Warehouse and Operations as a Career

Welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty and today, I thought we’d talk about three things that we see in just about every warehouse, manufacturing facility, distribution center, and production environment at one time or another. 

Horseplay. Drama. And standing around. Now, individually, they may not sound like the biggest workplace problems in the world. Somebody jokes around a little too much. Two people are talking about what somebody else said. A couple of associates are standing at the end of the aisle talking when there isn’t anything happening for a moment. No big deal,  right? Well, maybe it is. Today I don’t want to look at these three things only from the perspective of safety or productivity. I want to talk about what they can do to our reputation, opportunities, and ultimately our career. 

Let’s start with horseplay. I’ve spent a lot of years around warehouses and operations, and one thing I’ve learned is that people like to have fun at work. And I believe we should. There’s nothing wrong with laughing and enjoying the people you work with. There’s nothing wrong with having a little personality. We’re going to spend a lot of hours with the people around us, and nobody wants to work someplace where everybody walks around looking miserable. But there’s a difference between having fun and horseplay. Horseplay in a warehouse can turn serious very quickly.  Think about our environment. Forklifts, pallet jacks, conveyors, dock plates, trailers, pallets, racking, knifes, strapping, machinery, heavy products, blind spots. We’re surrounded by things that don’t care whether you were just joking. Push somebody jokingly and they can fall into a piece of equipment. If we throw something across an aisle and someone may instinctively step into traffic. Or sneak up behind somebody and startle them while they’re using a knife or operating equipment. Suddenly, the joke isn’t funny anymore. And the important thing is. When leadership sees you participating in horseplay, they’re not just thinking those guys are having fun. They may be thinking, can I trust this person?  

We know that safety and responsibility go together. If you want to become a trainer, lead, supervisor, or manager someday, people need to trust your judgment. And every day we’re building that reputation. 

Now let’s talk about something that can spread through a warehouse faster than almost anything else. Workplace drama. Who said what? Who doesn’t like who? Who moved to another department? Who got written up? Who got promoted? Who didn’t get promoted? Why did the supervisor talk to them? Why does she always get that assignment? Why does he get to leave early? Before you know it, five people are involved in something that originally concerned two people. And nobody is talking about today’s production numbers anymore. 

Drama is distracting. And distraction in an industrial environment can become a safety problem quick.  But drama also damages teamwork. I’ve watched small misunderstandings become department wide problems simply because everybody wanted to participate in the conversation. Sometimes the smartest thing we can say when somebody brings us workplace gossip is I don’t know anything about that. And then get back to work. We don’t have to attend every argument we’re invited to. That little piece of advice can save you a lot of headaches in your career. 

Here’s what leadership notices. They notice the people who calm situations down. And they notice the people who stir situations up. They see the person who says “Hey, let’s get back to what we’re doing.” And they also notice the person walking from department to department making sure everybody knows the newest piece of gossip. Which one do you think they’re considering when they’re looking for their next lead? 

And then there’s just standing around. This one can be tricky, because sometimes there really isn’t something happening for a moment. The conveyor may be down, or you’re waiting on product, or a trailer hasn’t backed in yet, or our machine is being adjusted. 

There’s a difference between waiting on the operation and developing a habit of standing around. I think, or hope, we’d all agree there’s always something to do in a warehouse. Housekeeping, straightening pallets, cleaning your area, maybe checking equipment or machine, restocking supplies. And of course a couple of my favorites, how about learning another position, helping another associate, or asking your lead what needs to be done next. And here’s a sentence I want everybody to remember. We are being observed even when we don’t realize we’re being observed. Your supervisor may walk by. The facility manager may be on the floor. The customer may be walking through. Even a visiting corporate manager may see us. And they don’t know that you’ve been working hard for the previous three hours. They only know what they see right now. You’re leaning against a pallet talking. Perception becomes reality very quickly. 

And standing around doesn’t just affect your reputation. It affects the operation. If ten people waste ten minutes, that’s 100 minutes of labor. That’s more than an hour and a half of paid labor time. Those little periods add up. 

Here’s one we’ve all heard or maybe even said. “But everybody else was doing it.” Maybe they were. That doesn’t change the conversation about you. Here’s one of those opinions of mine. One of the biggest lessons we can learn in our careers is to stop measuring our behavior against the lowest standard around us. Instead, ask yourself.  If your goal is simply to get through today’s shift, that’s one thing. But if you want more responsibility, better opportunities, higher pay, leadership positions, or a career, then your standard has to be different. 

And this may be the most important part of today’s episode. Let’s say your supervisor walks over and says: “Guys, quit standing around and get back to work.” How do you respond? 

Option one. “We weren’t doing anything!” “We’ve only been standing here for a minute!” “What about those guys over there?” “Why are you always saying something to me?” Now we’ve taken a simple coaching moment and turned it into a confrontation. 

Option two. “Got it.” And you go back to work. 

Which employee do you think is easier to coach? Which employee would you trust with additional responsibility? I understand that none of us enjoy being corrected. I don’t care if you’re 18 years old or 65 years old. Nobody wakes up in the morning hoping somebody points out something they did wrong. But being coachable is a career skill. Your supervisor shouldn’t have to debate with you every time they give you direction. 

