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Dock management is the coordination of deliveries, workers, and equipment in your loading area. The process covers everything from staffing to scheduling and maintenance as you juggle inbound and outbound shipments. Further complicating matters is the occurrence of truck wait times (dwell time) that can lead to fines and penalties such as demurrage and detention fees for any delays.
The Department of Transportation estimated that increased dwell times at loading facilities results in $1.1 to $1.3 billion in losses annually. The same audit also revealed that just a 15-minute increase in average time spent by a truck at a facility boosted the average expected crash rate by 6.2%. In other words, improper dock management is both costly and dangerous.
That said, the many moving parts involved can make it difficult to get a handle on optimal dock management. This is why we're going to break down each aspect into digestible portions that enable you to better understand the best practices and procedures at each level.
Key Components of Dock Management
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Dock Appointment Scheduling
Dock appointment scheduling controls the flow of traffic arriving and departing at each dock door. This is critical for controlling capacity and safety, as well as for avoiding demurrage/detention charges for containers/trailers not unloaded in a timely manner.
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Assigning Dock Doors
How you assign your dock doors determines the type and frequency of certain shipments to each one. If your facility offers only one door type across the board, your primary consideration will be the workers and equipment required to unload goods. If you have different door types, you’ll want to consider truck sizes, required space for material storage, and if goods have shelter or temperature requirements.
Pro Tip: Pay special attention to your receiving dock doors. 27% of respondents to a survey by Modern Materials Handling say that the receiving dock is the most congested area in warehouses.
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Coordinating People and Equipment
How many people are required to unload a certain shipment in a timely manner? Do you need a forklift, pallet jack, and/or wrapping machine? When you're coordinating people and equipment, make sure you understand the resources and personnel you'll need to properly execute operations at the dock.
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Preparing for Arrivals
Being prepared for upcoming arrivals at your facility can prevent any unforeseen bottlenecks. This means both knowing and tracking the estimated time of arrivals, as well as having the necessary people and equipment ready at the designated loading dock.
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Checking Trucks In and Out
Physically noting the arrival and departure of freight, whether on paper or in a scheduling system, is critical to making sure your dock runs smoothly and no unverified shipments are leaving. This process should be done in a timely manner to prevent holding up drivers.
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Avoiding Delays and Dock Congestion
Delays in unloading or loading shipments can result in demurrage or detention fees. Additionally, having a truck remain at a dock door could lead to congestion if another shipment assigned to the same dock door arrives. This can snowball and force your team to scramble to clear up space, which in turn can impair safety.
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Communicating with Drivers and Dock Workers
If an anticipated arrival runs into traffic, how will you and your team know? If you're busy coordinating a call with a new supplier, how can you be alerted to an equipment malfunction across the facility? Having a communication method in place will allow you to address any sudden concerns and continue operating smoothly.
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Staying Safe
According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 64,930 nonfatal injury and illness cases that caused days away from freight, stock, and material mover work in 2020. While it’s necessary for workers to operate in a timely manner, it should never be done at the expense of safety and overall OSHA compliance.
The Importance of Dock Management
We’ve covered what all goes into dock management. Now here’s why optimization should matter to you.
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Improving Efficiency
The more comprehensively you analyze your business, the more effectively you'll be able to allocate resources. A full understanding of workers, equipment, and shipments at your warehouse is the first step in ensuring you’re operating smoothly on a day-to-day basis.
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Reducing Operational Costs
Demurrage and detention fees can vary greatly, ranging anywhere from $50 to over $300 per day. Generally, demurrage is charged daily, and trucking (detention) is charged hourly. There are also other expenses, such as overspending due to improper estimation of needed equipment, fuel, and manpower. Another hidden cost factor is using manual methods that eat up more of your and your workers’ time.
That said, all of these hits to your bottom line can be avoided through proper dock management. In so doing, you can join the companies who saw average demurrage and detention charges decline 25 percent year-over year in 2023. Don't get left behind as other businesses overhaul their management strategies and reduce their operational costs.
Best Practices for Effective Dock Scheduling and Management
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Implementing a Dock Scheduling System
Across the board, manual processes are more time-consuming, which detracts from the time that could be spent on more profitable activities. The same is true for scheduling dock appointments, hence why dock scheduling software is being increasingly embraced by companies due to benefits such as real-time tracking and easy scheduling features.
Dock scheduling systems allow you to digitize the process of scheduling inbound and outbound dock appointments. Save time on phone calls and back-and-forth emails by enabling carriers to simply book appointments and deliveries themselves.
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Training Staff for Outbound Dock Management
Training your staff to handle outbound dock management will enable them to step up to meet the specific needs of your facility. This means teaching them proper procedures for handling your dock layout, equipment, implemented technologies, and workers. You also want to ensure that they continue to remain within safety and OSHA standards.
Ideally, a trained staff member will be able to coordinate activities at an individual dock or at the warehouse overall. This includes tracking shipment routes as well as overseeing the loading and unloading of freight. Emphasis should also be placed on teamwork and communication between workers to reduce any possible friction.
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Handling Surges and Slowdowns at the Dock
Dock surges and slowdowns contribute to demurrage and detention fees, which may result in delayed delivery, and can also make the yard more hazardous. Most commonly, these are due to the busy season which varies depending on your business. Having a strategy in mind in the case of a surge or slowdown will help you quickly resolve this issue.
Besides seasonality, other potential contributors include slow loading and unloading of freight, poor communication among your workers, and inadequate allocation of equipment. These factors can be resolved with proper training, an audit of your daily loads, or through using technology that can track metrics and appointments.
Final Take: Why Dock Management Is the Backbone of Warehouse Operations
Understanding dock management is key to avoiding bottlenecks as well as reducing business costs. Taking the time to understand the individual moving parts at your warehouse is the first step. Then, you can take action through implementing a dock scheduling system, training your staff for delegation of duties, and preparing for any potential surges and slowdowns. This will position your business to handle the most common concerns as you scale up your operations.
Got other questions about improving appointment scheduling with the help of technology?
See what your peers frequently ask in these FAQs! https://opendock.com/#faq
