  Let’s all aim to be that kind of leader, at work and in life. We will be successful.  OK, I’ll stop here and quit rambling. Leadership is a subject I’m quite passionate about and could talk for an hour on it!  If you enjoyed today’s episode, share it with a friend, a coworker, or maybe that new supervisor who’s still learning what leadership really means!  And remember, leadership isn’t about being in charge. It’s about being responsible, being consistent, and being someone others can count on.  Until next time, stay safe, stay focused, and as always, keep leading by example.   

What do you think of when you think of forklifts? I’m sure a lot of us picture those forks sliding into a pallet, lifting it up, and moving it across the dock or racking it in the air to a reserve location. But the forklift can do so much more than just move and store pallets. I’m Marty T Hawkins with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. And today let’s talk about attachments. And specifically, three attachments that I run across weekly on my visits to facilities.  The slip sheet attachment, the barrel clamp, and the clamp or squeeze clamp. Each of these was designed for a specific purpose, and each one makes our work easier, but if we don’t use them correctly, they can cost us big in product damage, safety risks, and lost efficiency. We’ll cover where they came from, why they exist, how to use them, and, just as important, how not to use them. And I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me say it but please let’s remember to never get on or operate a powered industrial truck or attachment, or any type of machine we haven’t been trained and certified to be on and to operate. Even manual equipment let’s get that training and demonstration before touching them. Ok, I’ll move on! Let’s start with the slip sheet. Slip sheets came about because the industry wanted a lighter, cheaper alternative to pallets. Think about it, a wooden pallet can weigh 40 pounds or more. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands in a warehouse, and you’re talking about a lot of weight and a lot of space taken up. A slip sheet is basically a thin sheet of plastic, cardboard, or heavy laminated paper. Instead of the forklift’s forks sliding into a pallet, the truck is outfitted with a push-pull attachment. This attachment has wide, flat platens and a gripper that clamps onto the lip of the slip sheet. It literally pulls the load onto the platens and pushes it back off when it’s time to unload. Now, where do we see slip sheets? Industries like food and beverage, paper production, and retail use them a lot. They’re especially popular in export shipping, where every pound and inch of container space matters. In my experience slip sheets only work well if the entire supply chain is set up for them. If the manufacturer ships on slip sheets but the distributor doesn’t have the right forklift attachments, or slotting configurations you’ve got a problem, and that load will have to be unloaded onto pallets. And misuse or improper training? That’s where we get into trouble. If the operator doesn’t get that gripper securely onto the slip sheet tab, the whole load can slide right off. Unlike pallets, there’s no wooden base keeping the cartons together. If the stack isn’t perfect, it can topple mid-move. And if an operator tries to handle a slip sheet like forks, scraping or pushing product around, you’ll end up with torn packaging and damaged goods. Slip sheets are efficient, but they demand precision and training. Next up, the barrel clamp. Think about how many industries ship product in 55-gallon drums, chemicals, oils, beverages, syrups. Way back when, workers had to roll or wrestle those barrels into place. And that’s not safe, not fast, and certainly not efficient. That’s why the barrel clamp attachment was developed. It’s basically curved, padded arms that clamp snugly around the sides of a drum. No pallets required. The forklift can pick them up directly. Depending on the model, you can grab one, two, or even four barrels at once. Some clamps even rotate, so you can pour or empty the contents right from the seat. You’ll find barrel clamps in chemical plants, food and beverage warehouses, and pharmaceutical distribution. And I’ve seen a variation of the barrel clamp, called a roll clamp used to carry those huge rolls of paper and plastic stock in production plants. But, like the slip sheet, there are risks if they’re not used correctly. The big one is over-clamping. If the pressure is set too high, the drum can dent, split, or even rupture. Imagine spilling hundreds of gallons of syrup or chemicals on your warehouse floor. That’s not just lost product, that’s a safety nightmare. On the flip side, if the operator doesn’t clamp tightly enough or misses alignment, the drum can slip out mid-transport. A falling barrel is dangerous on its own, but add in liquid, and you’re talking about a slip hazard, potential injuries, and cleanup costs. Barrel clamps save a lot of back-breaking manual work. But they only work when the operator knows how to set the clamp pressure correctly and checks that every drum is secure before moving that first inch. And then we have the squeeze clamp, sometimes just called a clamp attachment. This was the first attachment I was trained on. We we’re unloading laundry washers and driers from rail cars. Now this one is really versatile. Instead of forks, you’ve got two big flat plates that open and close hydraulically. They grab and hold the load by squeezing it, no pallet needed. Think about products like refrigerators, chest type freezers, washing machines, dryers, or sofas. They’re bulky, boxed, and heavy. You don’t really want them on a pallet. A clamp grabs them from both sides and lets you move them safely. You’ll see clamp attachments in appliance warehouses, furniture distribution centers, and even in paper and Styrofoam production plants. Now, the danger here is the clamp pressure again. Too little, and the load slips right out, crashing to the floor. Too much, and you crush the product inside the box. I’ve seen refrigerators come off the truck looking fine, but inside the coils are damaged because the clamp pressure was cranked too high. There’s also balance to think about. If the clamp isn’t centered on the load, the weight distribution can throw the forklift off balance. Tilt too far forward when setting it down, and you risk tipping the product or the truck itself. The takeaway? A clamp attachment is an incredible tool, but it requires training, patience, and respect. What do slip sheets, barrel clamps, and squeeze clamps all have in common They’re designed to make our work easier, faster, and safer. They replace manual labor, save on packaging, and help us move products that just don’t belong on pallets. But, and this is important, they’re also unforgiving when misused. They demand training. They demand awareness. And they demand respect. A slip sheet system saves freight costs but only if it’s gripped and moved correctly. A barrel clamp saves backs but can crush a drum if pressure isn’t adjusted. A squeeze clamp can move a refrigerator without a pallet, but it can just as easily destroy it if handled wrong. Those three attachments are probably the most used in distribution, production, and manufacturing environments but there’s so many others, and all of them present their own specific uses and dangers. Things like fork extensions. There used to extend the length of your forks to handle long or oversized loads. Using them we’ll need to keep the load weight within the lifts lifting capacity and make sure the extensions are secured before lifting. And side shifters, for moving forks or the attachment left or right without moving the truck. Handy for precise pallet placement. And remember to only shift when the load is close to the ground. The carpet pole is another handy tool I run into pretty often. There used to lift and transport rolls of carpet or other large rolls. The pole is slid into a core or tube in the middle of the roll of carpet. You’ll want to move slowly and avoid swinging these rolls. And be careful, watch your weight capacity and center of gravity at all times. You have to be careful around people and racking. What else here, there’s so many different types, Oh we need to mention the man baskets or work platforms. These are baskets or cages used to safely lift workers for maintenance or such. I’ve seen them used for inventory counts. They need to be Osha approved for that purpose and the occupants must always be trained on and use fall protection. And one more, sweepers. These can convert our forklifts into maintenance tools. I’ve seen facilities build a magnetic bar that’s placed on our forks and ran all around the truck yard picking up nails, screws and metal debris. We have to go slow and be on flat surfaces when using these type of accessories as well. And a few others real quick. Fork Positioners, we can adjust fork spacing hydraulically. Brick & Block Clamps, can handle construction blocks and pavers. Tire Handler Clamps help us  move large vehicle tires.  And Invert-A-Pallet / Pallet Turners, Flip loads to change pallets. As you’ve probably gathered, we could go on and on.  