And here’s something I’ve seen happen throughout my career. Sometimes the original issue wasn’t that serious. Maybe somebody was standing around for a couple minutes. The supervisor says something. Instead of simply correcting the behavior, the employee becomes defensive, argumentative, or disrespectful. Now the problem isn’t standing around anymore. The problem is behavior. A ten-second coaching conversation has turned into something much bigger. Sometimes we’re responsible for escalating our own situation. 

I’ve shared many times, I believe any way, that our reputation is being built every shift. Here’s something I wish every new associate was told or understood on their first day. Your reputation isn’t built when a promotion becomes available. It’s built months before the promotion exists. Every shift you’re answering questions people may never ask you directly. Are you dependable? Are you safe? Do you work without somebody constantly watching you? Can you handle correction? Do you bring solutions or problems? Do you stay out of unnecessary drama? Can you work with different personalities? Can you be trusted? That reputation follows us ladies and gentlemen.  

Let’s look at this scenario. One day a lead position opens. The manager walks into the office and asks his or her supervisors. “We need another lead on second shift. Who do we have?” And names start being mentioned. That’s when your previous six months start talking for you. Someone might say, “He’s productive, but he’s always involved in drama.” Or, “she’s a good worker, but we’ve had to talk to her several times about horseplay.” Or, “He knows the job, but every time you walk through his area he’s standing around.” I feel we need to remember, Yes, those may sound like little things day to day. But, like in this scenario, they can become big things tomorrow. 

So, with all that being said. The message I want to leave you with today is, don’t let little things cost you big opportunities. Horseplay, drama, and standing around. Three things that can seem small. But they can become habits. And they are three things that can keep you from becoming the person management looks at when opportunity knocks. 

I’m not saying we have to be perfect. None of us are. You’re going to make mistakes, going to have conversations, and going to joke around. And every once in a while you’re probably going to get called out for something. The important part is what happens next. Can you accept the coaching? Can you correct the behavior? And can you move forward? 

Because sometimes career growth isn’t about learning one more piece of equipment or increasing our cases per hour. Sometimes it’s about, lets see, what word am I looking for, lets use maturity. Knowing when to joke and when to work. When to walk away from drama, knowing when to find something productive to do, and knowing how to respond when someone tells us we’re falling short of the expectation. 

So tomorrow when you walk through those warehouse doors, ask yourself. What reputation am I building today? Because somebody is noticing. And that little decision we make today may have a lot to do with the opportunity we’re offered tomorrow. 

Until next time, stay productive, keep learning, and keep building that career. And above all else, be safe in all that you do.

Today lets talk about probably one of the most recognized, most used, most abused, and quite possibly most underestimated pieces of material-handling equipment in our industry. The pallet jack. You know the one. Two forks. A handle. A couple of wheels. And maybe a battery. And depending on which version we are talking about, maybe an operator standing behind it, walking beside it, standing on it, or flying down the dock on it like they’re qualifying for the warehouse version of the Indianapolis 500. And that last one, of course, is exactly what we are not supposed to be doing. 

Today we’re going to talk about where the pallet jack came from, why it became such an important part of warehousing and distribution, the manual pallet jack, the electric walkie, the platform rider, and the single, double and triple pallet trucks. And being Marty, with Warehouse and Operations as a Career I’m going to take another opportunity to sprinkle in a little of the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178 standard along the way! As we’ve learned, once we put a motor on our pallet jack, we haven’t just made our job easier, we’ve entered the world of powered industrial trucks. 

Ok, before we talk safety, let’s give this little workhorse some history. Material handlers were experimenting with low-lift trucks and platforms more than a 100 years ago. By the early 1900s, the industry was looking for better ways to move heavier quantities of material without requiring workers to carry, drag or hand-truck everything individually. 

The development of the pallet changed everything. We learned a lot about its introduction back in Feb of 2019, I think it was episode 124. Anyway I digress there a bit. Well, then came an innovation that seems simple today but transformed material handling. George Raymond Sr, founder of what became The Raymond Corporation, and employee William House developed the hydraulic hand pallet truck. On November 7, 1939, they were granted a patent for that design, along with the double-faced wooden pallet designed to work with it. Think about that combination. A standardized platform for freight and a small machine capable of slipping underneath it, raising it a few inches and moving the entire load. That changed material handling. Instead of moving fifty cases individually, we could move fifty cases as one unit. Instead of handling every carton five or six different times, we began handling palletized units. And that was our industry’s first efficiency lesson. The pallet jack isn’t really about lifting. It’s about eliminating touches. Every unnecessary touch costs time and requires labor. And creates another opportunity for damaged product or injury. 

So let’s start with the one most of us meet first. The manual pallet jack. Sometimes called a hand jack, hand pallet truck or pump jack. We insert the forks beneath the pallet and pump the handle, which activates a hydraulic system. A few pumps later, the pallet rises just enough to clear the floor. A pallet jack isn’t designed to lift a load six feet into the air. Its job is to lift the load just enough to travel. You’ll see manual jacks in grocery stores, warehouses, manufacturing plants, trailers, production areas and back rooms in the retail world everywhere. But don’t confuse simple with harmless. A loaded manual pallet jack may be carrying thousands of pounds. Once those thousands of pounds start rolling, your arms and legs are not going to win the argument. I’ve seen people try to stop a rolling pallet jack with their foot. That’s a bad plan. I’ve seen people pull a load downhill toward themselves. Another bad plan. The equipment may be manual. But the consequences are still powered by gravity. 

Then somebody said “Why are we pulling this thing ourselves?” And electricity entered the equation. Battery-powered low-lift trucks existed early in the development of modern material handling. Yale’s history, for example, traces battery-powered low-lift platform trucks back to 1919 and 1920. By 1951, Clark was introducing electric powered walkie-type pallet trucks. Now we had something capable of moving heavy palletized freight without the operator supplying the muscle. And productivity increased dramatically. But something else increased too. Risk. Because now the machine could accelerate, travel farther, and travel faster. And it could generate considerably more force when something, or somebody got in its way. 

Then comes the walkie. The electric walkie is probably one of the most common powered pallet trucks. The operator walks with the unit while controlling it through the control handle. Forward. Reverse. Raise. Lower. A Horn. And usually some type of emergency reversing or belly button switch designed to help protect the operator if the control handle comes back toward them. The walkie can be incredibly efficient for moving pallets short to moderate distances. 

One danger here is where operators can get comfortable. Way too comfortable. The most obvious danger is getting pinned. You have a machine behind you. A rack, wall, pallet, column or trailer wall in front of you. If you don’t maintain space, suddenly you’re the meat in a pallet-jack sandwich. Not today’s career goal. Another danger is our feet. The drive wheel and load wheels don’t care how expensive our shoes or boots are. We need to know where we’re standing. And its important  to remember that the forks themselves extend several feet beyond the body of the machine. I’ve watched operators clear a corner with themselves while forgetting they still had about four feet of forks following them.  

Then we step up to the rider pallet truck. These units allow the operator to ride on a platform instead of walking alongside the equipment. If you’re working in a large distribution center and moving freight hundreds of feet at a time, you can immediately see the productivity advantage. Walk 300 feet. Walk back. Walk 300 feet. Do that all shift long. Now place the operator on a powered rider pallet jack. Completely different productivity equation! But rider units introduce their own hazards. Speed, cornering, and pedestrian interaction becomes much more important. And keeping our arms, legs and feet within the running lines of the truck becomes extremely important. The rack upright isn’t going to move because our feet are sticking off the end of the platform. 

Alright, the traditional powered pallet jack usually moves one pallet at a time. And in many operations, that’s exactly what we need. But high volume distribution created another question. What if we could move two at a time? Now we start talking about double pallet trucks. These are designed to transport two pallet positions together, depending on the equipment and the application. Think beverage distribution, Foodservice, Grocery. High volume selecting and loading operations. Moving two pallets instead of one can reduce travel dramatically. And travel is often one of the biggest components of warehouse labor. If an operator or selector spends 50 percent of their time traveling, then every opportunity to safely reduce unnecessary travel can create tremendous productivity gains. I always stress to operators that there’s a tradeoff for that productivity. More freight means more weight. More length and turning radius. More stopping distance needed and more opportunity for load instability. Your empty double pallet jack and your fully loaded double pallet jack are two very different animals, and you have to be treating them as such. That’s where experience and training come in. 

Next up are the triples. Yes, there are operations using triple length pallet trucks capable of handling three pallet positions. Potentially thousands upon thousands of pounds of product. That isn’t just a bigger pallet jack. It is a long, heavy moving piece of industrial equipment. You need room and visibility. You need to understand your turning radius. And you need to understand stopping distance. And you absolutely need to understand the equipment you’re authorized to operate. We all know, or should know, that certification on one powered industrial truck does not magically make us qualified on every powered industrial truck in the building. And this brings us to our friend. OSHA 1910.178 

29 CFR 1910.178 covers powered industrial trucks. This specifically includes fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks, motorized hand trucks, and other specialized industrial trucks powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines. That means our powered pallet trucks belong in the conversation. The standard requires employers to make sure powered industrial-truck operators are competent to safely operate the type of truck they’re assigned to use. And training isn’t  “There’s the jack. Here’s the key. Don’t hit anything.” 1910.178 requires a combination of formal instruction, practical training and an evaluation of the operator’s workplace performance. Formal instruction might include classroom discussion, videos, written materials, or computer-based learning. Practical training means demonstration and hands-on exercises. Then comes the evaluation. Can the individual actually operate the equipment safely in the workplace? That’s an  important piece. Watching a thirty-minute video doesn’t make somebody an operator. And knowing where the throttle is doesn’t make somebody an operator. Oh, and having driven one at your last job doesn’t automatically qualify you at this job. Training must address the truck and the workplace. That includes things like controls, steering, maneuvering, visibility, vehicle capacity, stability, inspections and fueling and battery charging to name a few.  And workplace topics include surface conditions, load stability, pedestrian traffic, narrow aisles, ramps and other hazards unique to that facility.  