So, here’s the bottom line: forklift attachments are tools, and like any tool, they’re only as good as the person using them. In the right hands, they’re assets that improve safety, efficiency, and cost savings. In the wrong hands, they’re accidents waiting to happen. If you’re working around these attachments, or if you’re an operator running them, take the time to learn how they work. Get the training, practice the alignment, and respect the equipment. Its the law. Remember to never get on, even touch, or attempt to operate a powered industrial truck, truck attachment, or any type of machine you have not been trained and certified to operate. Again, its the law. We, as professionals, follow the laws, rules, and processes, because at the end of the day, our goal is always the same, move the product, protect the product, and get everyone home safe, with no incidents or accidents. Thanks for joining me today on Warehouse and Operations as a Career. Until next time, learn something new, stay focused, and be safe, we all have family and friends counting on us to come home at the end of our shifts.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. Today, I want to talk about turnover.  I’m not talking about the dollars it cost , the HR paperwork, maybe some orientation expenses. Some look at just the expense of it. But in operations, we know there’s more to it. Turnover isn’t just about dollars. It’s about disruptions, headaches, safety concerns, and sometimes even customer complaints.  And, turnover looks different depending on which side of the fence you’re standing on. For management, it’s lost productivity and constant hiring. For associates, it’s frustration, unmet expectations, or simply searching for stability.  I’m Marty and today I’d like to walk through both sides, and I’ll share a few stories from my own experiences along the way.  Back when I was a supervisor, we had an order selector quit right after his second week. The company had already paid for his drug screen, background check, orientation, and two weeks of training. We spent several thousand dollars before he ever made it to full production. That’s money we’d never get back. Multiply that by ten associates over a few months, well, you can do the math. But again, I want to try and stay away from the money side of it or those concerns!  Here’s a good operational struggle. I remember a time we lost three reach truck drivers in the same month. We scrambled to backfill with temps and cross-train floor associates, but the result was slower inbound put-aways and a backlog of freight. Supervisors who should’ve been coaching were on lifts moving pallets themselves. And what happened? Errors went up, overtime went up, and morale went down. That’s what turnover does on the floor.  And I’ve got to share a quick safety story too right! We once had a brand-new forklift driver who was still nervous behind the wheel. He was an experienced operator, but from another industry and he was getting used to our pick paths and aisles. Because of turnover, he was thrown into the mix faster than he should’ve been. One day, he clipped a bollard post at the end of an aisle by a fire door crossing. Nobody got hurt, thankfully, but the cost of repairing the concrete and writing up the incident, and closing down that cross dock area or cut through really slowed things down for about two days.    I’ve always felt that every time someone leaves, the breakroom talk gets louder. “Why’d they quit?” “Where’d they go?”  Did they go somewhere better? Before long, you’ve got three other associates wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else. I’ve seen one resignation turn into three within a week just because people start second guessing their own situation.   So what can us as leads, supervisors, managers, directors and V.P’s do to help with turnover in our industry?   One thing is better onboarding or better hiring, whatever you want to call it. I once worked at a facility where new hires were just dropped on the floor and told, “Follow Joe around for tonight”. That’s not onboarding or welcoming. Compare that to another warehouse I visited later, they had a structured two-day orientation, introduced the new hires to their supervisors, and even paired them with mentors for the first week. Guess which site had lower turnover?  I’m going to use one of my favorite words real quick. Communication. We as managers, we have to be clear, and our recruiters or hiring agents have to be transparent. One of the fastest ways to lose people is by not being upfront about expectations. I’ll never forget when an associate told me, “I was hired for four 10-hour shifts. Now you’re telling me five 12s?” He quit that same day. If schedules change, communicate them asap. If standards and the task or the productivity are tough, explain the “why.” Associates will handle tough work if they trust you to tell the truth.  And we should be recognizing a job well done. People want, and deserve, recognition. At one warehouse, we started giving out gift cards to the top two selectors each week. It wasn’t a fortune, but it made people feel noticed. Turnover dropped by almost 20% over the next quarter. Sometimes, recognition is worth more than a raise.  Oh, and here’s another word I love. Listening. As frontline managers we have to have listening skills. I worked at a site where selectors complained nonstop about how far apart fast-moving slots were. Productivity suffered, and people left because the job felt impossible. When we reslotted the warehouse to bring those SKUs closer together, guess what? Productivity went up, frustration went down, and people stuck around.  Here’s a short listening story. Early in my career, I was a “get it done” type of lead. I pushed production pretty hard, and I didn’t always listen as well as I should have. Turnover in our department was pretty high. When I learned to coach instead of command, listening to associates, helping them find solutions, showing them I valued their input, the numbers improved immediately. People want to share, and they should be listened to. And it’s our job as those leads, supervisors, managers, directors, and V.P.’s to listen to them. I promise you that you’ll learn something new every day if you do.   I don’t want to take up to much time talking about the company’s cost and challenges with turnover, I want to get to the other side of the coin real quick. The cost or challenges of turnover to us as associates.   Ok, We all want to be appreciated, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask. I once sat down with an associate who told me, “I’ve been here three years, and nobody’s ever said ‘thank you.’” That made my heart sad. He was a solid worker, but he left a month later. Associates want to know they matter. This was at a customer’s facility. I of course shared my talk with his supervisor, but I think it was to little too late.   Now, what if, and I’m not saying it was his responsibility, but what if he had gone and spoken with his supervisor. Things may have been fixed, and his supervisor may have grown as well.   A young guy I knew started with me as a loader. He was sharp, fast, and wanted more responsibility. He kept asking about training on the reach truck, but the answer was always, “We’ll get to it.” After his first month, he quit and joined another company that would train him. That turned out to be a missed opportunity, and a preventable turnover. I’ve shared with you that within my first month I knew loading trucks wasn’t for me. My friend had told me he could get me on over at his new place and I was pretty interested. I went to my boss, shared what was going on, and was moved to the back in the hi-rise area and trained on the high-rise machine. As you long term listeners know, I stayed with that same company for many more years.  And again, safety is important to us as associates. I heard from an employee once who said, “I don’t feel safe here. People are running backwards in the aisles, not honking their horns and nobody cares.” Two weeks later, he was gone. Safety isn’t just compliance; it’s part of our retention.   And here’s an important one. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard: “I never know when I’m working.” Associates don’t quit because of hard work. They quit because they can’t plan their lives. A predictable schedule is worth as much as a raise to many people. A predictable schedule doesn’t have to be a set hour. But it has to be communicated. In our business it’s usually start to finish. Thats one of the points that should be mentioned at our startup meetings. It’s easy to share what time we’ll probably be getting off each day. We know the cases per hour, the headcount or available man hours and the total cases for the shift. It should be shared with us.   What else, let me see, what did I leave off. Ok, Let’s be honest, unloading 1,000 cases by hand in the summer heat for xx an hour feels different than running a cash register in the air conditioning for the same pay. Associates will weigh effort against reward, growth and career opportunity, and if the balance feels unfair, they’re gone.  All these examples do hurt us as well though. At almost every interview I’m asked or will ask, and why did you leave so and so job? If we say because I didn’t get to operate a lift, or my hours was unpredictable, or I wasn’t earning enough, those things could sound negative and hurt us even more.   I’ve always found that talking it out first, communicating, will sometimes, or usually, help us sort things out.   Well, when we put both perspectives side by side, the picture is clear. Turnover is tough, and more expensive, than I brought up today. And turnover is not a positive thing for our careers either.   Turnover, for us on the floor, both as management and as associates is frustrating, obstructive, demoralizing, challenging, can be a safety concern, and just flat out gets in our way regarding growth.  Oh, I’d made this little note for myself.   From management’s view, turnover wrecks productivity, raises costs, and adds safety risks. From the associate’s view, turnover happens when we feel invisible, unsafe, or stuck.  I guess I said the same thing in a different way!   Anyway, the solutions overlap. Good onboarding, communication, recognition, fair processes, and supportive supervisors reduce turnover on both sides. And when turnover goes down, operations stabilize. Customers get better service. Associates build careers instead of bouncing between jobs. Period  So, the next time turnover comes up in a meeting, don’t just think of it as an HR expense. Think about the overtime your supervisors are working, the backlog building in receiving, the safety incident that almost happened, or the good associate you lost because no one said thank you.  Turnover is not just about money. It’s about operations. And fixing it is about people.  And for the associates listening, remember, you have a voice in this too. If you’re looking for stability, speak up. Ask about training. Ask about career paths. Find