Now here’s another piece I think gets misunderstood. You may hear people say: “My forklift card is good for three years.” That’s not exactly what the regulation says. The standard requires an evaluation of each powered industrial truck operator’s performance at least once every three years. But refresher training may be required before that. For example, if an operator is observed operating unsafely, or is involved in an accident or near miss, fails an observation or evaluation, is assigned to operate a different type of truck, or workplace conditions change in a way that affects safe operation. Those events can trigger refresher training. The calendar doesn’t protect anybody. Competency does. I urge every powered industrial truck operator to check out the full standard. I promise you you’ll find some very interesting parts to it. And while I’m on the subject. I want to mention the importance of, or in my opinion anyway, that wither we’re equipment operators or machine operators, that we read our equipment’s owners or operators manual. And it goes without saying to never, ever, get on or touch a machine or piece of equipment we haven’t been trained on and certified to operate. Period ladies and gentlemen.  

And you know I wasn’t going to let us get through an equipment episode without talking about the pre-trip. Before we start using that powered pallet jack, inspect it according to the manufacturer’s procedures and your company’s requirements. Look at the forks. Load wheels. Drive wheel. Control handle. Horn. Emergency reversing device. Brakes. Battery condition. Hydraulic functions. The raise and lower controls. We’re looking for obvious damage and or unusual sounds. Test the controls. And if the equipment is defective or unsafe? The standard says powered industrial trucks needing repair, or found unsafe, must be taken out of service until restored to safe operating condition. Seriously, if it doesn’t stop correctly during the pre-trip, it probably isn’t going to get better when you put 4,000 pounds on it. Tag it, if that’s your company’s procedure. Report it immediately. And make sure it is removed from service. 

Pallet trucks spend a lot of their lives around docks and trailers. And those environments deserve extra respect. Before entering that trailer, we need to know it’s secured according to our facility’s procedures. We need to know the dock plate is properly positioned and capable of supporting the load and we need to look at that trailer floor. Water damage. Rot. Holes. Weak flooring. And debris of any kind can be dangerous. Remember, we’re not just calculating the freight weight. We’ve got product weight plus pallet weight plus equipment weight plus operator weight. That’s a lot of pressure concentrated onto a trailer floor. 

Now let’s talk about the most unpredictable thing in any warehouse. Us. People. Why? Because pedestrians don’t always follow predictable paths. Someone steps out of an aisle. Walks through a staging lane. Comes around a blind corner. Looks down at a scanner. Or assumes the operator sees them. And operators make assumptions too. “They’ll stop.” “They see me.” “They know I’m turning.” Assumptions and moving equipment don’t mix. Use the horn. Slow down at intersections. Maintain visibility at all times. Follow pedestrian right-of-way and facility traffic rules. And don’t let productivity pressure convince you that five seconds of safety is wasting time.  

Ok, it’s true. The hand pump pallet jack doesn’t get the attention that the big equipment gets. Nobody walks into the warehouse and says “Wow! Look at that beautiful manual pallet jack.” 

The counterbalance forklift, the reach truck, and order picker gets the attention. But the humble pallet jack? It just goes to work. Every day. Receiving and Shipping, Production, Order selection, Cross-docking, Loading and unloading trailers. It quietly connects almost every part of our operation. 

From a simple manually pumped hydraulic jack to today’s electric walkies, riders, doubles and triples, the purpose really hasn’t changed. Move more product. With fewer touches. Using less labor. In less time. And do it safely. That’s the lesson. 

And the bigger, heavier and faster our equipment gets, the more responsibility we accept when we grab that handle. So the next time you step onto that rider pallet jack, grab the handle of that walkie, or pump up that old manual jack, remember, that simple piece of equipment represents more than a hundred years of material-handling innovation. Respect its capacity, its limitations, and respect the pedestrians around you. Know your equipment. Perform your pre-trip and follow your training. 

We do all that to reach our number one goal. We want everybody walking back through those turnstiles, through that guard shack, or out that employee entrance in the same condition they came in for the shift. Maybe just a little more tired. And hopefully a little more knowledgeable. Until next time, be safe, keep learning, and keep building that career.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and today let’s talk about something that sounds incredibly simple. So simple, in fact, that we probably hear it growing up from our parents, teachers and coaches. And once we enter the workforce, we hear it from supervisors, managers, customers, and coworkers. 

Do what you say you’re going to do. That’s it. Sounds easy, right? But think about how many problems inside a warehouse, distribution center, manufacturing facility, transportation operation, or production environment start because somebody said they were going to do something and then they didn’t. An associate says, I’ll be here tomorrow, then they don’t show up. A lead says, I’ll get someone over there to help you and nobody comes. And a supervisor says, “I’ll look into that but nothing happens. And here’s a good one, a manager says, we’ll get that repaired yet three weeks later, the same equipment is still tagged out. And a great example, an executive says, safety is our number-one priority. But when production gets tight, unsafe shortcuts suddenly become acceptable. See where I’m going? Today’s subject is not really about keeping promises. I feel it’s about, 3 of my favorite words. Credibility, trust, and accountability. And, most importantly for us, it’s about building a reputation that helps us move our career forward. We want people to remember that we do what we say. 

Let’s start with the newest associate walking into the warehouse. Maybe we are an order selector, a pallet runner, loader, receiver, a forklift operator, or maybe this is our first warehouse job. Our reputation begins almost immediately. During orientation, we may say I understand. I’ll be here at 7:00. I’ll wear my PPE. I’ll call if I’m going to be late. I’ll complete my pre-trip. And I’ll follow the procedures. Those may sound like little statements, But every one of them matters. If we tell our supervisor we will be there at 7:00, and we consistently arrive at 6:50 ready to work, he or she will notice. And if we say we are willing to learn receiving, and when the opportunity comes we step over there and learn it, it gets noticed. If we tell someone we’ll finish wrapping a pallet before break and we do it, people notice. And guess what? When we don’t do those things, thats noticed too. Our reputation in the workplace is often nothing more than a collection of experiences other people have had with us. Can I count on Marty? Does Marty show up? Does Marty finish what he starts? Does Marty tell me when there’s a problem? If Marty says he’s going to do something, will it get done? Those questions, or answers I guess, become our reputation. And I’ve said it before, in our industry, in many instances, your reputation walks into a building before you do. Warehousing and transportation is a surprisingly small world. Supervisors become managers. Managers change companies. Associates become leads. Vendors become customers. Customers become employers. And years later, somebody may hear your name and say, oh yeah. I remember him. 

Now here’s something else we need to talk about. Doing what we say does not mean saying yes to everything. A subject I struggle with myself!  Sometimes one of the most professional responses we can give is I can’t promise that, or, I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out. There is a big difference between being helpful and overpromising. 

Imagine a lead telling three different people “I’ll take care of it. “I’ll get somebody over there. “I’ll have maintenance look at it.” “I’ll get your schedule fixed.” “I’ll talk to the supervisor.” All that sounds helpful. But what if none of it happens? Pretty soon, those words don’t mean anything. Wouldn’t you rather hear I don’t have the answer right now, but I’ll check and get back to you before lunch. Then actually get back to me before lunch. To me, or with me, that builds credibility. 

We don’t have to know everything. We don’t have to fix everything ourselves. But if we give somebody our word, we need to follow through. And if circumstances change and we cannot follow through, we have to communicate that. 

Let’s say I tell my supervisor “I’ll have that trailer unloaded by 10:00.” Then we find damaged product. There’s an OS&D issue. The paperwork doesn’t match. Or a pallet collapsed. Now 10:00 isn’t going to happen. That does not automatically mean I failed. But what happens next matters. If 10:00 comes and goes and nobody knows what happened, I’ve created another problem. But, If I communicate at 9:15 and say “We found damaged freight on pallets six and seven. I’ve stopped the unload and I’m waiting on direction from claims. We probably won’t make the 10:00 completion.” That’s professionalism. Doing what we say includes letting people know when something prevents us from doing it. Remember a couple of weeks ago how we learned that communication protects trust. Well, silence destroys it. 

 

Now let’s move up to the lead position. This is where the subject becomes even more important. Because once we become a lead, people begin watching whether our actions match our words. We tell the team, “Safety comes first.” Then an associate says a pallet is leaning badly. What do we do? Do we stop and correct it? Or do we say “Just move it. We’re behind.” We tell everyone “Pre-trip your equipment before using it.” Then we jump on a pallet jack ourselves without inspecting it. What did we just teach the team? Leadership is not what we say during the startup meeting. Leadership is what people watch us do after the startup meeting. Associates are very good at spotting inconsistencies. Here’s a couple of great examples. If I say “Everybody needs to be on time, but I walk in late three days a week, I’ve lost credibility. And If I say “Communication is important,” but associates cannot get an answer from me, well, you see where I’m going. For supervisors and managers, our words carry even more weight. 

 

What else did I note here, oh, I want to throw in a word on safety, all this becomes especially important around safety. If we tell associates to report hazards, we have to respond when they do. If someone reports a broken pallet jack and nothing happens, eventually people stop reporting broken equipment. If somebody identifies a near miss and management ignores it, eventually near misses stop getting reported. 

If someone tells us a dock plate isn’t operating correctly and our answer is, “We know. Just be careful.” What message are we sending? We cannot build a safety culture through posters, or slogans, and we cannot build it through once-a-year training. Safety culture is built when employees see the company do what it says it will do. If we say “Report hazards.” Then hazards need to be investigated. If we say “Never operate defective equipment.” Then defective equipment needs to stay out of service. If we say “No load is more important than someone going home safely.” Then our operational decisions have to reflect that. That’s credibility. 

Now let’s look outside the four walls of our building for a second. Our customers are paying attention to us as well. In transportation, we tell a customer: “The truck will be there at 8:00.” Maybe it arrives at 8:00. Maybe it doesn’t. But if we know at 6:30 that the driver has been delayed and we wait until 8:15 to communicate it, we’ve damaged our trust. Again, customers understand that problems happen. Trucks break down. People call out. Systems go down. Freight gets damaged, and weather happens. What customers struggle with is surprise. Don’t surprise people with bad news they should have heard earlier. 

Sometimes doing what we say means saying “We’re not going to hit the original commitment, and here’s what we’re doing about it.” That kind of honesty can actually strengthen a relationship. 