Hello all! Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and I’m glad you’ve chosen to spend a few minutes with us today.  Now, I was sitting down the other day thinking about a simple question: Why do we work? Of course we work for a paycheck. But when you dig in a little deeper, there’s more to it. A lot more, actually.  So today, I want to share some thoughts on three things. Why we work, why the light industrial industries, or warehousing and transportation, are such great places to build a career, and why attitude is one of the most important tools you’ll ever carry with you. I swung that at you from left field didn’t I!   We’re kind of pulling from the hip today, I’m working off of some bullet points I jotted down out on the patio over the last week or so!   Ok, Now, sure, we all work to pay the bills, rent, mortgages, car notes, groceries, keeping the lights on. That’s the easy part to figure out.  Back when I first started, I was unloading trailers. Hard, sweaty work. And sure, that paycheck mattered, but at the end of the day, there was this pride I felt. I could look back at those empty trailers and think, “I did that. Those deliveries are going to get made.”   And I’ll share with you, I’ve seen it happen for others too. I once worked with a young man who started out just sweeping floors in the warehouse. That was his whole shift, broom in hand, keeping the aisles clear. He could’ve looked at that job as meaningless. Instead, he took pride in it. He made sure every aisle was spotless, every shift. The equipment operators appreciated and respected him. He made their jobs easier. Within a year, he was on a forklift himself. Within three years, he was a lead. Last I checked, he was running the inbound department. Why? Because he didn’t just see a broom, he saw a task.   I feel work gives us more than money. For me it gives us identity. When someone asks, “What do you do?” your answer becomes part of who you are. And in our line of work, when you can say, “I’m in warehousing” or “I’m in transportation,” you’re saying, “I help move the products that keep life going.” I take pride in that.  And finally, we work for growth. Every shift teaches you something. Maybe it’s how to wrap a pallet tighter, maybe it’s how to work better with your teammates, maybe it’s how to handle frustration when things go wrong. Over time, all those lessons add up. In my opinion that’s what turns a job into a career.  Now, let’s talk about our industries, warehousing, logistics, and transportation.  You know I feel that we’re the backbone of the economy. Everything, and I mean everything, passes through a warehouse and a truck before it gets to the shelf or the doorstep.  I’ve been in this field for over 40 years, and here’s one thing I love about it, the opportunity is always there. I’ve seen so many people walk in as temps, nervous, unsure if they’d even last the week, and within a couple of years they’re supervisors or managers. Or some love what they do so much you can just see the passion in their faces.  I thought of this one guy that had come in through a staffing agency. First day, he’s unloading freight by hand. He didn’t complain, he just worked. Week after week, he kept showing up, kept learning, kept volunteering for cross-training. Within 18 months, he was operating three different types of equipment. Four years later, he was promoted to a lead. And here’s the kicker, he eventually got his CDL, moved into transportation, and last I heard, he has his own route and is top in his region.   And it’s not just the upward mobility, it’s the variety that hooked me. Not everyone wants the same thing. Some people love operating equipment. Some like the fast pace of order selecting. Others find their niche in inventory control or dispatch, maybe a clerk, or auditing. Our industry has a path for everyone.  And let’s not forget stability. The world doesn’t stop needing food, medicine, and home goods. Even in tough economic times, the supply chain keeps moving. I remember the 2008 downturn, while a lot of industries were cutting back, warehouses and transportation kept hiring. And more recently with the pandemic, we’ve all seen how critical these industries are when things get tough. We don’t shut down, we step up.   So yeah, when people say, “It’s just warehouse work,” they don’t get it. I laugh at them, It’s not just a job. It’s an essential part of life.  If I’m interviewing you, please don’t say I’m looking for just a warehouse job!  And that brings me to attitude. This was my original thought out on the patio!  If I could pass along just one piece of advice to anyone starting in this field, it’d be this, your attitude will carry you further than any skill you have on day one.  Years ago, I had two order selectors starting at the same time. Both learned the equipment fast, the electric rider double pallet jack. Both could move product safely and efficiently, and both had adequate or average productivity. But one of them always complained, about the workload, about the heat on the dry side or the cold in the cooler, and about the supervisors. The other one? He stayed positive, even on the rough days. He volunteered to help new hires, he asked questions, he kept pushing forward.  Guess which one I promoted? That second operator is now a warehouse manager, and I think he’s on his way to being a director. The first one, he bounced around jobs, working at most all the competitors. I’m not sure what he’s doing today.   That’s the power of attitude.  It affects safety too. A positive worker may pay closer attention. They follow the rules, they look out for their team. Maybe staying a little more focused. A negative worker? They may cut corners. And cutting corners in a warehouse or behind the wheel of a truck is how accidents can happen.  It affects teamwork. We’ve all worked shifts where one or two people bring down the whole group. But I’ve also seen one upbeat person completely change the tone of a shift. Attitude is contagious.  And it affects longevity too. Our work isn’t easy. The hours are long, the pace can be unbelievable. But I’ve noticed that the people who last, the ones with 10, 20, 30 years in, are the ones who show up each day with that positive mindset. They focus on the opportunities, not the obstacles.  Now I’m not saying all that is in stone, but more times than not a positive attitude will be a winning attitude, in our professional careers and our personal lives.  So think about it.  Why do you work? Sure, for the paycheck. But also for pride, identity, growth, and to contribute to something bigger than yourself I bet.  And tell yourself why you’re in the light industrial fields. I bet, at least in part, it’s because they offer opportunity, variety, stability, and the chance to be part of the backbone of our economy.  And why is attitude everything? Because it impacts your safety, your teamwork, your advancement and opportunities offered, and whether this field becomes just a job or that rewarding career.  I’ll leave you with this thought, your career is what you make of it. I’ve seen people build incredible futures starting with a broom in hand or unloading cases in a trailer. And I’ve seen people with all the skill in the world stall out because they didn’t carry the right attitude.  So, wherever you’re at in your journey, whether you’re on the floor, on the dock, behind the wheel, or in the office, remember your own “why,” and take pride in this industry, and bring the best attitude you can. I feel it’s not our bosses, managers, or companies that hold us back or advances us. We can change those things. It’s us, ourselves, that determine and control our careers, just like we control and are responsible for them.   And there’s a couple of opinions for ya. Thanks for spending this time with us today. If you will, please share the podcast with a friend, and shoot us a short message to warehouseandoperationsasacareer.com with any comments or topic suggestions. I’ll get you an answer or find someone that can! Stay safe, stay positive, and I’ll see you next week.

Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I want to start off by saying a huge “thank you” to every truck driver out there. This week, Sept 14th thru the 20th, is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week here in the states, and I can’t think of a better time to talk about just how important our drivers are, not only to the supply chain but really to every single one of us. The food on our tables, the clothes on our backs, the equipment in our warehouses, everything on the store shelves, none of it gets there without a driver behind the wheel.  Today, I want to explore what this career looks like.  I think we’ll all have a better appreciation for what it means to be a professional driver, whether it’s piloting an 18-wheeler across the country or running local routes in a day cab in your hometown.  When most people picture a truck driver, they imagine the big rigs: those 18-wheelers hauling freight from coast to coast. That’s certainly one of the most visible sides of the industry, but the truth is, there are many kinds of truck driving careers. We’ve talked about drivers before, but it was in a little different context, so I’d like to walk through a few of those opportunities again really quick.   First up, let’s start with the Over-the-Road or OTR drivers. These are the folks who live life on the road. OTR drivers run long-haul loads across states and sometimes across the entire country. They might be gone for weeks at a time, and their sleeper cab becomes their home. We may be ½ of a team and have a partner to share the driving with. Now OTR isn’t for everyone, but for those who love the freedom of the open road and seeing new places, it can be the perfect choice.  Then we have the regional drivers. Regional jobs cover a smaller area, usually a few connecting states. Drivers may be gone during the week but often get home on weekends. It’s a middle ground, you still cover a lot of miles, but you’re not always weeks away from home.  And we can’t leave out the Local or City Drivers. This is where many drivers find balance. Local routes usually mean you’re home daily, running deliveries within a city or metro area. Foodservice, grocery, beverage, spirits, and retail companies rely heavily on these drivers. The hours can be long and physically demanding, think unloading cases or rolling kegs down a ramp, maybe touching every case on your trailer to get it unloaded, but the advantage is being home each night. I think this may just be the most physically demanding position in the driving arena.  Next up you have all the Specialty Driving tasks. Flatbeds, tankers, refrigerated units, oversized loads, and hazmat carriers all require special training and license endorsements. These jobs can pay a premium, but they also bring extra responsibility. Securing a load on a flatbed or hauling hazardous material safely takes a special level of focus and dedication to the trade.  And we have Corporate Fleet Drivers too. Think of your big box chains and huge brands that are delivering their product and maybe to just their stores. Those companies run their own private fleets. These jobs usually come with stability, benefits, and predictable schedules. The company invests in its drivers, and drivers become part of the larger corporate family. Depending on the company, they may try and promote from within, train from other departments like the warehouse, production, or manufacturing floors. Some companies have great training programs!   Cartage and Transportation Companies are popular with the more seasoned operators. These are the big carriers you see on the highway. They contract with shippers, moving goods for multiple clients. The advantage here is variety, you might haul something different every week.  And the one I think most people think of when getting their commercial licenses are the owner operators. This is a whole different ball game. Owner operators own their own trucks and contract with companies to haul loads. Independence at its finest, but it comes with many potential risks like fuel, maintenance, insurance, and regulatory or compliance concerns and costs are all on the driver. For those with a business mindset, though, it can be rewarding.  Now, I want to be honest with you for a moment. Truck driving is not just a job or even a career, it’s a lifestyle. And like any lifestyle, it comes with challenges.  One of the first things going in, we need to understand the long hours and regulations. Drivers often work long days, and they’re bound by hours of service rules that dictate how long they can drive before resting. Managing that clock, finding safe parking, and still making delivery windows can be stressful.  I had a friend last month trying to get back home on a Thursday. I forget where he was at on his hours, but he had to pull over in a parking lot and have his wife and kids come pick him up. He was just 34 miles from the house.   Speaking of wife and the kids, we should mention the Time Away from the loved ones. For OTR and even regional drivers, being away from home is part of the deal. Missing birthdays, holidays, and family events is tough. It takes a strong family support system to make it work.  And what about the Stress of the Road. Driving a truck isn’t just about steering a big vehicle. It’s about handling unpredictable traffic, weather conditions, I always think of the rains, high winds, snow and ice, then you have the tight delivery schedules, and sometimes unfriendly shippers or receivers. All those things can affect our pay! That stress adds up.  There’s a physical toll also. You can be sitting for long stretches, odd and disrupted sleep cycles, and the challenge of eating healthy on the road all impact a driver’s health. Many drivers struggle with fatigue, back issues, or weight management.  Oh, and Safety Responsibilities. When you’re hauling 80,000 pounds down the interstate, you’re responsible not just for your load but for everyone else on the road. That’s a huge responsibility that professional drivers take seriously. Shoot, they live by it.   But there’s many rewards of a trucking career, or that’s one of my few opinions! With all those challenges I just mentioned, you might wonder why people would choose this career. I’ve asked several drivers just that over the years. You may remember way back in episode 22, Driving, Transportation, & Logistics Opportunities, let’s see, when was that, February 23rd of 2017! That’s been a while. I’ll see about visiting with another operator in the next couple of months. Anyway, check out our interview with Ellie, and I’m sure her YouTube channel is still up as well. Ok, I got off track there for a bit, so, I think we were talking about some of the rewards trucking can bring us.   I’ll pick back up with pay and benefits. Truck driving can be a solid paying career. Many entry level drivers start out making a good wage, and with experience, especially in specialized fields, pay can be very competitive. Add in benefits, retirement plans, and sign-on bonuses, and it’s an attractive package.  The word I always hear when speaking with drivers as to the why they chose driving is Independence. Once you’re on the road, you’re your own boss in a sense. You’re trusted to get the job done without someone looking over your shoulder all day.  Another big draw is seeing the country. Few jobs let you see as much of the country as driving does. From mountain passes to city skylines, drivers experience it all.    A lot of drivers mention Pride in the work. Drivers know that without them, the economy doesn’t move. That pride, being the one who literally delivers the goods, is a powerful motivator.  I think another thing thought about is career progression. Many drivers move into or come from dispatch, fleet management, safety, or even logistics leadership roles. Driving can be a springboard into a long and varied career in transportation.  This is an industry that’s changing and changing fast.  Technology is huge! GPS, electronic logging devices or ELD units, and automatic transmissions have made the job more efficient, though some drivers miss the old-school feel of paper logs and manual shifting. The friend I mentioned earlier, he had to stop and log out due to his ELD unit.  Some great technology is the safety and assist features today. Collision avoidance systems, lane departure warnings, and other driver, assist technologies are becoming standard. These tools help keep drivers safer, but they also require adaptation and use.  There has always been a demand for drivers. The driver shortage is real. With retirements outpacing new entrants, the demand for qualified drivers remains high. That means job security and plenty of opportunities.  So, where does all that leave us? Truck driving is a career filled with opportunity, pride, and independence. But it’s also a career that asks for sacrifice, long hours, time away from loved ones, and handling stress most people never see.  During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, let’s take a moment to thank the drivers in our lives and communities. Whether they’re hauling groceries to the local store, delivering building materials to a job site, or running freight across the country, they’re the reason the shelves are stocked, and businesses keep running.   If a truck is slowing you down, or you’re having to wait in the parking lot for him or her to back their rig around vehicles and into an alley way, or there trying to merge in on an entrance ramp on the freeway, or, and especially, trying to change lanes in front of you, please let them, and appreciate them.   To anyone out there considering driving as a career, know that it’s not just a job, it is a lifestyle. But if you’ve got the determination, the discipline, and the heart for it, trucking can take you places, literally and figuratively!  And to all the drivers out there listening, a heartfelt thank you from warehouse and operations as a career. Your sacrifices

Here we are in week 37, about to end the 3rd quarter of 2025. I’ve always found this time of year to be an important part of the year in the light industrial fields. The kids just went back to school, people are starting to think about, and plan for the upcoming holidays. I noticed this week that jobs are opening up. Staffing agencies are flooding the social media job groups with ads, and all the major job boards are full of posted opportunities. I’m Marty, and I’d like to thank you for stopping in with us here at Warehouse and Operations as a Career for episode 331.   We’ve had a lot of questions come up over the last several weeks regarding the series on job positions and tasks in the warehouse and transportation fields, and this week I believe I’ve lived through several of those scenarios. So today I’d like to walk through a few scenarios we could find in our jobs and how one may handle them. Some good and some bad, some the right way and some the lesser right way.   Ok, where to start, oh, this one’s good, and I hear about it almost weekly from recruiters or hiring agents.   Scenario one. An applicant comes in for a face-to-face interview. I assume they’ve been seeking employment, and have invested time in looking at ad’s, been entertaining both phone interviews and driving out for interviews, anyway, now he or she has scheduled an interview with an agency. This person arrives. Parking, on the street, is congested, and there’s pay meters. The individual comes in, registers, speaks with the recruiter and asks if you have to pay to park. The agent says yes, but you can park in the back for free. The applicant leaves, it’s assumed to move the car around to the back, however, they never return. Now, there’s several things in action here. Possibly the applicant took the recruiters statement about parking in the back out of context or felt like it wasn’t delivered properly. I don’t know. The agency, based on the resume, did have a position to offer. The qualifications were met, they had the work tenure and the experience the account was looking for. Why leave. Was it a communication issue? Looking for a new job is stressful, and we’re going to be anxious. But it’s a process, we have to take our time, take a deep breath and push through it. It’s hard but we can do it. Communication seems to be the hardest thing for us humans to conquer or overcome!   Scenario two. Along the same lines but even more effort and time was put into this example. So, the candidate had applied online, had a phone interview and came in for a sit down interview. The recruiter visited with them, discussed the extensive equipment experience the applicant had and was quite impressed. The open position was explained to them, things like the hours and schedule, the pay, the job description, the safety policies, and expectations the customer had. The recruiter was so impressed that they reached out for an unscheduled PIT class to get them certified so they could start the following day. So, to recap, the prospect had about 30 minutes tied up on the phone interview, another 30 minutes of travel round trip, and about 45 minutes for the sit down. About 1.75 hours were tied up so far. The applicant was asked if a 9 a.m. class or a 1 p.m. class would work better for them. They opted for a 1 p.m. and it was scheduled. Well, 1p came, then 1:05p, then 1:10p. The trainer called and reported the individual as a NCNS. Now as a side note. The recruiter had reported to the facility manager and customer that, based on a successful PIT class, the position had been filled. It’s so important to communicate. I’m not sure what happened, but that’s over two hours invested, and a job secured, just to walk away. I always think maybe the job just wasn’t for them. Instead of burning our chances of getting another position with the agency, why not just be upfront and honest, if that was the reason. Do you think the applicant knew they weren’t going to go to PIT or accept the job? Again, job hunting is stressful. But, now, this agency is off limits to us.   