Now let’s talk about executives. Vice presidents. Directors. Presidents. Owners. CEOs. At that level, words can influence entire organizations. We tell employees “Our people are our greatest asset.” Okay. Do our actions show that? We say “We believe in training.” But are we investing in training? We say “We promote from within.” Are we actually developing internal candidates? We say “Safety is priority one.” Are safety expenses approved? And are damaged tools replaced? Are supervisors held accountable for unsafe behavior? Culture travels downhill. And so does inconsistency. 

 

I think the little promises matter the most. Here’s where I think we sometimes get this wrong. We think trust is built with big speeches and big promises. Usually it’s built through all the little things like  “I’ll call you back.” And you call. “I’ll send that report.” And you send it. Those small moments stack up. Eventually people stop wondering whether you’re dependable. They just know you are. 

We can spend a lot of time complaining that other people don’t follow through. Our coworker didn’t do what they said. Our supervisor forgot. Management never responded. The company promised something. Some of those complaints may be completely legitimate. But let’s to turn the mirror around for a moment. What about us? Do people have to remind us? Do we commit to things and then forget them? Do we blame circumstances rather than communicate issues? Do we expect other people to keep commitments we’re willing to break ourselves? 

I feel like accountability starts with me. If I want to work in a dependable organization, I should first become a dependable employee. If I want a trustworthy supervisor, I should first become a trustworthy associate. If I want my team to follow through, I need to follow through. 

I’ll leave you with three habits. First, I try and be careful what I commit to. Before you say yes, think. Can I really do this? Do I have the authority, the time, and all the information? 

Second, write things down. Leads, supervisors, and managers get asked dozens of questions every day. Use a notebook, or your phone, a task list or your calendar. There is no prize for remembering everything. However there is value in making sure things get done. 

And third, close the loop. This may be the most important one. If somebody asks you something and you say you’ll find out, go back to them. Even if the answer is: “I still don’t have an answer.” That’s closing the loop. “I haven’t forgotten. I’m still working on it.” To me, those words and phrases matter. 

So whether we are unloading our first trailer or running the entire distribution network, this principle applies. Do what you say you’re going to do. Our job title doesn’t change that responsibility. Become the person people can count on. Do exactly what you said you were going to do. 

Well, I’ve got to go finish up what I said I’d get done today!  Until next time, be safe, be productive, communicate, follow through, and keep building that career.

Today let’s talk about something I’ve been asked many times over the years. “Why warehousing?” Or “Why transportation?” Or “Why the supply chain?” 

After unloading trailers, pulling orders, operating forklifts, supervising teams, managing operations, and on to the executive team, I’ve been asked that question hundreds of times. People usually expect me to answer with one of the obvious reasons. That there’s good money, great benefits, opportunities for overtime, or the Job security and Promotion opportunities, and how the works stable, sometimes even considered essential. And those are all true, and they’re all important. But if I had to narrow everything down to just one reason? Just one thing that makes this industry different than almost every other career? 

Well, I’d have to go with how this industry rewards the person you’re willing to become. Not who you are today or where you came from. Not what grades you made or where you went to school or who your parents were. This industry has always rewarded effort. It rewards people that keep showing up and that continue learning. It rewards people that become more valuable every year. And to me anyway, that’s something incredibly special. 

When someone asks me what they should do with their career, I often tell them that warehousing isn’t just about moving boxes and transportation isn’t just about trucks and how the supply chain isn’t just about inventory. It’s about solving problems. It’s about making businesses successful and it’s about making sure families receive what they need. Every package is delivered. Every grocery shelf is stocked. Every hospital was supplied. Every manufacturing plant receives their raw materials. Every online order arrives on someone’s porch. All of that happens because thousands of us workers choose to become professionals. One of the things I love about this industry is that there are very few ceilings. As I’ve said many times, you can literally start today sweeping floors and next year you might be operating equipment. A year later you’re training others and soon you’re a lead. Then a supervisor. Maybe an inventory analyst. Perhaps a dispatcher or transportation coordinator or a safety professional. Even an operations manager, director, or Vice President. I’ve watched people make that journey. I’ve had the pleasure of hiring several of them and the honor of promoting many of them. Not because they had the fanciest résumé. But because they earned the opportunity. 

First off, our industry notices consistency. I know I sound like a broken record sometimes. I keep repeating these things because they are that important and just that simple. Showing up everyday matters. Being dependable and taking ownership matters. If your supervisor never has to wonder whether you’ll be at work, if they know you’ll do quality work and they know you’ll help solve problems instead of creating them, you’ve already separated yourself from many others. Consistency becomes your resume. 

Then comes learning. Every new skill increases your value. Learn a second department. Learn receiving, Shipping, Inventory Control, Quality Assurance, Cycle counting, Forklift operation, the Reach truck. What else, here’s a few of my go too’s, the order picker. Yard management. Transportation planning. Warehouse Management Systems. Excel. Everyone should feel comfortable working with Microsoft word and excel. And Leadership. Communication, and of course Safety. Every skill is another tool in your toolbox. And no bad manager or company can take those skills away from you. Even if you change employers, those skills travel with you. 

One lesson I’ve learned throughout my own career, and try to share with every new boot I meet, is that companies don’t simply promote experience. They promote confidence and our confidence comes from preparation. I think being prepared comes from learning everything we can. The more you understand the operation, the more valuable you become. Eventually people begin asking for your opinion and that’s when your career really starts to grow. 