And here’s another scenario. This is something we all need to realize. Whither we agree or disagree with it, its legal and your hiring agent will probably do it. Our social media. Let’s be honest, our feeds are written for our friends. While you’re seeking employment, I urge you to clean it up. Locking it could even be worse for us. It’s important to remember that our recruiter probably has over a hundred applicants to look at. If there’s something on our page reflecting violence, alcohol, drugs, or even what we ourselves recognize as poor or questionable decision making, we will be skipped over. And if we’re honest, we know which post to hide for that week or two we’re looking for work. One guy told me that he posted nothing his grandmother couldn’t see! If we’re going to leave something on there, we believe is funny, let’s let the recruiter know its there, tell them I started to take it down, but I just think it’s funny, it doesn’t depict my beliefs. Communicate and share, I’ll leave it at that!  What’s another one, ok, I hear this one a lot. As we know, we’ve spent time on the job boards, did the phone interview, and had the face to face interview.  Our work history is a little light in the warehousing field. We’ve worked in retail and at fast foods and want a warehouse job. We’re here and are being offered a GL position within a 30 minute drive from where we live. We’re offered x number of dollars an hour. We state that we can’t work for less than x number of dollars an hour. Now, lets reflect for a minute. We replied to an ad that stated the job description and pay rate. We’ve invested our time in the phone interview, where we could have brought up any pay rate questions or statements, sit through the in person interview without asking about it and bring it up once the job is offered to us. So some thoughts on this scenario.   One recruiter had shared with me, a story where a person was offered x dollars an hour but stated they needed at least this amount per hour. They were asked, and why do you believe it should pay that amount. Now this is rarely going to happen but its our chance to at least share something about our experiences, our equipment use, our past accomplishments, anything to justify our ask. This recruiters applicant answered that its a living wage.   Remember this was a GL position, a really good get our foot in the door job with a large corporation. These jobs are not necessarily long term careers. They are positions that can give us experiences to work towards those long term careers. There not built and structured for that. Anyway, I’m getting lost with opinions there. So this individual turned down the job. Didn’t accept it until something better came along, or accept it and show the managers what a great employee they were. They just turned it down. I don’t know what their responsibilities were, like rent, food, etc, but they obviously didn’t have to have a weekly paycheck. I think some better communication could have helped us here, or at least a little better planning.   Theres three or four scenarios that came up this week and each goes along with a question we’ve had over the last several weeks.   Seeking a job is tough work. Having a job is hard work and can be frustrating to keep it. We all, or most of us anyway, are going to have to work until we can retire. And it’s up to us to make sure we have the resources to retire when that time comes. I feel we alone own that responsibility.  When I hear things like we’ve talked about today I wonder if those applicants we’re really needing a job. I mean of course they needed work, they wouldn’t have invested the time otherwise. But I mean did they need a job. Like food on the table, gas or car money, a cool or warm place to sleep, and just spending money? I don’t know. But I know, what I described earlier wasn’t the way to handle it, and it burnt a bridge that we may not be able to cross again.   Share your thoughts on Facebook or X by using @whseops or on Instagram at waocpodcast and you can always email us at host@warehouseandoperationsasacareer.com.   I’d like to end by saying, whither you’re an applicant, production associate, lead or supervisor or an executive management team member, communicate, communicate, and communicate more. Tuesday, I had a young worker tell me that communication is growth. Let that sink in for a minute. Until next week please be safe as that’s what leads to a long life.  

Warehouse and Operations as a Career the podcast. Marty T Hawkins here. We need to get to a lot of questions being sent in regarding several of the positions we’ve been speaking on so I’ll try and get something put together in the next couple of weeks. I had to charge our equipment over at the distribution training center this week, so I thought of today’s battery changers and how different the position is today, so let’s talk about that for a few minutes.   For electric powered industrial equipment, the battery changer keeps the heartbeat steady. Uptime, safety, and battery life all flow through this role. Over the past two decades, the job has shifted from heavy, manual swaps in a back room to a data-driven, safety-critical function that touches maintenance, EHS, and operations. Today’s battery changer is part equipment handler, part technician, and a lot of times, part systems operator.  Twenty years ago, and thirty years ago for me, many facilities still used chain hoists and hooks to lift and place those 1,500–4,000 lb lead-acid batteries. A battery beam, In my humble opinion, in today’s world, they should never be used! And the charging areas! Hydrogen gas from charging required ventilation, but controls were simpler, logging was paper-based; rotation was whoever grabs the next charged battery. Everyone required designated charging areas with ventilation, spill-neutralization supplies, and fire protection, but execution, well simply put it varied quite a bit.  Later on came the, what we called, the push pull. Mobile and pallet-jack-mounted battery carriages with magnet or vacuum extraction reduced manual handling and sped change-outs to just a few minutes. Standard fit battery racks made working with the heavy batteries much easier and safer.    Today the room is smarter. Battery room management systems (BRMS) and networked chargers track state of charge, temperature, rotation, and cool-down; visual cues tell operators which battery to take, protecting life cycles and eliminating guesswork. High-frequency (HF) chargers improve energy efficiency and support opportunity charging, reshaping shift patterns. In some fleets, lithium-ion packs and fast charging units can reduce or eliminate mid-shift swaps.   I always felt like the beams were so dangerous to work with, and the push/pull attachment was efficient for its time but, well, with each of us equipment operators changing our own equipment I’ve got to be honest, we weren’t really concerned with maintaining proper charging protocols. We wanted a hot battery and took one. Probably shortening the life of the battery by half many times!   Back then it was a whooping. We’d have to align the truck, sling the battery, control that swing, mind your fingers and toes, and stick the landing perfectly. And that chain hoist, those slow gears.   Today we can use a battery extractor/carriage, often mounted on a powered pallet jack, with a magnet or vacuum that grips and can push and pull the battery. Transfer happens across roller beds with stops at each point. Skilled placement is still needed, but the machine does the moving and muscle part. Newer extractors can get a battery changed in 3 to 4 minutes in the larger facilities  Back then: we were supposed to use paper charts, what we charged and what we used. That was a pretty thin book! And an Equalize charge! I had a maintenance man who’d ask how my second shift could function without equalizing a charge.   Now, BRMS/IoT displays indicate the one battery that’s fully charged and ready to be used and enforce the rotation. Computers and monitors flag missed equalize cycles and bad batteries, cells, or misreading units. And for maintenance & housekeeping!  We used to wipe the tops, check all the cables, and keep the eyewash station from getting dusty.  Today the battery changer monitors ventilation, the eyewash and spill kits, rack condition, and charger leads. He or she performs basic inspections, and issues or defects, reporting them immediately to the maintenance department.    Back in the day I’d report that we did 20 changes last night.  Now, KPIs include change-out time, wrong batteries used, charger utilization, battery temps, watering compliance, equalize usage, and preventative maintenance reporting. Today’s systems make all this possible.   And now you’ll see High-frequency chargers & opportunity charging.   High frequency chargers deliver better electrical efficiency than the older type units and support opportunity charging during breaks, keeping trucks in service longer and reducing change events per shift. That maintenance guy I spoke about earlier would throw a fit if we ever plugged our pallet jack in at break or lunch! It used to be so bad on the batteries, but that was 20 and 30 years ago!   There are some amazing systems out there now. Computerized racking, dashboards, data analysis on each battery, its charge and change history. Pretty much anything you’d ever want to know about it, and, how your associates are following your charging protocols.   In many facilities, lithium-ion packs and batteries are being used. Less maintenance, no watering, and utilizing partial charging as well.   Designated charging areas with ventilation, spill neutralization, fire protection, and protection for charging units are modern today.   Eyewash/showers & neutralization stations are maintained well, and Lockout/Tagout or LOTO programs are built in, structured, and part of the programs.  And then there’s training beyond just PIT awareness, today’s changer needs training on chemical hazards, electrical safety around chargers, LOTO, and use of the room’s specific systems, those BRMS dashboards, HF chargers, extractor equipment.   A few of the more important things considered today that may not have been considered several years ago that we now consider for the rooms and the position.  Gosh, lets see, where do I start. The room layout & flow I guess. We want marked, dedicated aisles and striped parking lanes and where charger leads can be kept tidy and off the floor. Running over a charge terminal is the quickest way to upset that maintenance guy! We need to install roller stands at consistent heights, and an easy way to document any components like magnets and vacuums, or terminals, maybe something linked to our warehouse management systems. And of course, ventilation in the room that keeps any gases low during charge and equalize cycles.   I think all the new systems are great in helping to Take-the-right-battery every time by being system directed. No more I’m taking this one! The maintenance guy loves how they help Equalize on a proper schedule that the BRMS or charger system directs and records our compliance!  The battery changer handles all the maintenance basics too. Watering programs, keeping the tops and vents clean, all the corrosion control  And then they oversee the metrics, things like, Change-out cycles, battery/charger utilization; temperatures, oh and the room 5S scores; incident/near-miss rate opportunities in his or her charging room  The job has moved from a no skill or training position that all associates may have performed to a more skilled and trained position, with responsibility and accountability.  We have Hands-on skills, equipment operation, alignment and transfer procedures, connector etiquette, hose and vent cap checks, housekeeping. And reading charger displays, understanding BRMS, and all the alarms, and we’ll learn and use basic data entry.  And of course, safety. Using the correct PPE’s, acid handling, spill response, eyewash usage and procedures, our LOTO rules, and proper and required ventilation.    Where can this position take us? Senior battery technician, maintenance tech, energy/charging program lead, EHS coordinator, or facilities or operations roles. As fleets digitize, the best battery changers become the room experts, people who speak the language of both uptime and safety.  The battery changer’s work is still about getting the right power pack into the right truck at the right time and safely. What’s different now is our toolkit, the engineered extractors, roller racks, HF chargers, and the workflow with system driven results, and the responsibility of owning a safety-critical, analytics driven assisted processes.   Imagine what the next 5 to 10 years are going to bring us!  We’ll theres a bit on the battery changer position. Please send us a message through our Facebook or X feeds using @whseops or comment on Instagram at waocpodcast, even go old school and send me an email to host@warehouseandoperationsasacareer.com.  If you have a position you’d like to know more about, ask away, and I’ll find someone to help us learn about it.  Until next week, be productive and be safe in all you do, on the job and at home.

Hey everyone, Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. As we continue our series on job descriptions, task, and their opportunities, I thought we’d stick with transportation as a topic. Tonight, I want to dig into a position that doesn’t always get the spotlight but is absolutely critical across several industries, the driver helper. It’s one of those roles that can look a little different depending on where you find it: the moving industry, the furniture world, beverage distribution, and foodservice distribution to name a few. But no matter where you’re starting out, it’s a position that teaches you the fundamentals, sets you up for growth, and can really be a gateway to a rewarding career.  So, what’s a Driver Helper? Well, it’s someone who works alongside a driver to make sure deliveries are completed efficiently, safely, and often with a bit of customer service thrown in for good measure. The driver is responsible for the vehicle, the route, and the delivery paperwork, but the helper? They’re the hands, the muscle, and sometimes even the face of the company on the customer’s doorstep.  It’s a role built on teamwork too. A good driver and helper pair up like a well-oiled machine, each knows what the other is doing, they split the work, and they get those deliveries done.  Now, let’s start with the moving industry.  Think about it—when you’re moving from one house to another, or when a business relocates, it’s the moving crew that shows up.  The helpers are the ones carefully carrying furniture, boxes, appliances, and loading or unloading the trailer along with the driver. He or she is also in charge of the paperwork, any manifest or paper work and knows the directions!   A few tools of the trade would be, dollies and hand trucks. We’ll be talking about several different types of dollies and hand trucks today with each industry’s take on each model. A moving dolly is typically a square platform with 4 caster wheels on it, where you can lay an item on it, office cubical, household item, bulky item and such, and roll it around, or use it to ease something around a corner. They may also use a hand truck with a wide upright on it with a rachet belt on it, it’ll hold things against the frame. Think of things like a refrigerator or desk credenza. Other typical tools are furniture pads and straps, shrink wrap, tie-downs, and sometimes ramps, but more often a box truck with a tommy lift on it, which is a hydraulic liftgate, a device that lifts heavy cargo into or out of a box truck or trailer.  Helpers here learn about proper lifting techniques, weight distribution, and packing skills, because if something shifts or gets damaged, the whole company hears about it.  From helper, you can move into being a lead mover, then into a driver role. Many who start as helpers in this industry eventually earn their CDL and become household movers or even owners of small moving businesses. It’s a great spot to learn both the physical side of the job and the customer service side.  Now, let’s shift into the furniture and appliance industries. Similar, but also a bit different. Here, the deliveries are often to the customer’s home or sometimes into office spaces. Think couches, tables, desks, beds, washers, dryers, and refrigerators and freezers.   Here we’ll use those furniture dollies, straps, and sliders. We’ll also have and know how to use tools for assembly or disassembly. Think wrenches, drills, screwdrivers, dryer vents, ice cube water lines, stuff like that.  We’ll need a little training on handling bulky but fragile items, no one wants a scratch on their brand new dining table. It’s a bit more of a team effort, we’ll work closely with the driver.  What makes this industry unique is the customer interaction. You’re not just dropping off a package at the door—you’re inside the customer’s home. That means training in professionalism, communication, and respect for someone’s space. Helpers here often learn to assist in assembling products, which gives them additional skills.  Here, from helper, you might move into driver, storage supervisor, or even customer service and sales. A lot of furniture companies like to promote from within, and that hands on experience with the product makes you valuable in roles beyond just delivery.  Now, let’s get into the beverage distribution world, one of the most common places you’ll find driver helpers.  This is the guy or gal riding shotgun with the route driver who’s delivering sodas, beer, or water to convenience stores, restaurants, or grocery chains. And each one of those end users bring unique differences and challenges along with them.   These Two-wheelers or hand trucks are a bit different. The frames are going to be a little narrower, the blades will be a bit longer and thinner, for scooping stacks of cases. This industry may also use lift gates. Sometimes special equipment for moving kegs safely. Depending on what there carrying and where there delivering you may see those truck mounted forklifts, sometimes called piggyback forklifts, and I’ve heard them called spiders, and a moffett. Moffett is actually a well known brand name for this type of forklift  We’ll want and need a little training in handling cases, stacking, and rotation of product.  And I want to throw in, since we mentioned a piece of powered equipment, to never touch or get on a piece of equipment you’re not trained on and certified to operate.  This is physical work—cases can weigh 30–50 pounds, and kegs even more, and helpers may move hundreds of cases in a shift. But it’s steady work, and it teaches you about time management, route efficiency, and merchandising. Again, teamwork and customer service come into play with this position.  A beverage helper might work into a route driver position, then into route sales, and even into supervisory or merchandising roles. It’s one of those industries where the helper role is really seen as a steppingstone. Many distribution companies even design it that way, you start as a helper, you show up every day, and when the company has an opening, they’ll put you through CDL school and you’ll have your own truck, routes and customers.   And now let’s talk about the foodservice distribution driver helper.   These helpers will be using ramps or lift gates as well, two-wheelers or hand trucks, breakdown hand trucks, hand trucks with brakes even. Maybe even small electric pallet jacks, designed to move around in the back of trailers, and run pallets on the delivery dock at hotels, hospitals, or on sidewalks at restaurants, schools, and nursing homes. Rolling carts can be used for things like breads and packaged products.  Foodservice deliveries can be one of the toughest helper jobs physically. These deliveries can be hundreds of cases per stop, often down ramps, through kitchens, or into storage rooms. Helpers learn quickly about organization, safety, and efficiency. Here again, helpers often become drivers. But from there, opportunities branch out, into warehouse, routing and dispatch, even into management.    So across all these industries, what’s common? Of course safety training. Proper lifting, PPE, hydration, and knowing your limits. Equipment use. Hand trucks, dollies, straps, lift gates, ramps. Customer interaction. Whether you’re in someone’s living room or a restaurant’s back door, you’re representing the company. Oh, and time management. Routes are tight, schedules are strict. Helpers learn to hustle without cutting corners.  Many companies also provide training in ergonomics, defensive driving awareness, and even customer service workshops.  Now, let’s talk about where this role can take us.  Being a helper can be the first step toward a CDL license. Many companies want to promote helpers into driver positions because they’ve already proven themselves. It’s easier to invest in someone who knows the product, the job, the routes, and the customers.  Helpers often move into warehouse roles like loader, unloader, or selector. Routing and dispatch positions. Sales and merchandising for beverage and foodservice industries. Supervisory or lead roles, eventually moving up into management.  I’ve seen helpers go from pushing a two-wheeler of soda cases to becoming route supervisors, distribution managers, and even regional VPs. That’s the power of starting in the trenches, you know the work, and you earn respect along the way.  The Driver Helper role might not sound glamorous, but it’s the kind of position that teaches you discipline, teamwork, and grit. You’ll learn tools, customer service, and efficiency. And if you stick with it, show up on time, and give it your best, it can absolutely be the launchpad to a long and rewarding career.  So, whether you’re helping a family move across town, delivering a new sofa, stacking cases of soda, or running foodservice deliveries, remember, helpers today can be drivers, leaders, and even executives tomorrow.  Well, we could go on for another hour talking about the driver helper positions, and transportation as a whole. But I need to get back to work! Thanks for stopping in again today and I hope you make it again next week. Until then, keep the freight moving and be safe out there.  