Another reason I love this industry is because every day is different. No two days are exactly alike. One morning you may have weather delays, all your trucks and loads are running late. On another day we’ll have equipment issues. A customer changes an order. A shipment arrives early. A truck breaks down. The inventory doesn’t match. The team is short-handed. Problems appear every single day!  Some people see stress. I’ve always tried to see opportunities. 

Seriously, every problem solved teaches you something. Every challenge develops another leadership skill, and every difficult day prepares you for greater responsibility. Young people often ask me how to become successful, and my answer seems to surprise them. Just Become the person people trust. Trust opens doors. Trust gets assignments and earns promotions. Trust creates opportunities. Trust is built one decision at a time. A decision from us. Being on time. Following through. Owning mistakes. Helping our teammates. Doing the right thing when nobody’s watching. Those habits are noticed. 

I also appreciate something else about our profession. You don’t have to wait for someone to allow you to grow. Growth is largely in your control. Read books. Watch training videos, there’s thousands on YouTube. Volunteer for projects. Crosstrain. Ask questions. Observe great leaders. Practice communication. Improve your safety knowledge. Become certified. Nobody can stop you from investing in yourself. The people who grow the fastest are usually the ones who never stop learning. 

I’ve met warehouse associates making six figures. transportation professionals earning incredible incomes. Supply chain analysts traveling the country. Operations leaders running million-square-foot distribution centers. Safety professionals influencing thousands of employees. Corporate trainers teaching nationwide. None of them started there. Most started exactly where someone listening today may be standing. The difference wasn’t luck. It was growth. 

You know, one of my favorite moments is watching someone realize they have more potential than they ever imagined. Maybe it’s the forklift operator who becomes a trainer. The selector who becomes a supervisor. The receptionist who becomes a recruiter. The dispatcher who becomes a transportation manager. And I could go on and on.  I’ve watched those transformations happen over and over again. 

The warehouse is an incredible classroom. It teaches discipline, Communication, Teamwork, Safety, Accountability, Time management, Customer service, Leadership, Conflict resolution, Problem solving. And These aren’t just warehouse skills. They’re life skills. Skills that help in every profession and every stage of life. 

People sometimes say they don’t want to work in a warehouse forever. I understand that. But don’t overlook what the warehouse can do for you. It can build confidence. Teach responsibility. Develop leadership. Provide financial stability. Introduce lifelong mentors. Open doors you never knew existed. The warehouse may not be your final destination. But it can absolutely become the foundation of an incredible career. 

As I look back over my own career, I don’t remember every shipment. I don’t remember every inventory count. I don’t remember every dock schedule. What I remember are the people. The mentors who challenged me. The associates who inspired me. The supervisors who believed in me. The teams that accomplished incredible things together. That’s another gift this industry gives us. Relationships. And those relationships often last an entire lifetime. 

So, if someone asked me today, Marty, what’s the one thing that makes this industry so great? My answer would be simple. Because this industry rewards the person you’re willing to become. It rewards effort. It rewards learning. It rewards reliability. It rewards character. It rewards ownership. It rewards growth. And the beautiful part is, every one of us gets to decide who we’re becoming tomorrow. 

Ok, I’ve got to get back to work myself now. But I wanted to add that if you’re just beginning your career in warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, or supply chain, don’t focus only on the next paycheck. Focus on becoming the person everyone wants on their team. The promotions will come. The opportunities will come. The raises will come. The career will come. It’s my opinion or my belief, in this industry, your greatest value isn’t the equipment you operate or the building or department you work in. It’s the person you choose to become.   

I’m Marty T Hawkins and I want to thank you for checking in on Warehouse and Operations as a Career today. Until next time, be safe, keep learning, help someone else grow, and never stop investing in yourself.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m Marty, and as always, I appreciate you spending a little of your day with me. 

Today I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for quite a while. Over the past several months, I’ve spoken with warehouse associates, forklift operators, order selectors, recruiters, supervisors, and hiring managers from all over the country. I’ve listened to the concerns of people just entering our industry, and I’ve listened to leaders trying to build strong teams. You know what’s interesting? Both groups are asking almost the same question. The associate is asking, “How do I get ahead?” The employer is asking, “How do I keep good people?” I think those questions are really two sides of the same conversation.  

Let’s start with a simple question. What do you think is the biggest concern for today’s warehouse associate? Most people immediately answer, “Money.” Yes, pay is important. We all work to provide for ourselves and our families. Inflation, groceries, rent, and fuel aren’t getting any cheaper. But after forty years in this industry, I’ve learned that money is rarely the real problem. I feel that people want to know if they’re building a future, or just collecting another paycheck. That’s an entirely different question. 

When someone walks into a warehouse for the very first time, they’re usually thinking about today’s shift. Can I do the work? Will I like the people? Can I make it through orientation? Will I get enough hours? Those are all fair questions. But somewhere along the way, another question should replace those. In my humble opinion, we should be asking ourselves, “What does my career look like three years from now?” And unfortunately, many people never ask it. Instead, they work, they clock in, they clock out, and before they know it, three years have become ten. Nothing changed except the date on the calendar. 