When we talk about logistics, warehousing, and distribution, transportation is the vital link that keeps everything moving. Without trucks on the road, vans on the streets, and skilled professionals planning routes, freight doesn’t move, and shelves don’t get replenished. While warehouses store and organize, transportation makes the connection to customers, businesses, and ultimately, our communities. And just like warehouses, the transportation industry offers a wide range of careers, from entry-level roles to executive leadership, each critical to the supply chain.  It was pointed out to me last week that a career in the transportation field was just as worthwhile as warehousing. And I couldn’t agree more. Look around the room you’re in. Unless one of the kiddos or grandma made it it’s been hauled by a truck at some point. Maybe even after a ship’s brought it over across the seas and oceans. I’m Marty T Hawkins with Warehouse and Operations as a Career and today let’s talk transportation.   One of the most visible and recognized roles in transportation is the over-the-road truck driver. These are the men and women who move goods across states, sometimes coast-to-coast, hauling everything from dry goods and produce to automobiles and hazardous materials. Everything.  OTR drivers keep America’s economy flowing. Without them, manufacturers can’t get raw materials, and stores can’t stock products.  They often cover thousands of miles a week, keeping supply lines open 24/7.  So, what does it take to be an OTR operator? Long haulers are a special breed. I tried it for one trip, 13 days once. When I got back to Texas I found a warehouse job. At the time I wasn’t ready for all that responsibility. You are the president of the company once you leave the dock, and everyone holds you accountable for everything!   No, seriously, I respect every man and woman driving the nation. It is an awesome career and can present us with an unbelievable career path. Many OTR drivers start with company sponsored training programs or independent CDL schools. From there, they might progress into specialized hauling, flatbed, tanker, refrigerated trailers or move into local driving as their lifestyle changes. Eventually, some become owner-operators or even transition into dispatching and training roles.  At the other end of the spectrum are delivery drivers, often working with smaller trucks or vans. Think about the rise in e-commerce, companies like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon rely heavily on delivery drivers to get packages directly to the consumer’s door.  These drivers represent the “last mile” in logistics, completing the chain from warehouse to customer.  They are often the only face us retail customers see, making professionalism and customer service just as important as safe driving.  A quick side note. I was asked last month if the gig work or gig driver should be considered a driver. You know, like food delivery services, and ride sharing. My answer was definitely. They pick up a product, are responsible for getting it safely to its final destination, they drive the roads, are out in the traffic, and, the way I understand it, is, they have regulatory obligations and are considered professionals.   Even though they are using a standard license or class C here in Texas, well, maybe some services or trucks may need a class B license due to weight, ok, I’m getting way off topic here. Where was I going, oh yeah,   We were talking about the delivery driver. Just like all kinds of drivers, customer service skills are there number 1 needed skill, after safety of course. Being friendly, professional and a great communicator goes a long way.  Physical fitness is important too, since deliveries may involve heavy lifting, stairs, and multiple stops each day.   Delivery driving can be a steppingstone to supervisory roles or even route planning positions within your organization. With the growth of same-day and next-day delivery services, demand is steady, and opportunities are there.   Similar to delivery drivers but with a more predictable and repetitive schedule, route drivers often handle things like beverage delivery, my personal favorite, food distribution, retail and chain replenishment. They visit the same clients regularly, delivering products and sometimes handling returns or collections.   Route drivers are some of the best obstacle drivers there are. Navigating a large van, or 36 foot trailers, or a 48 or 53 ft trailer around parking lots and alleys or around cars, a true art form in my humble opinion!  Now these drivers build long-term relationships with customers. And they ensure consistency and reliability in their customers delivery schedules.  Route drivers have to have strong time management and problem-solving skills, as routes can change due to traffic or customer needs.  Route drivers often progress into route supervisors or other transportation roles. I had several drivers move into sales oriented roles, given their close customer interactions.  We talked about this in a recent episode but it’s important to mention again as I think it is a great career path. Behind every driver is a dispatcher, that person making sure loads are assigned, routes are scheduled, and customers are updated. Dispatchers are the communication hub between drivers, customers, and management.  The dispatch can be a gateway into operations management, logistics planning, or fleet supervision.   Ok, what else is out there. Without well-maintained vehicles, the transportation system will grind to a halt. Diesel mechanics and fleet technicians are essential to keeping trucks, trailers, and delivery vehicles safe and operational. They help prevent breakdowns that can delay freight and ensures our vehicles meet safety standards.  I can think of 6 drivers that moved into the fleet maintenance side of our facility and went on to careers they loved. Many mechanics advance into shop foreman or maintenance manager roles, and some eventually run their own repair businesses.   And we’ve got to mention the Safety and compliance position. Transportation is one of the most regulated industries there is, and for good reasons. Safety and compliance roles ensure drivers, vehicles, and companies follow DOT rules, hours-of-service limits, and workplace safety standards. They help to prevent costly fines and accidents, protecting us drivers, our cargo, and the public. And as with most all safety or compliance skills, one will need knowledge of federal and state transportation regulations. Have attention to detail traits and a proactive approach to safety. And we’ll have to have strong communication skills for training and coaching drivers.   Compliance specialists can move into risk management, safety director positions, or broader human resources and operations leadership roles.   And it’s important to remember that not all transportation careers are behind the wheel. Freight brokers and logistics coordinators are middlemen who arrange shipments between carriers and shippers. They help shippers find trucks and carriers find freight, optimizing efficiency. They negotiate rates and solve problems when things do not go according to plan.  To some degree they have to have a touch of Sales and negotiation skills in them. And they have to have an understanding of freight markets and pricing. You can’t be successful in this role without strong organizational skills. This task can grow into brokerage or third-party logistics (3PL) roles, sometimes even opening their own firms.  Many transportation jobs overlap with warehousing. We’ve talked about these but I wanted to mention them real quick. The yard jockeys move trailers around distribution centers, load planners optimize shipments, and inventory coordinators ensure product is ready for pickup. These hybrid roles are critical for keeping freight flowing seamlessly.   Like warehousing, technology is reshaping transportation. GPS tracking, electronic logging devices or ELDs, and route optimization software are now standard tools. These tools are creating new opportunities in transportation IT support, data analysis, and systems management.  All these are fascinating careers.    One of the most important considerations in transportation careers is lifestyle. OTR drivers may be away from home for weeks at a time, while delivery and route drivers are usually home nightly. Dispatchers and mechanics work more traditional schedules, though emergencies can, no, I’ll say, add unpredictability to our schedules. The variety means there’s something for everyone, from those who thrive on independence and travel to those who prefer a steady routine close to home.    Transportation isn’t just about entry-level driving jobs. With experience, professionals can grow into, Fleet Managers overseeing dozens or hundreds of vehicles. Operations Managers, running the daily transportation functions of a company, to Directors of Logistics, being over large regional or national supply chain networks, to Executive roles like VP of Transportation and Logistics driving strategy, innovation, and profitability or beyond.  And transportation careers don’t stop at the city limits or even national borders. For those who want to advance and explore the international side of logistics, there are important opportunities across the oceans. Many professionals start as truck drivers, dispatchers, or warehouse associates and eventually move into roles that coordinate global freight. We recently mentioned a few of these, lets see, what episode was that, I think it was episode 323 where we talked about the global supply chain so I won’t rehash a lot of these but, hey, were talking about transportation so, I’m going to include the highlights!    A fascinating life can be in the Ocean Cartage and Shipping Lines industries. Ocean cartage refers to the movement of freight by ship, usually large, containerized cargo that travels between continents. Think of the massive cont