Here’s something I tell every young associate I meet. Your employer hired you to fill a position. Only you can build the career. The company can provide the opportunity. It can’t provide ambition. It can offer training but it can’t force someone to learn. It can post an opening for a Lead, Trainer, Dispatcher, Inventory Control, Safety Coordinator, Supervisor, or Manager but someone has to decide they’re ready to take those steps. 

I hear people say all the time “They never give me a chance.” Of course sometimes that’s true. But sometimes we haven’t given ourselves one either. Have we volunteered to learn another department duties? Have we asked to operate another piece of equipment or a different production machine? Have we asked to learned what those inventory people actually do? Do we understand receiving, Shipping, Quality Control, Cycle counts, Warehouse Management Systems, Transportation, Planning, Customer Service? Every one of those skills makes you more valuable. And as we’ve learned, valuable employees don’t stay in the same position forever. 

One of the biggest mistakes I see is confusing experience with growth. Someone says “I’ve been here five years.” Well that’s wonderful. But have you had five years of experience, or one year of experience repeated five times? Those aren’t the same thing. Growth happens when we’re learning something new. When we’re uncomfortable and challenged. When we’re solving problems instead of waiting for someone else to solve them. 

Here’s a big one, let’s talk about automation for just a minute. I hear it all the time. “Robots are taking our jobs.” Here’s my perspective. Automation doesn’t replace great employees. It can replace repetitive tasks. Someone still has to maintain the equipment. Program the systems. Analyze the inventory. Manage the workflow. Lead the team and interpret the data. Solve the problems technology can’t solve. The more skilled you become, the more valuable you become in an automated world. Technology should motivate us to learn more. Not scare us into standing still. Another thing I hear all the time is, I don’t have time to learn things and online classes take so many hours, or my company wants us to stay over to learn something new. I always ask what are you doing that keeps you from having that time to invest in yourself? What did you watch on tv last Tuesday night and what was the plot of the program? lol. Just a thought. Now where was I. Ok, now let’s talk about something every supervisor notices. Dependability. If I asked ten warehouse managers who their most valuable employee is, almost every one of them would describe someone who shows up every day, on time, and ready to work. Not necessarily the fastest or the strongest. But dependable. And what have we said before? Dependability creates opportunity. Opportunity creates trust. And trust creates promotions. It really is that simple. 

Here’s another lesson I learned years ago. Don’t wait for the title before acting like the leader. Lead from wherever you’re standing. Help the new employee. Pick up the trash nobody else noticed. Volunteer for the difficult assignment. Stay positive when everyone else is complaining. Ask questions. Share ideas respectfully. Those things, ladies and gentlemen, are leadership behaviors. And people notice them. 

One thing I absolutely love about our industry is that careers are still earned. Think about that. There are very few industries where someone can begin unloading trucks, become a forklift operator, learn inventory, move into training, become a lead, a supervisor, a manager, a director, or a Vice President. I know that’s possible. Because I lived it. Nobody handed me those opportunities. Each one required another step up the ladder. And yes, sometimes those steps were uncomfortable. Sometimes they were exhausting. And many times I wondered if I was ready. But I climbed anyway. 

Here’s something else to think about. Every certification you earn is another rung on that ladder. Your Powered Industrial Truck certification. First Aid, CPR, and AED. CRASE. STOP THE BLEED. OSHA training. Leadership classes. The Microsoft Excel and Word programs. Warehouse Management Systems. Inventory Control. Public speaking. Communication. Every one of those skills separates you from the crowd. Because when opportunity comes, preparation wins. 

You know what rarely earns promotions? Complaining. Excuses. Drama. Blaming everyone else. Those things might get attention. But they don’t build careers. Solutions build careers. And Managers remember people who solve problems. They remember people who volunteer and there going to remember people who make everyone’s job easier. 

Ok, we’ve been closing with a challenge for the week so here’s this weeks. When you walk into work tomorrow don’t ask yourself “What do I have to do today?” Ask yourself “What can I learn today?” One question changes your schedule. The other changes your future. Anything counts. Maybe you ask to learn shipping paperwork, or you spend fifteen minutes talking with inventory control, or maybe you ask your supervisor why something is done a certain way. I think curiosity builds careers. 

And here’s another challenge for us. Write down the job you want three years from now. Not tomorrow, but three years from now. Then ask yourself “What skills does that person have that I don’t have yet?” Now you have a roadmap. Our careers aren’t built by accident. They’re built intentionally. By us.  One skill. One lesson. One opportunity. One day at a time. 

I’ll leave you with this. The career ladder in warehousing, Production, Transportation, Manufacturing and Distribution. It hasn’t disappeared. In fact, I’d argue it’s stronger than it’s ever been. Companies need leaders and trainers. They need technicians, safety professionals, dispatchers, machine operators, inventory specialists, and operations managers. 

The opportunities are there. The ladder is standing exactly where it’s always been. The question is, are you still climbing, or did you stop on the first rung? 

If today’s episode encouraged you, challenged you, or reminded you that your future is still being written, I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with a coworker, a friend, or someone who’s just getting started in our industry. Until next time, keep learning and improving, keep showing up every day. And remember. Your job may get you through today, but your commitment to learning is what builds tomorrow. 

Everyone have a safe shift and I hope to see you back here in two weeks!