Here we are in the middle of the 3rd Quarter already. Schools are starting back up here in the states, the summer vacations were great, visiting with all the friends and family was a bit exhausting and everyone’s getting ready for that final push through to the holidays next quarter.   I mention all that because this is a unique time of year regarding employment, careers, and opportunities in our light industrial industry. Production plants are wrapping up the Christmas runs, the manufacturing arena is resetting for the next year, and distribution centers are running full bore again. The kids are back in school and we all are ready for the sprint to the end of the year!  I’m Marty, and I’d like to thank you for stopping in with Warehouse and Operations as a Career today! We’re going to continue with our Job Description or Warehouse Positions series, but I wanted to take a few minutes and get a few of your questions answered. Going forward we’ll throw in an AMA segment every once and a while, an Ask Me Anything minute or two. It’s so cool to review all the thoughts and ideas being sent in every week, and please keep’em coming!   Speaking of questions. Someone asked about the baler in the warehouse, lets see, this came from Valeria in Spokane Washington. Today we’ll get that explained and try and gather up some answers to a few other questions as well as speak to the unique time of year it is!  Let’s start the episode off with a broad question from Malone. Malone asked why attendance is such a big deal. She is working, or was working, her first warehouse job. Her background was in the food service industry. Her struggle point was why is tardiness and the occasional call in treated like the associate doesn’t want the job or that they don’t care about the company. She stated her restaurant employers understood employees better.   Retail and restaurant, even fast food and convenience store jobs are great and all of them can make great careers as well. Their management positions can be quite lucrative. And yes, they can be a bit more lenient than the manufacturing, production, and distribution jobs. Its not a difference in the managers or the bosses, its that the responsibilities, regulatory concerns, the workplace environments and the dangers that are present in so many more ways. If we’re late for our department startup meeting we may not be able to work our shift. That’s where we’ll learn about our day, our KPI’s, our production needs, the shifts expectations, and any safety related concerns for the day. That meeting, depending on the job, may be required by some agency, our handbook may stipulate the meeting to be mandatory. You can imagine if your manager had to cover the same speech three or four times as people straggled in.   Yes, the occasional tardy should be worked with by our employer. Things like traffic, wrecks, and congestion can happen to us. Thats why it’s important for us to make it the exception and not the rule .   You may have heard me, and I always get reprimanded when I say it, that our warehouse careers are like being in the major leagues, or in the big’s! Not that the jobs are better or more prestigious, but that, or I feel that, there’s more responsibility and yes, more growth possible in our industry! I’ll get a few emails about that statement!  Our industry doesn’t let NCNS’s slide, the leave earlies and coming in lates don’t work. Our industry has production needs to be met. Safety concerns that need full time focus. A commitment to excellence if you will.   I hope that answered Malones question. Attendance is paramount in our industry.  Ok, which position are we discussing today, let’s talk about that piece of equipment that’s often tucked away in a corner of the warehouse, but plays a big role in both cleanliness and cost savings, the baler or compactor.  If you’ve worked in a distribution center or large warehouse, you’ve probably seen one. Big, boxy, and maybe a little intimidating, these machines handle our leftover cardboard, plastic shrink wrap, and sometimes other recyclables.   A baler is a machine that compresses recyclable materials like cardboard or plastic film into dense, stackable bales. These bales are then tied off with wire or plastic strapping and can be easily moved with a forklift or pallet jack.  Now a compactor works kind of the same way, but instead of creating bales for resale, it compresses waste materials into a container for disposal. In some facilities, both functions are combined in one position.  The primary purpose is to reduce the volume of waste materials. Loose cardboard or plastic can take up a massive amount of space in a dumpster or recycling area. By compressing it, we not only keep our docks and aisles clear, but we also reduce hauling and disposal costs.  In the day-to-day flow of warehouse operations, we generate a surprising amount of packaging waste. Palletized goods arrive wrapped in layers of stretch film. Products often come in bulk cases packed inside cardboard boxes. Pallets of small items may have multiple layers of protective packaging.  Without a system to manage all this plastic and cardboard, it would quickly pile up, create clutter, and become a safety hazard for the team.  Your facility we may have a sanitation department that separates and brings us cardboard and plastics to bail.  Here’s how the process typically works.  Sanitation, us, or associates gather empty boxes and plastic wrap at workstations or at collection points like at the end of aisles or the end caps. Then the waste is transported to the baler/compactor area, often using rolling carts, bins, or cages. I’ve seen some great wire cages created for the plastic and cardboard slipsheets.   So how does this monstrosity work? These matchings can be big and quite intimidating!   As the bailer or compactor agent, we’ll open the feed door and load our material into the chamber. The door is big, thick, and heavy. You’ll notice the large locking hooks that secure it. This door can be dangerous if not locked properly.  We need to stack the waste in layers to help the machine create a uniform, dense bale.  Once enough material is inside, we’ll secure the door back in place and engage the compaction cycle. The hydraulic ram compresses the material, reducing it to a fraction of its original volume.  When the chamber is full and pressure can’t compress further, the machine signals that the bale is ready. We’ll thread baling wire or plastic ties through the little pre-cut slots to secure the bale.  Once we tie off the wire or crimp the ties we’re ready for the machine to eject the bale onto a pallet where we’ll haul it off or have a forklift operator haul it and stage it for pickup by the recycler.  Why did facilities create this position you may ask. Couldn’t everyone just use the baler when necessary. Absolutely, and some facilities may train several people on how to use it. Like many other tools or machines in the warehouse the baler can be a dangerous machine, its under immense pressure when compacting. And like many of the others,  when operated properly its safe and a great tool for us. Its use offers several advantages. Lets see, I made some notes here.  Space Savings, cardboard and shrink wrap can take up huge amounts of space if left loose. A baler reduces that volume dramatically, keeping floors and dock areas clear.  Safety Improvements, loose materials on the floor are tripping hazards, especially those slick plastic slipsheets. And stacks of uncompressed cardboard can tip over and block doorways or exits. Keeping materials contained improves housekeeping and reduces potential OSHA violations.  And we can’t overlook the environmental impact. Recycling cardboard and plastic reduces landfill waste. Many companies use their recycling programs as part of sustainability initiatives, which is increasingly important to customers and corporations.  And then there’s the revenue from recyclables. Baled cardboard and plastic film can be sold to recycling companies. Prices vary, however larger facilities can generate thousands of dollars annually from these sales, easily offsetting the operational costs.  Lower Waste Hauling Costs is another huge advantage for facilities that pay by the dumpster or by the haul, compacting means fewer pickups, saving on fees.  While the benefits are clear, and I briefly mentioned it earlier, balers and compactors are also extremely dangerous if used improperly.  We have to keep in mind things like crushing hazards: The hydraulic ram exerts tremendous force, enough to crush materials into dense blocks. That same force can cause severe injury or death if a person’s hand, arm, or any part of their body is inside the chamber during operation. We can’t get tangled up either. Loose clothing, jewelry, or long hair can get caught in its moving parts.  Bales can weigh hundreds of pounds. If improperly tied or ejected without care, they can fall and cause injury.  Performing maintenance or clearing jams without shutting down and locking out the machine is a leading cause of compactor-related injuries. Lockout and tag out.  The big one for me is untrained associates operating the machine increases the risk of accidents. As you’ve learned here at WAOC, never touch or even get close to a piece of equipment or machine that you haven’t been trained on and certified to operate.   Your facility should require that all baler and compactor operators be trained and authorized to use the equipment. Safe practices include:  Our training of course should cover the proper loading, operating, tying, and ejecting procedures. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), gloves to protect hands from sharp edges on cardboard or metal ties. Safety glasses when cutting or tying wire. Steel-toed shoes for protection from the heavy bales.  And people, never bypass safety devices. Most machines have interlock switches to prevent operation when doors are open. Never override or disable these